You have a customised language course for a reason, but it is certainly not a lost investment. Have you ever wondered what the ROI of your language training is?
Well, scientists have now quantified your return, specifically for language training! Research shows that the multilingualism of your employees contributes to as much as 10-20% of your company turnover. Companies are increasingly seeing the importance of diverse language skills on their business performance. After all, globalisation makes good language skills a must. So says a study by the University of Geneva, among as many as 200 Swiss companies.
How and why? We list that for you. These three messages should be included:
The aim of the Geneva study was to find out how multilingualism in the workplace affects the turnover of Swiss companies. The researchers therefore looked at language diversity in companies and how it affects sales, production and distribution of products and services.
Switzerland has three official languages: German, Italian and French. Consequently, communication in most Swiss companies is not only in the regional language, but also in the other (national) languages. For instance, people working in French-speaking areas speak English and German very well. As a result, multilingualism is ubiquitous in a lot of Swiss companies.
The language situation in Switzerland is very similar to our situation in Belgium. With our three national languages (French, German, Dutch), we can therefore extend this success story to our country and our companies! For instance, 40 billion euros of our gross domestic product is due to the multilingualism of our employees.
Multilingualism comes in handy in just about all sectors. For example, the service and IT sectors saw an added value of as much as 23% on their company turnover. So why not bet on your employees' language skills? Because it doesn't stop there! If you operate in the chemical and/or transport sector, multilingualism is also a must. In those sectors, no less than 16% of company turnover was due to multilingual employees. Another impressive result!
Furthermore, there are several purchase-related functions, market departments and management boards that also benefit from employee multilingualism. Often, sales employees are supposed to have rich language skills, but it is also a must for purchasing employees. After all, they lead negotiations.
The multilingualism of young potentials also have an impact on the company. Office Team research from 2013 found that 51% of HR Managers feel that recent graduates are insufficiently prepared for the job market. This causes them to hinder the growth of your company.
Wondering if your young potentials are hindering your company's growth? Download our white paper where we give you five signs you can recognise that your young potentials' language skills - or lack thereof - are standing in the way of your company's growth.
Rich and smooth communication is also preferred inside companies themselves. Both when hiring and when interacting with employees. Managing director at BLCC, Kathleen Heireman, explains why.
"The better that communication is, the happier people feel at work. Therefore, it pays to invest in your colleagues' language skills: it gets you delighted employees, which ensures that your productivity picks up."
Kathleen Heireman, managing director at BLCC
Strong language skills give your employee - and your company - a boost! Thanks to more efficient and productive employees, your company also makes more profits!
Consequently, as a company, it is important to hire the right employees in the right place. This way, you save additional costs as a company. So make sure you have a language strategy that helps your company in the long term and prepares you for possible changes in the sector. An outlined language policy also helps you respond correctly and quickly to the language needs of both your company and your employees. BLCC can help you with this! Together with you, we look at the language solutions your company needs and how your employees respond to them. We guide and advise you to close the gap between the needs of your company and the skills of your employees.
What about you? Are you ready to boost your business turnover thanks to your multilingual employees? Contact us for your tailor-made language training!
Schedule a call or conversation and we'd love to hear your story.