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Top 5 Benefits of Multilingual Training Courses

Multilingual online courses

Creating online courses for the purpose of training fresh joiners is not quite an old affair. But imparting knowledge by a mentor is an age-old method, traced back to the 19th century. However, the advent of digitization gradually replaced a human mentor with online training modules. And this is not something that is only visible in big corporates or small organizations. Even, schools and colleges prefer a unified and standardized online training software for passing on the knowledge.

But, DeWayne Owens, the motivational speaker and author of ‘How to Get Rich on PURPOSE’, once quoted –

“The results of knowledge without application results in nothing at all. Do what you know better to do.”

If you take a closer look, you will realize that these words spell out the current situation persisting in our society. All those knowledge imparted gets wasted if they fail to find an apt reflection in the application.

Companies hire freshers straight out of college to benefit from their untampered ideas. But if they are not well-trained according to the market requirements, they will not turn out to be as productive as the companies expect them to be. Companies, therefore arrange induction programs to get the new joinees onboard with the nitty-gritty of the company and the tasks assigned.

Read More: 10 Best Employee Training Software

Verbal training has often failed to drive home the desired outputs from the freshers.

This is exactly where the online training platforms such as ProProfs Training Maker can make a huge contribution towards helping companies achieve business objectives economically.

The management aspires to create online courses covering each and every detail and share with those who require to be trained. The sole purpose of working behind the need to create courses online is to cover a stretch of subjects available on a single platform which are easily accessible to the learners, irrespective of time and place.

In fact, the whole world is going madly digital, gradually shedding off the physical objects for those which are available digitally. This ongoing craze has already digitized currency, so how can you expect the methods of training and imparting knowledge stay behind in the rat race?

When people prefer reading e-books than scanning the shelves for yellow tainted and moth-eaten tattered books, then it is hard to expect such a sector can successfully steer away from digital influence for long.

Read these market figures to understand the importance of online courses

Staring at the broader picture, the market figures also point out in the similar direction for online courses:

  • In the education sector, it is estimated that at least 50% of the classes will be delivered online.
  • The online education industry is estimated to expand into a billion-dollar industry by 2021 as per insights from KPMG and Google.
  • In Corporate Training for the year 2015, the global e-learning market expanded by 9.2% over a 5 year period.
  • The estimated global market for online training courses stands at roughly $107 billion.
  • 77% of companies in America offer training online to their employees.
  • 81% of the corporate learners take to online training courses for personal development.
  • Reskilling and online certification is presently the main segment in online education, valued at $93 million in 2016 and is likely to grow into a whopping figure of 463 million by 2021.
  • eLearning Market size is likely to exceed USD 200 billion by 2024.

The stats are promising as far as the future of digital training and online education goes. The Internet is the key driver to push all the services online. The world has, in fact, shrunk in size, courtesy the modern internet connection, bringing people across the globe close to one another.

We live in a Global Village where an ocean of information remains available to individuals living even in the remotest corner of the world. So there are eLearning courses searched by either an Irish young graduate or an Indian corporate professional.

Here, language must not be a barrier when it comes to modern education.

Also, the multinational companies who look forward to expanding their overseas business must not restrict themselves to a single language of communication. Many find it less comfortable to study and express in a foreign language.

Countries like Japan and China prefer speaking in their own language more than communicating in English. So training employees in their native dialect are often considered a good corporate gesture. On the other hand,  it is observed that the global business market has become quite an overcrowded one recently, so finding an edge over the competitors can only help them achieve their objective profitably.

Therefore, creating online courses in multi-language can offer that competitive edge for an organization to enjoy a successful global outreach for their business. This is exactly what the big brands are doing.

But, if you are not that convinced, it is time to shed some more light on the 5 compelling reasons justifying the importance of creating online courses in multi-language for expanding business global outreach.

#1. Foreign Language Skills are Vital to the Global Economy

This is true indeed and there is supportive data that shows

  • 70 percent of employees feel more confident in their work and interaction with teams, partners, and vendors when successfully completing specific language training.

Yet, the same research source also reflects the fact that:

  • Out of 81% of the employees who studied foreign languages earlier in life, only 46% effectively used their learnings in the workplace.

But, if developing language skills is not a viable option and, in certain cases, irrelevant, then sharing information as well as imparting training to employees speaking different dialects become a cumbersome task.

Work proficiency, confidence, and productivity can be enhanced only if language training is imparted to those who need it first. Else, create online training courses in multi-language to train the expatriates.

#2. Increase Employee Retention

Employee retention is one of the major challenges often countered by the HR department of multinational companies.

Such MNCs usually recruit workforce from around the globe, each speaking a different dialect than the company’s official language. Even though they are able to communicate in the official language, yet the higher level of language competency is hard to expect from them. Irrespective of the type of work an individual is involved with, communication mishaps based on language differences can result in embarrassing or damaging blunders.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

Nelson Mandela

Therefore, companies who wish to hire and retain the best employees, as well as help them to grow along with the company itself, then creating online training courses in multi-language becomes the only solution for them.

#3. Know your Key Customers Better

Big foreign brands such as Samsung can find relevant help from developing such training modules in different languages.

Samsung is a South Korean company and multinational brand, employing more than 300 thousand people worldwide.

Employing local people only help such global brands to carry out their localized business smoothly. For any business to run properly, it is important to know your customers better. This is not possible for workers sitting somewhere in South Korea to understand the whims of the customers from India.

Employees who speak the local language can best relate to them. So local employees are hired but training them in a foreign language is definitely not such a great idea. Also, pulling them to the parent country for training is also not a feasible option for doing business. This is where online training platforms similar to ProProfs Training Maker comes handy. Creating online training courses in different languages beforehand on such platforms take away a lot of headache from the parent company to better understand and serve their key customers.  

#4. Localize

This point is very similar to the previous one. It is witnessed that language barriers are not the cause of major hindrance for international business only. Even it proves to be a domestic challenge as well. Countries like the US have experienced a shift in language usage in the past couple of decades. Example:

  • In 2015, the percentage of Spanish speakers in the US population has taken the jump from 5% in 1980 to 14%.
  • Market situation estimates there will be nearly 43 million Spanish speakers in the US by 2020.

This shift in language compelled business owners to adjust their training modules accordingly in order to connect with employees speaking different languages.

Also, mere translations of the study materials do not serve the purpose at all. Since translations might fail to connect with the trainees culturally, distorting the meaning of the content to a certain extent. So do not translate, localize.

#5. Expand your Global Outreach

Finally, the entire discussion is but to bring home the ultimate objective and i.e. to expand your global outreach. If companies wish to achieve more than merely imparting knowledge to the employees, they can as well create online courses in multi-languages. Such a program can help companies build and strengthen relationships as well as indulge in more foreign investments.

Think Globally, Act Locally

The points discussed in the blog are pretty clear. In fact, if you closely study the strategies followed by multinational companies, you will get to know the importance they give to creating training courses online in multi-language. Since if the plan is to rule the global market ultimately, start your journey from your own country. You will be surprised by the diversity in the population right from language to culture. And if this is taken in the broader picture, say, for instance, applied globally, you can understand where multilingual online training courses can actually help.

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About the author

Kamy Anderson is an online training expert and a product manager. He leads the product vision and strategy of ProProfs Training Maker. Kamy blogs about trends in eLearning, online training, employee training, gamification, LMS, AI, and more. His articles are published in eLearningIndustry, TrainingMag, Training Zone, and Learning Solutions Magazine. You can connect with Kamy on LinkedIn.