The challenge
With locations in Germany, Poland, the USA, Switzerland, England, South Korea, and Turkey, promoting effective communication and understanding across borders is essential for BODE. When working together, English serves as their common language, making it particularly important for employees to improve their English skills.
BODE is committed to fostering a closer company community, where clear and respectful communication is crucial. To this end, the emphasis on language learning is on business English and technical terminology, ensuring seamless collaboration and communication. For instance, one employee shared her experience of needing to translate a presentation into English on short notice. While she was reasonably proficient in English, she struggled with the task due to a lack of specific business vocabulary.
Although language skills are essential at BODE, language learning is entirely voluntary. To receive access to Babbel, employees can either reach out to the HR department themselves or be invited by their line managers to participate.
Why Babbel?
To ensure optimal support for BODE employees, Paula Simon, the Personnel Development Manager, set out to establish an English language program. She soon selected Babbel, a platform recommended by several of her friends.
One of her main reasons for choosing Babbel for Business was its flexible blended learning approach. Learners can book their virtual classes independently, while also learning via the Babbel app at times that best fit their schedules. Since Babbel for Business offers both virtual 1:1 and group classes, the training can be perfectly adapted to the individual needs of team members. In the virtual group classes, employees are encouraged to engage in conversation and practice their speaking and listening skills, as well as grammar and vocabulary. Some employees receive access to 1:1 classes, which are particularly useful if they work in very specific areas and need specialized vocabulary.
Although BODE primarily emphasizes English skills, employees appreciate that Babbel for Business also offers the opportunity to learn additional languages, such as Polish. Given the close collaboration with the Polish office, being able to speak some Polish with colleagues is beneficial for fostering strong relationships.
BODE aims for all Babbel learners to advance by one language level within six months — an achievable target, considering the high participation rates and positive feedback from employees. The HR department frequently receives requests for more Babbel licenses, and there is currently a waiting list for the program.
Samantha Homburg, HR Administrator, who took over the coordination of Babbel from Paula Simon, easily manages the language program through the Admin Portal. If she has questions, she asks the Customer Success manager, who is always ready to assist. Samantha has also used Babbel for her own language learning and feels that it has significantly boosted her confidence and fluency in English. Paula Simon echoes this sentiment, based on feedback from others who are currently learning or have learned with Babbel: “We’ve received a lot of positive feedback. Many people reach out to Samantha requesting additional credits. They enjoy the process and like learning with Babbel.”
“All learners are very active! We actually need more credits.”
Paula Simon, Personnel Development Manager, BODE
Samantha uses the reports feature in the Admin Portal to track how much employees are learning with Babbel every month. “Our most dedicated learner has learned over 2,000 minutes on the Babbel app in the past six months and has additionally attended virtual classes,” she notes. Many employees have reported feeling much more confident when speaking. For example, one employee mentioned that in his 1:1 classes, he specifically prepares for upcoming meetings in English, reviews the agenda with the teacher, and learns the necessary vocabulary.
Samantha is thrilled about a particularly successful experience: “One of our employees was initially sceptical about Babbel because it’s quite modern. I walked him through an introduction, which helped him understand how the system works. Now, he’s one of our most active learners and is extremely motivated! He frequently requests additional credits. It’s wonderful to see such motivation and a strong desire to learn emerge, especially after his initial scepticism.”
Conclusion
The Babbel for Business language courses have been a great success at BODE. The intuitive blended learning approach made it easy to roll out the program. Employees are not only enjoying their learning experiences but are also showing significant progress. Moreover, managing the program has been efficient and hassle-free for the HR department. There’s a noticeable boost in confidence among employees when they communicate in English with their international colleagues, which helps strengthen relationships across different locations.
“Language learning with Babbel for Business has definitely had a positive impact on our internal communication, especially between our international offices.”
Samantha Homburg, HR Administrator, BODE
