No one can argue the fact that English is widely used as an international language nowadays. However, statistics show that out of the 7.5 billion people inhabiting the world today, only 1.5 billion of them speak English. Out of these 1.5 billion, about 400 million are native speakers. Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, French, Russian, and Portuguese are among the most spoken languages today.
What we’re trying to say is that we’re living in a world that’s constantly growing and developing. If not too long ago speaking only English was enough to give you a competitive advantage, things have changed dramatically today.
The benefits of being bilingual aren’t limited to just regular people. Even companies can gain from having multilanguage employees.
- Customer Engagement and Satisfaction
It’s not difficult to understand why foreign languages are so important to recruiters. Let’s say, as a business owner, you’ve recently signed a contract with a Spanish partner, and you want to solidify your relationship. What better way of maintaining and growing this connection than by enabling the team that works on the project to communicate with your partner on a regular basis and in his or her native language?
That is the type of effort that will certainly not go unnoticed. The best part about it is that it has become increasingly easy to provide online language classes to your employees. Services like Preply, for example, can help you find a Spanish teacher that will work with you over Skype.
- Sharpened Skills
Not only that learning a foreign language sharpens your employees’ communication skills, but it also enhances their ability to manage different situations and environments. Studies have shown that children that have studied a foreign language in school perform better in tests . Similarly, people who have learned a second language are better at problem-solving and reasoning and have increased creativity and analytical skills.
- Increased Native Language Abilities
Foreign languages also improve language understanding in general and help your employees use their native language more effectively than before.
Why You Should Offer Your Employees Language Training
If you’re a business owner that’s thinking of providing employees with foreign language courses, then you should know that it’s one of the best things you can do for your company. The benefits, both for them and for you and your business are endless and can only help grow your company even more.
If you’re still unsure whether providing online language courses to your employees is worth it, here are a few reasons foreign language training may be the best decision you’ve recently taken.
- If you have a few employees that are brilliantly skilled at what they do but aren’t bilingual, it would be a good idea to offer them a language course to work on this aspect and further improve their productivity at work.
- Employees that know several other foreign languages also feel better about themselves and feel more at ease and confident while dealing with international clients and business affairs.
- Offering language training can also make your workers feel valued and give them a sense of belonging in the workplace. And, as you already know, maintaining a positive environment is crucial for the well-being of your employees and your company.
- Providing online language courses can improve employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention. It’s an opportunity for your employees to interact with each other and work better.
All in all, don’t dismiss the power of a simple language course you can offer your employees. It will certainly have a tremendous impact on them and will ultimately contribute to the growth of your business.