In international companies, business English often serves as an effective communication solution and a way to avoid barriers of communication between different cultures and languages. Still, recent studies show that effective multilingual companies have more innovative cultures that help them compete globally — and that English-only companies run the risk of falling behind.
Though English can be an effective communication standard, companies that exclusively rely on it still run the risk of miscommunications—both internally and externally—when conducting international business. The companies that truly stand out have multilingual teams that are still managed well enough to avoid barriers of communication.
For some English-only businesses that can’t make this adjustment, the results are likely to be catastrophic in the years ahead. Fortunately, there is still time to adjust and to find effective communication with a multilingual workforce, along with a host of other benefits.
How Does Multilingualism Lead to Effective Communication?
There’s no doubt that the UK and US economies are two of the strongest in the world, boasting a huge global market share and some of the most innovative and forward-thinking companies on the planet. However, despite the astronomical influence these markets have on the global economy, recent studies have shown that businesses that speak a variety of languages have more effective communication than those that only speak English, among other competitive advantages. In the past, it was often thought that embracing multilingualism could spur innovation, but at the cost of introducing miscommunication and confusion.
Still, recent studies show this isn’t true: rather than hurting business, multilingualism is fantastic for external business relationships due to heightened cultural awareness leading to more effective communication. Although English is widely thought of as the international business language, English-only companies are losing out to foreign competitors because of a lack of cross-cultural competence and its resulting barriers to communication.
Businesses outside the UK and US have an upper hand here, as they can avoid miscommunication in local languages and connect with targeted communities. Strategic considerations aside, there are a multitude of benefits that come with embracing a multilingual workforce: doing so boosts employee confidence, expands an organization’s horizons, and fosters better communities both inside and outside the company.
How Switzerland LEAPs Over Barriers of Communication
Switzerland is a great example of a country that continues to nurture its national languages and is reaping the benefits as a result. A study financed by the Swiss National Research Programme called The LEAP Project shows that the country’s multilingual heritage gives it a competitive advantage in effective communication worth $38.15 billion. Switzerland is a unique country as it has four national languages—German, French, Italian, and Romansh, a Latin-based language which is spoken by 0.5% of the population.
The LEAP project looked at how Swiss companies deal with the country’s multilingualism—specifically how languages can generate economic value and what impact they have on certain sectors and jobs. The report confirmed the importance of English as a global business language but found the other intermediary languages of Switzerland helped build successful business relationships by avoiding cultural miscommunication.
“There are many cases where English is not enough and you need more to get a competitive edge,” says François Grin, a professor of economics at Geneva University and the leader of The LEAP Project. “It’s very useful to draw on a rich linguistic repertoire.”
Grin sees the championing of multi-national languages as more than just culturally beneficial. “The notion that we need to take care of our national languages in addition to English and possibly to develop skills in further languages is something that makes sense not just politically and sociologically but also economically,” he says.
Can Multilingualism Lead to Miscommunication?
We’ve looked at what can be gained from multilingualism in business, but can it also lead to miscommunication or lost connections? Though introducing multilingualism to a company can add some internal challenges, research shows that the external benefits of effective communication greatly outweigh them.
A study conducted by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) shows that although English is considered an international language, local languages and cultures are still crucial in business, with companies across the US experiencing a shortage of multilingual employees.
The study, titled “Making Languages Our Business,” states that 90% of employers rely heavily on employees who can speak a language other than English to conduct business while avoiding barriers of communication. The study also states that 56% of employers expect the demand for a multilingual workforce to increase within the next five years.
The reason for this is that effective communication with international customers and communities is increasingly important in an ever-more-global world. Companies are expanding into domestic and international markets at rapid rates, and local language knowledge is often crucial to avoiding miscommunication and forming sustainable relationships.
ACTFL argues that there should be greater emphasis placed on the importance of a multilingual workforce, stating “[Foreign language] needs to be recognized as a complementary and often interdependent skill that produces the globally competent workforce employers are seeking.”
In addition to its broader benefits in effective communication, the study also showed that multilingualism has benefits individually as well: multilingual employees tend to earn significantly more than their monolingual peers, with Spanish, French and German amongst the most sought-after business languages.
The Good News: Effective Communication and Multilingualism Aren’t Opposites
Introducing language learning to your multilingual workforce without adding barriers of communication can seem like a mammoth task, but Babbel’s offering is just as flexible and forward-thinking as your workforce. By offering the Babbel language learning platform as part of your professional development training, you can get the entire company started on their language learning journey without having to coordinate in-house lessons with expensive tutors.
Your employees can carry the Babbel app on their smartphones, learning at their own pace at a level that suits their needs—and to get your team speaking quickly, your employees can join online 1:1 or group lessons with professional teachers. At work, they can practice their new language during coffee breaks or as a team in language learning lunches.
Because Babbel gets teams speaking new languages fast, you’ll soon be overcoming barriers to communication with international customers and cutting above the competition—as only the effective communication of a truly international workforce can.
What are the benefits of blended learning for your company?
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