Tips for Training Employees with Language Barriers

1. TIPS FOR TRAINING EMPLOYEES WITH LANGUAGE BARRIERS

2.  LANGUAGE BARRIERS Language barriers are a common challenge for global companies or organisations that outsource roles overseas and use manpower from across the world. Such businesses are constantly looking for smart ways to bridge communication gaps, reinforce workplace collaboration and thus improve employee efficiency company-wide. Here are a few tips to effectively train your multilingual workforce and overcome language barriers.

3.  DETERMINE UNDERSTANDING LEVEL Before you start training your staff, you must first determine their level of language understanding and prior knowledge. While some may be completely unaware of the language you are training them for, others may have basic knowledge of the everyday phrases and expressions. To evaluate the level of language understanding of the trainees, ask them to simply introduce themselves. Once you know exactly how much each employee understands, you can plan your training method accordingly.

4.  ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION Educating employees on certain linguistic areas in each class wouldn’t help them excel at their roles. You need to ensure that they have understood what has been taught and can implement their learnings in their work. Encourage trainees to participate in practical sessions and assess how much they have learned. Also give each individual feedback to help them understand where they are still lacking and what areas they need to work on.

5.  LEVERAGE VISUAL AIDS More often than not, visual tools help in passing information across more effectively than verbal communication. You can use pictures and videos to physically demonstrate how to use your business software, hardware or other resources and to explain complicated concepts. Not only do visual cues offer an effective means of communication but they also induce employees to think more creatively and remember the concepts easily.

6.  GIVE TRAINING HANDOUTS After every training session, provide the employees with written guides and training materials to enable them to summarise and refer to what have been covered in the class. This will help trainees to study and learn parts they failed to understand or missed out on in the training room.

7.  HIRE A PROFESSIONAL INTERPRETER When providing a group of multilingual employees with language training, seek assistance from a professional translation service to make your training sessions more fruitful. A professional interpreter service not only assists you with real-time document translation during training classes, but it is helpful when training employees of a specific department like marketing, sales or software development. A specialised interpreter will have a good knowledge of the jargons and phrases that are commonly used in a certain field and can train employees to use them in their workplace to communicate effectively.

8. FINAL THOUGHTS Working in a diversified environment with people of different backgrounds and cultures provide employees the opportunity to be more creative and productive. Don’t let language barriers obstruct the ability of your employees to collaborate and produce innovative outcomes.

9. REACH US Interpreters On Site Pty Ltd PO Box 3422 Liverpool Westfield NSW 2170 ios@interpretersonsite.com.au 1300 882 972 http://www.interpretersonsite.com.au