Nikkei

How Asia’s largest media company uses English testing for English recruitment and skills training

Nikkei Inc. is the largest business media organization in Asia. Nikkei is widely regarded as the reference point for those who do business, conduct politics, and make decisions in the region. The ability to communicate in English has helped Nikkei to integrate with new acquisitions, reach new audiences, and successfully realize global business ventures.

Company: Nikkei Industry: Media Location: Japan Solution: Versant English Test

English Benchmark test - Young learners
Nikkei Inc. logo

Challenge

Nikkei needed a test that would better predict the true proficiency of their employees and new recruits, and measure the communicative skills that TOEIC did not. It also needed to help towards the overall goal of improving time to perform on the job.

Solution

We recommended Versant English Test, as this fully automated 15-minute test of spoken English is used by many companies to screen, recruit, and benchmark because it measures real communication skills. It can also be taken on any device, at any time, anywhere.

Results

Nikkei HR runs an annual Global Talent Program that focuses on language training. The results from Versant are used by both HR and the employees to better understand their communicative capabilities and how and where to improve. 

12%

improvement in overall speaking proficiency as a result of training

+7

average Versant score increase because of training

 

48

average Versant GSE score due to training, equivalent to CEFR B1

“Since Versant's integration with our internal English training program, test scores are now used to set standards for all of our overseas representatives. Versant allows us to recognize our employees' practical speaking ability – something that can't be done with a paper-based test.”

Deputy Manager, Human Resources Department, Nikkei