Language proficiency and succession planning: Developing future leaders

Berenice Lopez
business people in a board room with a graph on the wall behind
Reading time: 7 minutes

In today’s fast-paced business landscape, proactive succession planning is essential for HR professionals. Preparing the next generation of leaders is a business-critical initiative, to ensure organizational continuity, agility and long-term success.

Succession planning is often high up on the HR agenda, as it also promotes progression, reduces business disruption, and attracts top talent. There are many components to effective succession planning, including skills development, but one skill that’s often overlooked in this process is communication. One often overlooked yet highly influential component of effective succession planning is language proficiency.

At ɫèAV ELL, we believe strongly in the power of language and have designed our succession planning strategy with this in mind. The focus is on creating multilingual leaders who are not only proficient in their respective fields but also have a deep understanding of global culture and market dynamics.

In this blog post, we explore how communication skills and specifically language proficiency plays a pivotal role in succession planning and the development of future leaders. We’ll also provide actionable insights for HR professionals and managers on integrating language development into their succession strategies. As well as some insights from our very own ELL HR team.

Integrating languages into succession planning
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What is succession planning?

Succession planning is a strategic process that organizations employ to identify and develop internal personnel with the potential to fill key leadership positions in the future. The succession planning process involves steps such as identifying key roles, assessing potential candidates, developing talent through training and mentoring, and regularly reviewing and updating the plan. This systematic approach ensures that businesses have a pipeline of qualified and capable leaders ready to step up when current leaders vacate their roles due to retirement, career progression, or unforeseen circumstances.

Effective succession planning goes beyond merely filling vacancies; it focuses on growing leaders who are aligned with the organization’s culture, values and business strategies. A well-developed succession planning strategy is crucial for identifying and preparing successors for senior leadership roles, emphasizing long-term talent development and leadership training. It involves a comprehensive assessment of potential leaders’ skills, performance and development needs, coupled with targeted training and mentoring programs. By investing in succession planning, organizations can mitigate risks, sustain their competitive edge, and ensure business continuity in an ever-evolving marketplace.

Implementing a succession plan

Successful succession planning involves:

  • Step 1: Identify roles: Recognizing the positions that are critical to the business and the individuals who have the potential to fill these roles in the future. This ensures business continuity and reduces the impact of turnover.
  • Step 2: Identify candidates: Strategically identifying and nurturing potential employees within the company to fill key organizational roles in the future.
  • Step 3: Prepare employees: Offering training and experiences that prepare these individuals for future leadership positions within the company.
  • Step 4: Transition: Implementing strategies that allow for a seamless shift of responsibilities when the time comes.

For internal candidates,we utilize a combination of performance evaluations, language proficiency assessments by the leader, and leadership potential indicators to identify candidates for key roles.

Contact us to find out how we can help your organization

Additional benefits of succession planning

In addition to ensuring business continuity and minimizing the impact of turnover, succession planning can also support your wider HR initiatives, including:

  • Attracting top talent: An organization that has a well-developed succession plan in place signals to potential candidates that it values employee development and career progression. This can be a significant draw for top talent.
  • Fostering employees’ motivation and engagement: When employees see opportunities for growth and advancement within the organization, they are more likely to be motivated and engaged in their work.
  • Promoting diversity and inclusivity: By identifying and developing a diverse pool of leaders, succession planning helps organizations foster a culture of diversity and inclusivity.
  • Saving time and costs: Succession planning enables organizations to proactively prepare candidates for leadership positions, saving time and resources that would otherwise be spent on external recruitment. With external hiring costing, on average, than internally.

Integrating language proficiency into succession planning

Effective communication is fundamental to strong leadership, particularly when working with international teams. Mastery of English, the global business language, is essential. Enhancing English proficiency can significantly improve a leader's ability to communicate clearly and effectively with diverse audiences, making them more adaptable and confident in their roles.

Incorporating language training into leadership development programs is vital for identifying and nurturing future leaders. These programs should include personalized development plans, talent assessments, and considerations for diversity to better adapt to global and remote work environments.

1. Assessment and identification of key positions

Start by assessing the current language skills within your organization and identifying key positions that are critical to your business operations and future goals. Recognize the importance of these roles and ensure that you have effective succession planning in place. Evaluate potential leaders not only on their existing competencies but also on their ability to learn new languages.

At ɫèAV Languages, when it comes to identifying potential successors for key roles, we look beyond performance metrics. We consider language proficiency an essential skill set. Our Talent Management team works closely with the HR department and department heads to identify employees with strong language skills. These are individuals who not only excel in their current roles but also display the potential to take on bigger responsibilities.

