This post delves into the benefits of translating online courses into native languages of your learners and the courses that need to be translated.
It is no exaggeration to say that globalization has radically transformed the business landscape in the last two decades. Organizations reaped rich dividends by expanding their operations overseas. However, with these wonderful opportunities came certain challenges. One of the important problems that multinational companies (MNCs) face when they venture into foreign markets is imparting effective training to their international staff that speaks several languages. Traditional classroom training, which is led by and dependent on instructors, is not very useful because it cannot be used to provide training that is consistent in quality.
Furthermore, this medium of imparting knowledge and skills is expensive and gives rise to logistical issues. So, how can MNCs train their multi-lingual personnel, who have diverse cultural backgrounds and are spread across different time-zones? The ideal solution for these problems is eLearning.
E-learning is the ideal training medium to train the staff of MNCs because it helps overcome the drawbacks of the traditional brick and mortar classroom training format. Moreover, online courses can be translated easily and effectively.
We will now see how translated eLearning courses help impart highly effective training to your global workforce.
Translated courses help people learn quickly and efficiently
It is common knowledge that kids pick up their mother tongue from their parents and people around them. The relationship of a person with his native language thus develops from a very young age. Research proves that people learn quickly when training is imparted in their mother tongue. This is because they comprehend the subject-matter more efficiently, when they are trained in their native languages.
Human brains are better structured to understand messages in native languages
According to researchers, the attachment that a person inherently develops with his mother tongue makes him feel the learning content delivered in his language is authentic. Furthermore, individuals build up knowledge from their childhood in their native language and this helps them to recapitulate their prior knowledge better when they are presented with new concepts.
Effective retention of content with courses delivered in mother tongue
Studies reveal that young people have better cognitive abilities that help them learn languages fast. This is probably because youngsters have more capacity to remember than older people. Most professionals learn English or other languages for work-related reasons. It was observed that they faced problems in remembering the rules of grammar and in getting the pronunciation right. They could overcome these issues through regular practice. But they were more at ease with their mother tongue than with other languages.
Dialectical differences and accents necessitate translation of English courses
The accent of English that is spoken in Australia is not the same as the one spoken by Asians. There are also differences in the pace with which the language is spoken. Furthermore, within the English-speaking world itself, the language is spoken in different ways in different countries. The way Americans speak English differs from the way the British speak the language. This, at times, results in the wrong interpretation of words of the same language.
We have seen that translation of online courses into the native languages of your workforce helps impart highly effective training. Now, let us look at some online training courses that need to be translated.
Compliance Training:
Compliance training courses help organizations to impart knowledge on the statutes and mandatory procedures, which are stipulated by the concerned regulatory authorities and also on various standards that are followed within the organization. Compliance training, in most cases, is used to address these issues.
Violations of the code of conduct:
Every company, worth its name, has a code of conduct in place. The actions of every employee in the organization need to conform to this code. This is very important to safeguard the reputation of the firm. An MNC needs to impart training on its code of conduct, in the native languages of its global workforce, to ensure it is understood well, and it is common knowledge that better understanding of the company’s code of conduct leads to better adherence to it.
Workplace harassment:
It is important to ensure that your staff conducts itself in a professional manner, and you need to provide knowledge of acceptable norms of behavior to your employees. This is essential because many people have misconceptions about the rules pertaining to conduct at the workplace. It is widely believed that starting and circulating rumors on fellow workers and using profane language at work is not a violation of law. But, these actions are punishable and can even lead to the termination of employment. Imparting training on workplace harassment is increasingly becoming important in the context of globalization as companies recruit workers from different countries. These employees, who have diverse cultural backgrounds, can be effectively trained, in their native languages, using online courses.
Accidents and other safety related issues:
Effective safety training is very useful to ensure the well-being of workers and enhances their performance. It educates them on the dos and don’ts of industrial safety and also provides knowledge on the precautions to be taken to avoid accidents at the workplace. Safety training is imparted primarily to personnel in the manufacturing, pharmaceutical and petrochemical companies. Translation of online courses, which provide safety training, is gaining significance as companies hire staff from various nations. These personnel can better understand safety concepts and procedures better, if safety training is delivered in their native languages.
Incidents of corruption:
Several countries have passed laws to prevent corporate corruption. For instance, the US enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) to deal with issues of graft. Other countries too have laws to combat corruption. For instance, the Bribery Act, passed by the British Parliament and the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, enacted by Canada address the problem of corruption by companies. There are also international anti-corruption stipulations such as the Inter-American Convention against Corruption and the OECD’s Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. The growing number of MNCs has made it essential to provide training on these anti-graft statutes as people are recruited by these organizations to work in foreign nations. It is important that eLearning courses, used to impart anti-corruption training, are translated into the native languages of the personnel. This is because people understand the laws better, when they are explained in their mother tongue.
Product Training:
Products are the lifeline of any company. The survival of an organization in today’s dynamic marketplace depends on its ability to launch products quickly and reach the customers effectively. Efficient product training is one of the key factors that contributes to the success of your products and thereby, of your company. It is important to translate product training courses into multiple languages because of these reasons.
For better bottom line:
Sales and service personnel play a very important role in augmenting the revenues of a company. Therefore, they need to have good training on the products of the organization. If the sales training is imparted in the mother tongue of these people, they learn more efficiently and help generate more profits.
To provide product information to the members of the extended enterprise:
Distributors and other channel partners need to be aware of the product features to explain its advantages to customers. Similarly, customers need to know how to use the product efficiently. As your company expands to markets in different countries, the members of your extended enterprise in these nations may not understand the features of your product if training is imparted only in English. So, it is better to translate your product training courses into the native languages of the people in your extended enterprise.
Thus, translating your online courses into the languages spoken by your global staff goes a long way in imparting high-quality training and ensures better performance.
