English has been the lingua franca in the corporate/business world for several years. The English language is taught in every country across the globe, however, it may interest you to know that at least half of the world’s population is bilingual. In fact, some of the world’s recognizable leaders in the digital world are bilingual; Jan Koum (Co-founder and CEO of WhatsApp), Alexis Ohanian (Co-founder of Reddit), Sergey Brin (Co-founder of Google), Marissa Mayer (Former President of Yahoo), etc. . In 2010, Mark Zuckerberg (Founder and CEO of Facebook) expressed his desire to learn Mandarin. In a Q&A session (2014) at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, Zuckerberg addressed the audience in Mandarin for the first time ever and, a year later, awed the audience again when he gave a 20-minute speech in Mandarin on Facebook’s history. While Chinese lecturers admitted that Zuckerberg’s Chinese is far from perfect, they noted that his efforts were ‘charming’. Chen Gao (lecturer in East Asian studies at New York University) equally commented, “What I want to tell my students is that if the CEO of a $200 billion company has time to learn the "Category IV" language, you cannot say you are too busy to practice.”

Are You Preparing Your Business For a Multilingual Market?

In the wake of globalization, it would be unfortunate for entrepreneurs and companies to limit themselves to monolingualism. Brands and companies are now expanding to accommodate a wider and more diverse audience. This creates an urgent need and demand for companies to possess the ability to communicate with every unique customer within their global reach. Incorporating language training in a company’s strategy proves advantageous to both its clients and employees. According to a study by Rosetta Stone, only 46% of the employees surveyed agreed to practice languages they’d studied earlier in life. Though he also studied Latin and Greek earlier on in life, Bill Gates (Principal Founder of Microsoft) revealed in a Reddit’s Ask-Me-Anything session that he regrets not mastering any foreign languages. 

Executives and Human Resource Managers have demonstrated doubt when figuring out the gains acquired through the entire process. In other words; Is language training a worthy investment? Here are some reasons why language training is essential for your business/company:·      

•   Improves Employee Productivity and Confidence.
  
  Study shows that 70% of employees feel more confident in their work and interactions after completing language training. The recent years have seen a rise in the number of millennials in the workspace and an increasing demand to keep this bunch of employees ‘happy’. Millennials in the workspace look toward personal and career development in their experience working for a company. Another study shows that 50% of employees (not necessarily millennials) left their jobs to pursue a path that will improve their lives. Without a doubt, employees are most likely to feel valued and produce better results at work when provided with free training programs and learning opportunities.· 
•        Allows Company Expansion and Internal Promotion.
  Learning a foreign language equips individuals with skills that set them apart from their peers. It is scientifically proven that being bilingual or multilingual has cognitive benefits, helps with memory retention, enhances flexibility, and slows down the aging process. According to the U.S Committee of Economic Development, nearly 80% of business leaders surveyed believe that having internationally qualified employees would increase their overall business. Providing language training programs for your personnel eliminates stress and additional time spent in recruiting new employees to cater to your corporate expansion into international markets. Instead of trying to find bilinguals/multilinguals with the necessary language skills, extending those opportunities to an already existing personnel saves costs and encourages employee growth through promotions and skill development.·       
•  Strengthens Client Relationship.
  There is no better way to connect to your clients than being able to smoothly communicate with them in their local language. For companies going global, this is a key factor to consider when trying to capture new market. Study also shows that fluency is not a necessity for a company’s workforce; Learning the language basics to get you through a few essential conversations can go a long way in business. In America alone, businesses report more than $2 billion is lost to language limitations and cultural misunderstandings. Brands and organizations need to acknowledge that there are over 7,000 languages in the world and clients, most probably, speak languages other than English. Ensuring your staff possesses the ability to communicate in a client’s native language promotes client satisfaction, develops cultural appreciation, and aids consumer-based research.

 Newbridge provides world-class private, business and corporate language training in Kenya. Each language course is unique and tailored to your specific business requirements, ensuring that your corporate language training goals are met in the shortest time possible.

For more information on this and other services, kindly send us an email at admin@newbridge-africa.com or call us on 0720 883848 or 0723671483. 

Sources:https:

https://www.businessinsider.com/6-top-business-leaders-that-speak-more-than-one-language-2017-8?IR=T

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/10/23/here-are-some-hot-takes-on-mark-zuckerbergs-mandarin-skills/?utm_term=.197840064899

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2tzjp7/hi_reddit_im_bill_gates_and_im_back_for_my_third/

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/296242

https://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2014/04/17/how-learning-an-additional-language-could-influence-your-business/#67d47ce70c0e

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238500

https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/research-confirms-what-we-all-suspected-millennials-in-workplace-are-not-that-different-from-other-generations.html