We understand the risks and gaps that may arise in succession planning. To mitigate these, we conduct regular risk assessments and gap analyses, focusing especially on roles requiring specific language skills. For roles with specialized language requirements, we take a proactive approach by investing in targeted recruitment, promoting the use of our products for self-improvement, and providing immersive language experiences.

2. Training and development

Incorporate talent development programs into your leadership development programs to nurture high-potential employees through structured training. This can be done through formal classes, online courses, or immersive experiences such as international assignments or exchanges.

Encourage continuous learning and provide resources that make language acquisition accessible and engaging. When looking at language training you can use applications like Mondly by ɫèAV Workplace English to make learning relevant, fun and easy for staff.

Here at ɫèAV Languages, we believe in continuous learning and provide our employees with a plethora of opportunities to enhance their skills. This includes access to e-learning platforms, regular workshops and seminars.

3. Real-world application

Create opportunities for emerging leaders to use their language skills in real-world situations, emphasizing the importance of developing a competent leadership team that can fulfil both operational and strategic responsibilities. This could involve leading multinational projects, participating in global conferences, or managing international teams. Practical application solidifies language skills and builds confidence.

As for us here at ɫèAV Languages. Our company provides ongoing opportunities for high-potential employees to enhance their skills. Through mentoring, coaching and buddy support opportunities. Regular events focusing on professional development and internal groups that encourage knowledge sharing and collaborative learning.

4. Cultural training

Combine language training with cultural education. Offer workshops and seminars that cover cultural norms, business etiquette, and effective communication strategies for different global or local regions. This approach ensures that key leaders are not only linguistically proficient but also culturally competent, which is crucial for developing employees who might perform well in top leadership roles.

To prepare employees for future leadership roles that require language proficiency, we believe in practical learning. Our initiatives include cross-cultural leadership interactions and various engagement initiatives aimed at promoting language skills and cultural competency.

5.Keeping plans up to date

Once you've implemented the plan, it's important to keep it regularly updated to avoid any issues. A systematic approach to monitoring and evaluating progress is crucial to ensuring the effectiveness of language integration in succession planning. Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) related to language proficiency and regularly assess how these are being met.

This involves tracking the progress of language development in emerging leaders through assessments, feedback sessions and performance reviews. Such continuous evaluation allows organizations to make necessary adjustments to their training programs and to address any emerging gaps swiftly.

As a dynamic business, we believe in keeping our succession plans current. They are reviewed and updated annually to ensure our readiness to manage unexpected changes and evolving business needs. The focus of these reviews includes reassessing the language requirements for all critical roles while aligning with our global strategy.

Our commitment to continuous improvement helps us refine and enhance our succession planning strategy. Through regular feedback loops, monitoring industry benchmarks, and staying updated with the latest best practices, we continue to focus on incorporating language skills into our planning.

Successful integration of language proficiency

Talent management is an invaluable asset in the toolkit of future leaders. By recognizing its importance and integrating it with succession planning and leadership development practices, HR professionals and managers can explore employees' career paths and skills development while focusing on filling critical roles within the company.

Being part of a leadership development program that integrates language proficiency is an amazing opportunity for employees to enrich their lives and careers with essential language skills. These skills are pivotal in propelling them through the ranks within the organization. For individuals aspiring to international leadership positions, highlighting the organization's commitment to supporting language acquisition can be a significant draw. This not only demonstrates the company's investment in its employees' growth but also underscores its dedication to fostering a pool of well-rounded, competent leaders.

By focusing on language skills, the organisation ensures its leaders thrive, are equipped with the tools necessary to navigate the complexities of a global marketplace, and are ready to elevate their careers alongside the organisation's success.

Read the blog post 'Local to global: How English skills unlock a career in leadership'.

Find out how ɫèAV can support your team with language training and assessment for businesses.

Discover ɫèAV Language Solutions for Work

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  • a young boy and a young girl sat at desks in a classroom, smiling and looking at another child in front of them

    Five ways to promote friendship in your English language classroom

    By Joanna Wiseman

    There is a strong link between well-being and friendship, which is just as accurate for children as it is for adults. that children with stable friendships are happier, more able to cope with stress, and have higher self-esteem. Moreover, too, and children who experience friendship adjust more easily to school and perform better academically. School friendships are also a valuable way of learning social skills like sharing, resolving conflict, and engaging with peers positively.

