Combination Learning - Business English, Mentoring and Skills Development

Léna is a 30-something, mid-level executive, based in Budapest and working as a senior project lead for a multinational fintech. Like many professionals Léna finds herself, day-to-day, conducting more and more work interactions in English. Again, like many of her peers, and despite having a high level of English, Léna lacks confidence in speaking and struggles to understand strongly-accented English, a constraint in a globally connected world. Consequently, Léna, who understands English perfectly, does not contribute to meetings as much as she feels she could (or should) and tries to avoid making presentations. This is a source of anxiety for both Léna and many like her. Accent, cultural differences, humour and grasp of idiom can all impact an employee’s willingness to engage and increase what has been termed the “silencing effect” among workers (Stevens, 2019).

Many organisations understand the value of diversity in the workforce and have made substantial efforts to integrate workers and address inequalities in age, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientations and gender profiles. But, like Léna non-native speakers can feel excluded based on their language ability. Enabled by technology and digital connectivity, global working is increasing and with it the expectation of and need for strong language skills. It is recognised that English is the lingua franca of business, with many companies having adopted English as their corporate language to aid international communication. Making English mandatory, however, isn’t always popular and can make non native speaking employees feel uncomfortable. Lack of English skills may alienate and demotivate otherwise high-performing staff.

My clients often mention how exhausting it is to work in a language that is not their mother tongue. English can be nuanced, and deciphering meaning adds complexity, especially in managerial roles. Many workers have experienced ‘cultural misunderstandings’ such as failing to get a joke or understand an expression.(www.welcometothejungle.com, n.d.). Many workers feel that their language ability or accent has held them back within their company.

Can organisations better meet the language needs of their workers? We know that workers, and especially millennials, want support from management to develop their capabilities and skills. These workers are driven by the desire to excel within their organisation. They have a desire for career progression, are social and look for a career (and associated training) to be engaging and fun. (www.londonschool.com, n.d.)

Sometimes all they need is the opportunity to practice vocabulary and grammar in a ‘safe space’ in order to build confidence for the upcoming meeting or the imminent presentation. There is also increasing demand for more personalized learning that is tailored to individual requirements and styles. Many organisations recognise that a culture of continuous learning is important in developing employee skills, fostering engagement and increasing staff retention.

Alongside learning, the demand for mentoring has increased with more and more employees working remotely, at least some of the time. Employees need to acquire new or hone existing skills but also look for a sympathetic ear and sounding board for the issues and challenges of everyday working life.

Among the skills and knowledge that young professionals are asking for are managing difficult conversations, dealing with change, persuasion and influencing, managing performance, goal setting, dealing with conflict and business ethics. In addition, many employees at the beginning of their careers are looking for guidance in preparing presentations, producing budgets and forecasts and drafting proposals and plans.

Today's crammed schedules mean that employees cannot always devote enough time to their wider professional development including English learning. Language learning, mentoring and skills development are usually seen as three separate development areas. What if you could combine English improvement, business skills training and mentoring in the same session?

Feldstone provides an interactive 1-2-1 learning environment where we explore vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar within a framework of business-related topics (for example facilitating meetings, working from home, public speaking, saying what we mean and holding difficult conversations) while discussing my client's perspective and challenges with these (and other) everyday realities of working life. This combination learning approach has proven popular and effective. We also devote time to preparing and practicing presentations, structuring and facilitating meetings and drafting key documents.

To discuss your business English or skills development needs and see how the Feldstone learning approach could benefit your team please contact me at charles@feldstoneconsulting.com

References

www.londonschool.com. (n.d.). How to assess the language levels of your employees: a step-by-step guide. [online] Available at: https://www.londonschool.com/corporate-english-training/corporate-blog/how-assess-language-levels-your-employees-step-step-guide

Stevens, P. (2019). Viewpoint: The Silencing of ESL Speakers. [online] SHRM. Available at: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/global-and-cultural-effectiveness/pages/viewpoint-the-silencing-of-esl-speakers.aspx.

www.welcometothejungle.com. (n.d.). How workers succeed when English isn’t their first language. [online] Available at: https://www.welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/non-native-english-speaking-employees-how-to-succeed-in-an-english-environment.