Post the Covid crisis, the workforce in most international organizations has become more diverse. Are you one of such organizations that has a varied workforce? If yes, then you would surely agree that multilingual training and onboarding is rather a complicated task.
But shouldn’t this be easier now, as we have AI-backed tools that can virtually perform most tasks humans can do? Well, training and onboarding talent of varied dialects is a much more complicated task than just instructing your AI tool. There are various other aspects to be considered.
In this post, we explore some fundamental aspects that all organizations should have in place to facilitate effective multilingual training and onboarding. If you have a global workforce, here’s how to ensure your teams all understand and blend in with the company culture…
Tips for Effective Multilingual Training and Onboarding
#1. Understand That Multilingual Training and Onboarding Must Replace One-Language Policy
Mentoring and instructing new workers becomes more important when a wide range of people work for an organization. As a worldwide firm, you may have decided to have all your internal and external communication in a single language. Undoubtedly, having one official language helps expedite business operations and allows all workers to interact on a level playing field. However, you must embrace a multilingual approach to properly onboard and educate your foreign workforce. It would promote job satisfaction and, in turn, enhance employee retention.
#2. Identify All the Languages You Need to Use for Training and Onboarding
The first thing that must be done is to choose which languages you need your content translated. You should ensure that your materials are translated into the official languages of the nations in the issue. Still, you should also take the time to make sure that your workers have access to training and crucial lessons in the languages they speak at home and are most comfortable with.
Don’t assume anything about someone based on their location or their ethnicity. Your workers may, in many instances, speak a dialect different from the one you anticipate them to speak. The more closely you can approach the languages your workers are most fluent in, the more you can facilitate conversation while they are learning, and the more information they can comprehend and remember quickly.
#3. Make Use of Subtitles in Video/Audio Training and Offer Multi-lingual Support Materials
Provide your staff members with the opportunity to get training in their native languages. We are aware that this is a significant obstacle and a difficult task. Sometimes, the subtitles hold the secrets to unlocking the multilingual kingdom.
Your employees may get the clarity and subtlety of understanding the subject they see and the confidence they need to comprehend it using subtitles completely. Make the supporting information available in different languages. The best teaching method is to meet the workforce at their current level of understanding.
It can improve learning and retention by making supplementary resources available in several languages. This can include translating work aids or connecting to online resources that are available in several languages on the web. These supports may assist in strengthening critical details that might otherwise be overlooked if they were not there.
#4. Onboard Employees Using Varied Language Options
Multinational corporations send instructional audio and video files to remote workers on the best way to organize a workstation at home, ways to boost productivity, and techniques for dealing with stress.
Because there is much material that the worker has to understand in a short amount of time, you should split it up into little chunks so that it can match their attention span. A presentation or a video might be used to convey this information to the audience.
A high-quality audio component may be added to education by recording realistic voice-overs in many languages. This will benefit employees who comprehend and remember knowledge better via audio-visual learning.
#5. Start With the Most Important Training Content
Most businesses place a high value on training immediately applicable to health and safety issues. When you consider that many businesses are now establishing new processes and protocols as a reaction to COVID-19, it becomes abundantly evident that this is an essential area to focus on when designing multilingual training.
Why should one prioritize? Because executives in learning and development and training frequently have limited resources for revamping and modernizing existing programs. Your priority content can be anything from health and safety to developing soft skills.In the same way, a business has to prioritize which languages it can support. They must also prioritize which aspects of their training materials are essential to translate first.
#6. Develop an Employee Engagement Plan to Develop a Connection with Your Team
People resonate with others who share their traits and customs. This makes connecting with the message easier and gives us the impression that the necessary abilities are within our reach.
It is crucial to utilize pictures of performers that look and sound like your trainees to assist in nurturing these sentiments among your students. One way to do this is to employ role models during employee onboarding. In the context of the video, this implies casting performers who are representative of your workforce.
To show learners what you want them to learn, use demonstrations and activities that are based on real life. When individuals do not share a language, the first way they communicate with one another is via their actions. If you cannot deliver training in many languages, demonstrations may help fill in the gaps.
#7. Make Sure That the Digital Platforms You Choose Can Support All Required Languages
With the proliferation of digital technology, it is essential to ensure that when you start business it invests in the most effective resources to assist all of its workers. This covers applications, CRM, and websites that support the user’s native language.
Since the workforce is now global, many programs add native languages to their software and other resources to guarantee something for everyone.
Final Thoughts
We realize that training in numerous languages might be an intimidating prospect. Businesses often know the need but do not know how to satisfy it. Training and onboarding assist your firm in establishing a good first impression, and these processes may be completed online or offline. They assist your staff in feeling more confident in their abilities and prepare them to carry out their responsibilities most effectively.
Author Bio:
Surrinder Kumar is a content marketer. He has an experience of more than 6 years of writing for the marketing, HR, and business domain and aims to provide high-quality content.