    Having friends is an important part of school life, and teachers can play a significant role in creating a positive classroom culture and helping children and young people to form friendships. How can you promote friendships between your students? Here are some ideas:

    1. Make friendship a central theme in your classes

    If there is an example of a good friendship in a book you are reading with students or in your lesson materials, draw your students’ attention to it. For instance, The Jungle Book is an excellent example of a story about friendship. Encourage your students to think critically about the friendships that they read about. You can ask questions like:

    • What are some things a good friend does?
    • What are the qualities of a good friend?
    • What words do you associate with friendship?

    By discussing friendship regularly in the classroom, your students will learn about the behavior and characteristics of being a good friend.

    2. Create opportunities for interaction

    You can create lots of opportunities for students to build friendships with one another during class time. Design activities that call for pair or group work, and include at least one or two in every lesson. Focusing on a common goal or problem is a great way to encourage your students to bond with one another.As a bonus, this collaborative way of working promotes important 21st century skills like communication and problem-solving.

    Another way of promoting friendships between different groups of students is moving them around. Adjust your seating plan regularly to ensure that all your students interact with and work alongside different classmates, to promote positive, friendly classroom vibes.

    3. Discuss and model good behavior

    Friendship is a social skill that children need to learn – and you can help by teaching them. Be explicit about exactly what you expect from them. Saying, “Be kind” is an abstract, vague concept that children might struggle to put into practice. Instead, give them concrete examples of behavior, such as:

    • take turns when playing
    • speak respectfully
    • share pens or other resources

    When you see a student engaging in these behaviors, draw attention to them and praise them.

    But to really convey the importance of school friendships and kind behavior, it’s not enough to tell them. As the teacher, you must model the behavior you’d like to see in your students. Be consistently positive and upbeat in your interactions with students, thank your learners when they offer help with something, and try to refrain from sounding impatient (even when you are!). All these steps will help to build a positive classroom culture where students feel secure, supported and happy.

    4. Help to navigate difficult situations

    Conflict is an inevitable part of school life, but you can help students to navigate arguments and other difficult situations in the classroom. If two students argue, you can help them to resolve it with the following steps:

    • Separate the students to give them time to calm down.
    • Have a conversation with them. Ask for their perspective on the conflict, and find out how their day has been in general. Sometimes, you can better understand a student’s reaction when you look at the bigger picture. Ask them how they feel, and how they could resolve the situation.
    • Bring the students together again to discuss things and find a resolution together. Reconciliation is the goal.

    Following these simple steps teaches children a framework for resolving conflict and gives them the tools to process strong emotions.

    5. Do some friendship-focused activities

    An excellent way to promote a positive classroom culture is to do friendship-focused activities with your students:

    You could do a Venn diagram activity, where students work in pairs to discuss and write down things they have in common and areas of difference. It’s good to pair students who don’t spend much time together for this activity.

    Another positive activity is a 'Honey Roast'. Give students enough squares of paper to have one for each of their classmates. Get them to write their classmates’ names on the paper, and then, on the other side, write down a compliment or something they like about that person, for example, “I like your handwriting”, or “You always use kind words”. Collect the pieces of paper and read out some nice examples to the class. Alternatively, give them directly to the students to read to themselves.

  • Children in a classroom with their hands up

    8 first lesson problems for young learners

    By Joanna Wiseman

    The first class with a new group of young learners can be a nerve-wracking experience for teachers old and new. Many of us spend the night before thinking about how to make a positive start to the year, with a mixture of nerves, excitement, and a desire to get started. However, sometimes things don’t always go as expected, and it is important to set a few ground rules in those early lessons to ensure a positive classroom experience for all, throughout the academic year.

    Let’s look at a few common problems that can come up, and how best to deal with them at the start of the school year.

    1. Students are not ready to start the class

    How the first few minutes of the class are spent can greatly influence how the lesson goes. Students can be slow to get out their equipment and this can cause a lot of time wasting. To discourage this, start lessons with a timed challenge.

    1. Tell students what you want them to do when they come into class, e.g. sit down, take out their books and pencil cases, sit quietly ready for the lesson to start.
    2. Time how long it takes for everyone to do this and make a note. Each day do the same.
    3. Challenge students to do this faster every day. You could provide a goal and offer a prize at the end of the trimester if they reach it, e.g. be ready in less than a minute every day.

    2. Students speak their first language (L1) in class

    One of primary teachers' most common classroom management issues is getting them to speak English. However, young learners may need to speak their mother tongue occasionally, and a complete ban on L1 is often not the best solution. But how can we encourage students to use English wherever possible?

    Tell students they have to ask permission to speak in L1, if they really need to.

    • 3 word rule — tell students that they can use a maximum of three words in L1 if they don’t know them in English.
    • Write ENGLISH on the board in large letters. Each time someone speaks in L1, erase a letter. Tell students each letter represents time (e.g. 1 minute) to play a game or do another fun activity at the end of the lesson. If the whole word remains they can choose a game.

