It was a warm Monday morning as I parked the car-share vehicle and walked into the co-working offices in the center of Barcelona. I had been asked to help two workers of a global marketing company improve their English. What I was not expecting was to walk away with two additional clients.
I coach a lot of professionals in sales, marketing, general business and CEO’s to lift their English language level. Everywhere I turn there are businesses wanting their staff to improve or at least maintain their level of English. From Tech to Pharmaceutical, Marketing to Scientific Research companies, I work with a lot of people that realise English and Business are inseparable. But why?
Simply put, English is the language of global Business. Large multinational companies have begun adopting English as their common corporate language, Airbus, Daimler-Chrysler, Fast Retailing, Nokia, Renault, Samsung, SAP, Technicolor, and Microsoft in Beijing to name just a few.
The fastest-spreading language in human history, English is spoken at a useful level by some 1.75 billion people worldwide—that’s one in every four of us.
The working world is far smaller than it used to be. Human resource comes from many different and diverse backgrounds meaning there is a question as to how these individuals communicate effectively in a team. If you employ a tech team from France and have your head office in the UK and satellite offices in Latin America and other European countries, how does the team communicate effectively and ensure productivity.
I’ve sat in meetings where only half the people present can actually communicate effectively. Team members with 5 different languages between them but no common way to work together. Confusion, frustration and misunderstanding very present.
Many companies have realised the need to provide such training to ensure their staff have the skills to meet the goals and targets of the organisation, but many companies are just getting by.
Numerous companies and startups have now adopted English as the common language for communication. I work with companies from Italy and Spain where all communication is undertaken in English. Whilst this is a wise decision, it does mean there are huge swathes of personal that need training to ensure they can effectively work with English as the medium of communication.
Many companies have realised the need to provide such training to ensure their staff have the skills to meet the goals and targets of the organisation, but many companies are just getting by. Comprehensive, flexible and effective training is needed to meet the demands of global business today.
The two new clients that I obtained that day were professional individuals working in Barcelona from Venezuela and Columbia. They needed to lift their English level so they could maintain their effectiveness at work. Now they have more confidence and skills to do their job.
