How to Increase the English Level of Your Company
Sabrena Doherty 
10 steps your company can take to significantly improve your Company's English level.
One of the programmes we have here at Inglés con Killian is called ´Fast Track to Fluency´, where we go into a company with the objective of improving the level of English there as quickly as possible, by helping them to be more fluent and comfortable in the areas they need, and by showing them
ways to incorporate English into the company to help them achieve their English goals faster.
In this article, I am going to outline 10 steps a company can take to improve its level of English.
The first and most important thing to do is make a plan, usually for 6 months, in collaboration with your staff, to improve the English level of the company. Inform staff of this, and what you are trying to achieve, and encourage them to participate by outlining the benefits - increased ability to work in international projects or with international clients, perhaps even a bonus to their salary if they achieve certain parameters.
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In this plan include the following activities:
- Encourage people to write to each other in English - emails, Teams chat, or whichever medium you use.
- Create an English forum in your communication software (for example Teams). In this group, you can create challenges in English, add daily English vocabulary or news related to your industry, and post any news related to English in your company.
- Make learning fun! Create challenges - encourage participants to do one thing in English every day, or dedicate one month to a particular area of English. For example - listen to English every day for 10 minutes to improve comprehension (it works!). Give prizes or a certificate to the person who participates the most.
- Provide employees with an online, self-directed English course. Also, offer the option of doing any in-company training in English.
- Provide employees with the opportunity to have group or one-to-one classes dedicated to what they need to learn. This is important for those who will work directly in English.
- Nominate one person one day every week to speak only English - and the people they speak to within the company have to reply in English.
- Get their English professionally assessed, and give them feedback on what they need to improve, and how to improve it.
- Incorporate English-speaking coffee breaks several times a week - you can only speak English in the coffee room, or dedicate a specific room for this.
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- Start having internal meetings in English - start with the easiest, shortest meeting (preferably one that doesn´t make big financial decisions for the company!) until the level of English improves.
- Gamification! Encourage and motivate staff by using leaderboards, rewarding those who participate the most in the English activities.
While all of the above steps will undoubtedly help your staff to improve their level of English, you should not force them to do it. They should be voluntary. Staff should feel encouraged and motivated to improve their English, not like it is an obligation (even if it is an urgent need for your company). The reason I say this is because we all know that we perform better if someone is helping us, encouraging us, and showing us the benefits of doing something, instead of making us do it. Forcing your staff to improve their English your way, if they are not comfortable, could cause them anxiety and stress, and/or make them unlikely to feel good about the process, therefore they may not be willing to improve their English at all and you could have problems.
The best way to approach these changes in the company is to offer them to the staff in a fun and motivating way, offering little ´prizes´ or recognition along the way, for those who are making the biggest effort and are willing to `participate the most. This way, you will not only improve the English level of your company, but you will improve relationships in the teams. Win-win!
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You would need a dedicated person to organise these measures and keep everyone motivated. Or you can contact the experts - this is what we do in our unique Fast Track to Fluency programme!
We create a programme specific to your company´s needs, taking into account your company´s budget, and even help you to secure government funding to do it. In this programme, we do some or all of the following (depending on your company´s needs):
Assess the needs of your company and develop a personalised programme for your company's specific needs
Analyse the level of each employee and help them develop a plan to improve their English
Provide a weekly useful and interesting list of resources for staff
Give individual and group fluency sessions
Facilitate monthly challenges with daily objectives for significant improvement in one area of English
Facilitate coffee breaks in English
Provide online self-study courses to improve your English and work on specific areas
Provide an exclusive forum to interact in English and share resources - or help your company develop its own.
RESULTS:
A significant increase in the level of English in your company, and happier more confident staff!
Contact us to find out more: [email protected]
Phone number: +34 622 567 969
For more information: Inglés Con Killian - Company English
Fast Track to Fluency Programme
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Categories: : Business English