    3. Students don’t get on with each other

    It is only natural that students will want to sit with their friends, but it is important that students learn to work with different people. Most students will react reasonably if asked to work with someone new, but occasionally conflicts can arise. To help avoid uncomfortable situations, do team building activities, such as those below, at the beginning of the school year, and do them again whenever you feel that they would be beneficial:

    • Give students an icebreaker activity such as 'find a friend bingo' to help students find out more about each other.
    • Help students learn more about each other by finding out what they have in common.
    • Balloon race. Have two or more teams with an equal number of students stand in lines. Give each team a balloon to pass to the next student without using their hands. The first team to pass the balloon to the end of the line wins.
    • Team letter/word building. Call out a letter of the alphabet and have pairs of students form it with their bodies, lying on the floor. When students can do this easily, call out short words, e.g. cat, and have the pairs join up (e.g. three pairs = group of six) and form the letters to make the word.

    4. Students don’t know what to do

    When the instructions are given in English, there will inevitably be a few students who don’t understand what they have to do. It is essential to give clear, concise instructions and to model the activity before you ask students to start. To check students know what to do and clarify any problems:

    • Have one or more students demonstrate using an example.
    • Have one student explain the task in L1.
    • Monitor the task closely in the first few minutes and check individual students are on the right track.

    5. A student refuses to participate/do the task

    This is a frequent problem that can have many different causes. In the first few lessons, this may simply be shyness, but it is important to identify the cause early to devise an effective strategy. A few other causes might include:

    • Lack of language required to respond or do the task. Provide differentiation tasks or scaffolding to help students with a lower level complete the task or have them respond in a non-oral way.
    • Low self-confidence in their ability to speak English. Again, differentiation and scaffolding can help here. Have students work in small groups or pairs first, before being asked to speak in front of the whole class.
    • Lack of interest or engagement in the topic. If students aren’t interested, they won’t have anything to say. Adapt the topic or task, or just move on.
    • External issues e.g. a bad day, a fight with a friend, physical problems (tiredness/hunger/thirst). Talk to the student privately to find out if they are experiencing any problems. Allow them to 'pass' on a task if necessary, and give them something less challenging to do.

    It is important not to force students to do something they don’t want to do, as this will cause a negative atmosphere and can affect the whole class. Ultimately, if a student skips one or two tasks, it won’t affect their achievement in the long run.

    6. Students ask for repeated restroom/water breaks

    It only takes one student to ask to go to the restroom before the whole class suddenly needs to go! This can cause disruption and stops the flow of the lesson. To avoid this, make sure you have rules in place concerning restroom breaks:

    • Make sure students know to go to the restroom before the lesson.
    • Have students bring in their own water bottles. You can provide a space for them to keep their bottles (label them with student names) in the classroom and have students fill them daily at the drinking fountain or faucet.
    • Find out if anyone has any special requirements that may require going to the restroom.
    • Provide 'brain breaks' at strategic points in the lesson when you see students becoming restless.

    7. Students don’t have the required materials

    • Provide parents with a list of materials students will need on the first day.
    • If special materials are required in a lesson, give students a note to take home or post a message on the school platform several days before.
    • Don’t blame the student - whether they have a good reason or not for turning up to class empty-handed, making a child feel guilty will not help.
    • Write a note for parents explaining why bringing materials to class is important.

    8. Students are not listening/talking

    Getting their attention can be challenging if you have a boisterous class. Set up a signal you will use when you want them to pay attention to you. When they hear or see the signal, students should stop what they are doing and look at you. Some common signals are:

    • Raising your hand- When students see you raise your hand, they should raise their hands and stop talking. Wait until everyone is sitting in silence with their hands raised. This works well with older children and teenagers.
    • Call and response attention-getters - These are short phrases that prompt students to respond in a certain way, for example: Teacher: "1 2 3, eyes on me!"Students: "1 2 3, eyes on you!". Introduce a new attention-getter every few weeks to keep it fun. You can even have your students think up their own phrases to use.
    • Countdowns -Tell students what you want them to do and count backwards from ten to zero, e.g. "When I get to zero, I need you all to be quiet and look at me. 10, 9, 8 …"
    • Keep your voice low and speak calmly -This will encourage students to stop talking and bring down excitement levels.
    • A short song or clapping rhythm -With younger children, it is effective to use music or songs for transitions between lesson stages so they know what to do at each stage. For primary-aged children, clap out a rhythm and have them repeat it. Start with a simple rhythm, then gradually make it longer, faster, or more complex.