It’s often said that English is the lingua franca or common language of global business. The adage may be based on fact, but it hides the complex reality of training a multilingual workforce. Demotivation, misunderstanding, errors, and turnover are common outcomes when employers don’t adequately support employees with varied linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
This is especially relevant to employee training, which, by design, contributes to employee engagement, performance, and retention. Employees who experience difficulty translating and, thus, understanding training won’t get the same benefits as their native-English-speaking colleagues.
Training initiatives offered in the workforce’s native language, by contrast, have significant benefits for both employer and employee.
