4. Stronger English means attracting and retaining top talent
Recruitment and talent acquisition leaders are improving their own English language proficiency to access wider, more diverse talent pools and identify candidates with strong English skills. Offering language training as an employee benefit signals to candidates their future employer’s commitment to ongoing professional development. This not only increases the number of suitable candidates per role, but also improves retention rates once the position has been filled.
According to the Harvard Business Review:
“To ensure that you are hiring the best people, you may need to accept some limitations on language capabilities and be prepared to provide training to meet both global and local language needs.”
Pearson’s Power Skills report states that 58% of hiring managers currently test potential candidates' English language skills at the interview stage to ensure that they can seamlessly integrate into the corporate culture. Increasing numbers of recruiters are incorporating language assessment in their hiring practices and advertising language training as a key benefit of a role.
You won’t just attract the top talent, but you’ll retain it, too. It’s well known that job satisfaction is a key driver of good staff retention and engagement. Pearson's research has identified a clear correlation between job satisfaction and level of English proficiency, with a 24-point difference between those with the lowest and highest levels of English. Indeed, candidates themselves understand the importance of language proficiency in the context of a global marketplace. They’re taking a proactive approach by using language assessment tools to provide evidence of their English proficiency as part of their job search.
Eva Lopez, Learning and Development Associate, Publicis Global Delivery, says:
“Our workforce consists mostly of Generation Z and Millennials, and we want to retain this talent. We designed our Learning and Development program with English language training at its core, to meet both the business need to improve our employees’ use of English at work, and to improve staff retention by offering language training as a benefit.”
5. Stronger English means better upskilling
In addition to soft skills, English is a vital core skill that enables learning hard technical skills, especially across the IT, technology, innovation and engineering sectors. Frequently the training required for technical skills is either in English, or the programs themselves incorporate English.
The conversation around the future of a global workplace can focus on automation making workers obsolete, but Pearson’s Future of Skills research reveals a different picture – only one in five workers are in occupations that will shrink. The future is about leveraging both human and machine capabilities so they can work together. That means human skills – the ones that machines can’t replicate – are in increasing demand.
Our global research report, How English empowers your tomorrow, urges leaders to take action:
“Employees are craving language training at work and employers ignore this request at their peril. They risk losing their talent to the 30% of organizations that have taken this employee feedback on board.”
6. Stronger English means new opportunities
Along with attracting new talent, English proficiency gives leaders the chance to offer their current workforce more opportunities for growth and career development. Internal talent can be nurtured and promoted to international roles, meaning there’s less risk of them moving on.
As well as opportunities for individuals, a collective proficiency in English positions your business favorably when it comes to seizing emerging market opportunities as they arise, wherever in the world they are.
CEO of EduGuide, Isaac Johnson, says:
“English is an essential skill for the future. English language training around the world has never been in such high demand. High-quality English training that uses technology to personalize learning should be the standard for every HR department and educational institution.”
A team adept in English is strategically positioned to capitalize on new prospects, regardless of their location. English is the core strength that gives your organization a competitive edge over your rivals.
So, with English proficiency delivering all these benefits and more, how do you implement language training in your own organization?
Show employees you’re committed to building a culture of learning by implementing a plan and letting the team know that you’re invested in their English language proficiency.
We’ve developed a handy step-by-step guide on how to implement English language training in your organization which will help you get started. Increasing numbers of recruiters are moving to a formalized, computer-based test such as Versant by Pearson for a more inclusive, business-relevant assessment of English ability levels. Then, Learning and Development managers are implementing programs to upskill all employees in business English, using relevant platforms such as Mondly by Pearson.
Find out more about how we can support your organization’s international growth with Pearson Language Solutions for Work.
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