Rosetta Stone has long been known as a consumer product for language learners to gain proficiency in a number of languages on their own time, through language-learning software. I’m sure many of our readers can picture the trademark yellow box that has appeared on so many commercials and advertisements.
What many have not realized is that Rosetta Stone has multiple products catering to multiple market segments, one of which is an enterprise solution for businesses to teach their employees a new language. Whether that be American businesses venturing out that need their top employees to be able to communicate with partners, clients and customers in different countries, or international businesses that need to teach employees in other countries English, Rosetta Stone offers solutions to create bi-lingual employees rather than search for them.
But why not search? Surely it’s simpler to hire an employee that already possesses the skill to speak multiple languages than to teach an old dog new tricks by tasking current employees with learning a new language, right? In a webinar sponsored by Rosetta Stone, Professor Robert Steven Kaplan, Martin Marshall Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean for External Relations at Harvard Business School, gives some insight into why this might not be the case.
According to a Business Value of Language study by Vanson Bourne, commissioned by Rosetta Stone Business in 2014, the average proportion of staff that require proficiency in another language to at least intermediate level is at 76 percent for business and professional services, 73 percent for computer services and IT, and 73 percent for banking, financial services and insurance.
Early in his career Professor Kaplan was sent to Japan and China by his employer at the time. Kaplan expresses the need, when venturing to new global territories, to establish vision and priorities, and then ensure practices are in alignment. In Asia, the plan was to utilize ex-pats to establish Japanese and Chinese leadership in the countries, so that these leaders could continue practices once the ex-pats returned home. The problem became that, first, people in other countries have different points of view than Western counterparts, and second, language nuances account for a significant amount of communication needs. It’s not as simple as hiring someone that speaks the language, you need to have the same high-level employees that you trust to communicate strategy effectively.
According to Kaplan, language strategy should be spearheaded by the same departments that are in charge of attracting, retaining and developing employees, which often means collaboration between multiple departments. Companies need to be asking the right questions about languages: what are the skills needed, who teaches languages, should we hire native English speakers or speakers native to the country we are trying to break into?
Kaplan explains that ex-pats building divisions overseas can tend to hire local, lateral employees that communicate well, and can mistake good communication for good talent. It stands to reason that an English-speaker will wish to hire some of the best English-speakers they interview. So there is a two-fold consideration — Do we make our ex-pat so proficient in the language that they can communicate in native tongue, eliminating this need, or do we hire talented employees that may not be as proficient in English and develop them to speak the language better? Kaplan says that many companies have found that hiring and developing young talent to one day be promoted creates less turnover than hiring lateral employees that turn out to be poor business partners.
It becomes clear that there are some serious arguments for creating a language strategy and teaching employees new languages rather than searching for bi-lingual employees that also have worthy talent. You can listen to the full webinar on Rosetta Stone’s website.
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