"English language courses for businesses can be anything you need them to be." Sure, that sounds like a great thing, but what if you don't know what you need? What if you notice that the employees struggling to communicate are the ones who speak English as a Second Language (ESL). Or maybe ESL employees are communicating, but they definitely have more performance-related issues. Customized remote English training could be the answer you are looking for.
As long as your company hires ESL workers, there is a good chance that they could benefit from a corporate English course. And this isn't anyone's fault, it isn't even a bad thing. It just means that we have so many employee English courses available to help make communication in your workplace easier.
But how can you create learning objective goals?
English for businesses starts with creating goals
Step 1: Determine your needs
Recognizing that you need English training courses is the first part, and if you're reading this you probably have already done that! The next part involves exploring & observing. Work with your management team and determine how big the communication problems are, and what language training classes need to accomplish by answering these questions:
- What exactly is the problem? Is it pronunciation issues? Is it difficulty speaking to customers? Do certain employees take longer to complete tasks? Is there a reoccurring issue with written reports having mistakes? Do customers frequently get irate on customer service calls? Do certain ESL associates (who speak English as a Second Language) refuse to do particular tasks like sending emails or making phone calls or presentations?
- Who is affected? How many employees are affected by communication issues? Is it affecting your management team? Is it affecting your customers? How many people are impacted?
- How is the problem impacting your business? Are misunderstandings impacting worker safety? If so, how many accidents have happened? Has production slowed down? Do regular customers refuse to speak to specific employees? Are the communication issues impacting workplace culture?
- Where are the problems happening, exactly? Do your ESL workers have a hard time when speaking to customers? Or is it just when giving presentations? Incorporating our professional skills programs can help!
- Are there specific requirements for your company or industry? Let's say you own an auto body shop. Do your mechanics need to learn the names of tools and specific parts but your customer service team needs to explain invoices to customers, and explain what was repaired? This is what we mean when we say corporate language training can be anything you need it to be! Because we provide so many different ways to customize our curriculum.
- What does your company need to see? At the end of your business English course, do you need employees to be familiar with OSHA safety protocols? Do you need your reception team to be comfortable speaking on the phone? Do your mechanics need to explain repairs and invoices to customers? Are there specific skills, procedures or vocabulary specific to roles or industry that they must understand?
Step 2: Consult employees
Maybe you have to see improvement to continue the working relationship with certain employees. If this is the case, ensure that your employees understand that it is a disciplinary action in accordance with their performance improvement plan. Communicate exactly what you need to see, and when you need to see those improvements in your goals so that everyone is on the same page.
Otherwise, English class for companies can be incorporated into employee learning and development benefit plans. Regardless of the motivation, your actual employees should be involved when creating goals. After all, they are the ones taking the actual course. Ask them what they believe their strengths and weaknesses are. Is there anything they want to improve that is separate from your objectives?
We recommend that companies considering English training conduct their own evaluations. They don't have to be formal or comprehensive, but doing this tells us what your pain points are. Anything you can provide us helps customize your employee English course to suit your exact needs.
Our highly engaging In-Person English Training for employees and interactive Corporate English classes online with live native-speaking teachers are easy to access from wherever you are. We offer Real-Time Private and Group Corporate English Training. Get a Free Quote for your Industry Specific Onsite or Online English Classes for Companies.
For more information contact our Language Training Department:
Phone: (617) 731-3700
Email: training@languageconnections.com