Staying ahead requires not just talent but the right talent. For HR professionals, ensuring that employees are equipped with the necessary skills is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. Enter the GSE Job Profiles—a game-changing tool designed to facilitate role-targeted upskilling by mapping English language skills to specific job roles. This blog post will explore how HR teams can leverage this innovative tool to enhance workforce capabilities efficiently and effectively.
The GSE Job Profiles utilizes Pearson’s Global Scale of English and the Faethm by Pearson skills ontology to provide a detailed analysis of the language requirements for nearly 1,400 job roles. This precise mapping allows HR professionals to make informed talent management decisions, including hiring, training and development, and ensuring that employees are adequately prepared for their roles now and in the future.
Play
Upskilling is vital for both individual and organizational growth. Upskilling not only enhances employee performance but also boosts morale and retention.
In fact, 94% of employees say they would stay with their current organization if there was investment in their career development, and 9 in 10 employees are looking to their employer to provide English language training.
English in particular, is becoming an even more sought-after skill, with AI technology increasing the importance of soft skills such as teamwork and communication. And the emerging workforce agree, with 92% of Gen Z and Millennial workers believing English skills will be increasingly important for work in 5 years’ time.
By focusing on developing the specific English skills needed for success in a role, organizations can both optimize workforce efficiency and create a future-ready team.
The GSE Job Profiles simplifies the process of targeted upskilling by providing clear benchmarks for English language proficiency. Whether you’re hiring new talent or looking to supercharge your existing talents’ careers, HR teams can use these benchmarks to identify skills gaps and tailor language learning and development initiatives accordingly.
To maximize the benefits of the GSE Job Profiles, HR professionals should incorporate the insights into their overall workforce planning strategy. Here are some key steps to consider:
The first step is to establish the English language proficiency levels required for each job role within the organization. The GSE Job Profiles provides a global reference point, detailing the necessary English levels across speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.
Once you have established the English language requirements, it's essential to assess the current proficiency levels of your workforce. This assessment will help identify any language skills gaps and highlight areas where targeted upskilling is needed.
Using tools like the Versant by Pearson language assessment, HR professionals can quickly and easily evaluate employee proficiency at scale. As both Versant by Pearson tests and GSE Job Profiles report on the Global Scale of English, you can immediately compare results against role benchmarks. This makes it easy to identify talent that has the right level of English skills for their roles and gain valuable insights into your team’s English language strengths and weaknesses.
With this insight, HR teams can develop tailored learning and development programs to address skills gaps or proactively develop skills for future roles as part of your workforce’s career progression. You can use apps like Mondy by Pearson to help you with this.
Organizations can ensure that their upskilling efforts are effective and measurable by aligning language training programs with the GSE Job Profiles benchmarks.
The GSE underpins all Pearson English Language learning materials. So, if you want a language training solution that features role-relevant language training, helps you track your team’s progress and is easy to implement, check out Mondly by Pearson. With a dedicated dashboard, you can monitor your workforce’s English learning and help them reach their career goals.
Implementing a targeted upskilling strategy using the GSE Job Profiles can yield significant benefits for organizations. Here are some of the key advantages:
With accurate language skill profiles, recruiters can quickly identify candidates who meet the job requirements. This not only speeds up the hiring process but also improves the quality of new hires, as they are better equipped to perform their duties from day one.
In fact, in a 2023 Pearson-conducted global customer survey of 34 Versant by Pearson Test customers, 94% said using Versant by Pearson tests helped reduce time-to-hire and 89% agreed it improves the quality of new hires.
72% of employees say they would find their job easier if they had better English skills. Organizations can enhance workforce performance by addressing English skills gaps and providing employees with the tools they need to succeed.
Employees who feel supported in their development are more likely to be engaged and productive, contributing to a positive workplace culture.
40% of employees leave their jobs due to a lack of development. Upskilling initiatives can also lead to higher retention rates and increased job satisfaction. When employees see a clear path for growth and development, they are more likely to remain committed to the organization and motivated to achieve their career goals.
While the benefits of language upskilling are clear, there are challenges that organizations may face when implementing such initiatives. Here are some tips for overcoming these obstacles:
Employees may be resistant to change, particularly if they feel their skills are being scrutinized. To address this, HR teams should communicate the benefits of upskilling clearly and involve employees in the planning process, ensuring they feel supported and valued.
Providing employees with access to the necessary resources is crucial for successful upskilling. Organizations should invest in a range of learning and development options, ensuring that employees have the tools they need to succeed.
Finally, it's important to measure the success of upskilling initiatives. By tracking progress against the GSE benchmarks, HR teams can evaluate the effectiveness of their programs and make data-driven decisions to refine and improve their strategies.
As the business landscape continues to evolve, the importance of English language upskilling will only increase. The GSE Job Profiles provides HR professionals with the insights and tools needed to adapt and thrive in this dynamic environment.
Using target roles or identifying skills gaps helps you focus your language upskilling initiatives and create a workforce that is not only skilled but also agile, ready to meet the challenges of the future head-on.
In conclusion, the GSE Job Profiles is a powerful tool that can transform the way organizations approach upskilling. By aligning language proficiency with job roles, HR professionals can enhance recruitment, improve employee performance and build a future-ready workforce. For those looking to explore further, reach out to us to discover how the GSE Job Profiles can benefit your organization.
At Pearson Languages, 2024 has been a landmark year full of innovation, connection, and impactful resources for businesses worldwide. We’ve worked on so many things with the aim to empower global workforces and help organizations unlock the potential of language skills to drive business success. Here's how we made a difference this year.
As the new year approaches, it's the perfect time to reflect on our teaching practices and plan engaging, effective lessons for our English as a Second Language (ESL) students. Thoughtfully crafted lesson plans can make a significant difference in the learning outcomes and engagement levels of your students. Whether you're teaching young children, teenagers, or adults, the principles of effective lesson planning remain consistent. Here are some ideas, hints and tips to help you create dynamic and successful ESL lessons for students of all ages.
Begin each lesson with clear, achievable objectives. What do you want your students to learn by the end of the lesson? Objectives provide a roadmap for both you and your students, ensuring that everyone is focused and aware of the goals. For example, an objective might be "Students will be able to use past tense verbs to describe their weekend activities." Clear objectives provide direction and help you measure student progress.
To cater to different learning styles and keep students engaged, incorporate a mix of teaching methods and activities. Here are a few ideas:
Authentic materials—such as newspapers, menus, brochures and videos—expose students to real-world language and contexts. These materials can make lessons more interesting and relevant, helping students see the practical application of their language skills. Even better, they’re everywhere, so easy to find. Here are some more suggestions for how to select and use authentic materials in your English language teaching.
Teachers are already used to leveraging technology to enhance lessons utilizing online resources, language learning apps and interactive platforms to create a dynamic learning environment. Why not take this a step further by using AI to create your own resources. Take a look at our blog on How to make the most of AI in the classroom for some more ideas.
How can teachers use the Global Scale of English (GSE) and AI to help students set and achieve language learning goals for the new year?
As the new year rolls around, it’s the perfect time for students to set fresh language learning goals. But for teachers, it’s not just about inspiring students—it’s about giving them clear, measurable goals that they can actually achieve. That’s where the GSE, a very powerful tool, comes in. It can help teachers create personalized learning paths based on where students are right now and guide them toward their language goals throughout the year. Let’s dive into how the GSE can work to boost student progress.
The GSE is a precise framework that measures English proficiency with remarkable detail. Each score on the GSE aligns with specific speaking, listening, reading and writing competencies. For instance, a student with a GSE score of 50 might handle everyday conversations comfortably (B1 level), while a score of 75 indicates functioning at a more advanced level (C1).
What sets the GSE apart is its granularity—it goes beyond general levels of "intermediate" or "advanced," allowing teachers to identify exactly what their students can do at any stage. This level of detail enables teachers to set targeted, skill-specific goals for every learner, ensuring personalized and purposeful progression.
Before setting goals, it’s important to determine each student’s current standing. The GSE is an excellent tool for this because it provides a detailed breakdown of a student's skills. Teachers can use GSE-aligned assessments to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses, which gives a clearer picture than just knowing if a student is at an “intermediate” or “advanced” level.
Once you know where students are, you can set a baseline. For instance, if a student’s reading score is 52, you’ll know that they are likely in the B1 range, and you can target specific skills (like improving vocabulary or understanding main ideas) to move them forward.
Now that you know where each student stands, it's time to set some goals. These should be realistic, measurable and achievable based on their current level and the time span involved. The key is to pick goals that will push them to improve without overwhelming them. The GSE has detailed descriptions of what students can do at each level. You can pinpoint specific skills that need attention by looking at these descriptors. We know that large goals can feel intimidating, so break them into smaller, manageable chunks. Here, the GSE is an amazing resource, thanks to its granularity.
Using the GSE Learning Objectives (LOs) in conjunction with an LLM (Large Language Model) opens up a world of possibilities for creating focused activities at the right level for each student. Here are some key points on how this combination enhances personalized learning:
By combining the GSE LOs and harnessing the power of an LLM like ChatGPT, teachers can create personalized activities that cater to individual students' language needs, promote active learning, and foster continuous improvement.
Setting goals is just the start—tracking progress and adjusting those goals as needed is just as important. Throughout the year, teachers should regularly check in with students to make sure they’re on track. How can we monitor and adjust? Here are some tips.
Teachers should schedule regular one-on-one sessions with students to review their progress. The GSE can clearly show students their progress.
If students are achieving their goals faster than expected, adjusting their targets is important to keep them challenged. If they’re struggling, the goals might need to be more achievable, with smaller, more gradual steps.
Using the GSE can help students set clear, measurable goals and steadily progress throughout the year. By assessing where students are starting, setting specific GSE-based goals, creating personalized learning paths with AI, and continuously tracking progress, teachers can create a more dynamic and effective learning experience for their students. The new year is the perfect opportunity to help students improve their English and achieve their goals—and with these tools, teachers have everything they need to guide students toward success.
