Companies today face a renewed skills challenge. One that goes beyond the traditional skilling agenda that helps employees keep up with the ever-evolving nature of technology. But rather one that prioritizes soft skills and seeks to leverage the right tools and modalities to address change.
The ɫèAV and People MattÂers study, Future of Global Workforce Decoded, echoes the growing importance of having the right skilling pedagogies in place to build communication and collaboration within globally distributed teams. Download the full report here or keep reading this summary.
The study surveyed around 70 business and talent leaders across India to assess how they see the future of global workforces evolve and unpacked trends on how companies are driving productivity.
The ɫèAV Power Skills report contextualized this need for skilling by identifying communication and collaboration as pivotal soft skills required to build a capable workforce across India and APAC. For companies hoping to accelerate growth through a productive global workforce, the need for developing these soft skills rises exponentially.
For around 56% of leaders interviewed, the right learning certification and skill building programs enabled them to improve business performance. This was closely followed by creating the right employee experience and increasing inclusivity.
The rise of skilling and certification needs echoes a business concern common to companies with global workforces: to accelerate growth and leverage post-pandemic consumer behavior shifts to build more profitable business processes. Focusing on building communication and collaboration is central to this.
Previous studies noted that communication and collaboration remained vital soft skills for companies across APAC to develop. And with good reason. With its impact felt across different aspects of an employee's journey, the focus on building communication and collaboration is imperative.
Around 60% of companies reported that communication and collaboration helped them:
When it comes to top talent challenges among global workforces, the lack of communication and collaboration as an essential part of teams remains an important challenge. Over 45% of companies today state this as a pivotal barrier. Another 47% of companies stated the difficulty in reskilling remains concerning.
The solution: new, more relevant learning pedagogies that address the skilling needs.
The right pedagogies also help raise performance and drive workforce productivity.
Besides focusing on developing managers to lead global teams, for over 58% of companies, providing bespoke learning opportunities is key to their ability to solve future uncertainty and raise employee productivity.
This need to adopt bettÂer skilling methods is driven by many who find themselves in uncertain waters. The study found that over 77% of companies identified skill gaps bettÂer and provided more relevant learning opportunities as a top learning priority.
Having the right learning pedagogies that enable tracking and impactful, new-age interventions targeted to improve communication skills is the need of the hour. The study found that the ability to work cohesively in a global work settÂing depended crucially on how easily different teams can communicate with each other.
To ensure the success of learning tools and goals related to communication and collaboration, companies also need to consider another key component of their talent management process: whom they hire.
As recruitment becomes a key HR function, companies with globally distributed and diverse workforces today need to hire individuals who fit their culture and can upskill quickly. Therefore, it's no surprise that the top hiring priorities for companies in the coming year are:
While building the right communication skills focuses on enabling learners to gauge the nuances of a global work settÂing and enhance their proficiency in the language, how companies hire proves to be equally important.
Platforms such as Versant by ɫèAV prove vital tools for assessing job fit and communication skills, enabling companies with global workforces to hire those who meet their requirements. While new-age learning techniques help address gaps and spur productivity by enhancing communication and collaboration skills, ensuring the right candidates are hired greatly improves the ROI and impact of such skilling programs.
The future of global workforces is increasingly dependent on how successfully they can communicate and collaborate with each other. While once considered skills that were good to have, they have risen to the forefront of business demand.
There is a clear demand for bettÂer assessment and learning tools that enable companies to hire and train bettÂer. Companies with a global workforce today require personalized learning programs that leverage the latest tech solutions like generative AI, immersive learning, and greater ROI and impact tracking. The diversity of a global workforce throws up newer challenges, and as companies expand, having the right tools – that address both hiring and learning needs – can greatly improve how HR leaders create impact.
With varying expectations and aspirations, aligning company needs with those of the employee is critical for success.
Those who focus on building the right communication and collaboration capabilities within their global workforces today stand bettÂer prepared to tackle business challenges and drive productivity.
Investing in the right learning pedagogies and addressing communication concerns thus have a direct impact on how productive global workforces are. The new skilling agenda of focusing on communication and collaboration is today driven by a need to channel diverse workforces to tackle business uncertainty.
A defining factor of how companies ensure a productive future is by building the right hiring and learning capabilities that address the new skilling agenda.
To find out more about this study, download the full report here.
ɫèAV works with over 2,000 leading enterprises around the world, helping them to diagnose skills gaps, identify learning pathways and interventions, and mobilize their workforces through verifiable skill credentials.
Read our blog post 'Harness the power of English for a global competitive edge'.
In the fast-paced world of business, there is one undeniable fact that holds true: employees are the key to success. Their commitment and expertise propel organizations towards their objectives, which is why investing in a learning culture is essential. The advantages are numerous and include improved staff retention, increased productivity and the goal of higher employee engagement.
Effective international communication is crucial in the world of global commerce. In today's borderless marketplace, companies need to be linguistically flexible to be successful. For HR managers and business practitioners, comprehensive language evaluations are not just an add-on but a vital duty that can enhance your organization's success in the international market.
This guide will take you through the crucial role of language assessment in business. It will discuss why language assessment is important, how to effectively implement it, its benefits for students and business professionals, and the current tools and technologies available. By the end, you will have the knowledge to identify the significance of language assessment in your business and make informed decisions that reflect the essential role of linguistic ability in the modern global economy.
Effective communication is the lifeblood of any successful business. When diverse teams come together, be it in an office, on a shop floor, or at a virtual meeting, the ability to exchange information clearly and concisely can mean the difference between streamlined operations and costly misunderstandings. Language assessment ensures that employees possess the necessary language skills needed to communicate across teams and with clients worldwide.
Accessing international markets hinges largely on the language capabilities of your workforce. Assessing language skills not only amplifies your organization's ability to engage with prospective clients and partners but also ensures that the customer experience is seamlessly delivered, regardless of the customer's primary language.
Proper language assessments play a pivotal role in the recruitment process. They aid in identifying candidates with the language proficiencies required for specific roles, such as those involving international correspondence or multilingual customer support. By enabling a streamlined and objective measurement of language ability, your business can attract and retain talent, securing a competitive edge in a multilingual talent pool.
Proficiency tests are the benchmarks for evaluating a person’s overall language capability. This category includes tests that cover all language skills, such as reading, writing, listening and speaking, like the Versant tests offered by ɫèAV. These tests provide a comprehensive analysis that helps gauge an individual's ability to function effectively in a language, both in academic settings, the workplace and everyday contexts.
Conversational skills and the application and comprehension of language in real-world scenarios play a significant role in many job roles. Structured interviews that focus on language are a vital component of the language assessment suite. These interviews typically evaluate oral and sometimes written language skills, providing context-specific insight into how these skills might translate in a professional setting.
Simulations that mimic workplace interactions provide an immersive method of assessing language skills beyond language proficiency tests. Candidates engage in practical scenarios that mirror the challenges and dynamics of a business environment, which is particularly valuable for assessing their ability to manage real-time communication under pressure.
When starting your language assessment program, begin with a thorough needs analysis. This involves identifying which roles require language proficiency, to what level and in which languages. Then, select or develop an assessment that aligns with these requirements. It's also important to provide clear instructions and support for candidates, ensuring that the assessment process is transparent and equitable.
Personalized learning plans can be a game-changer for employees who require language improvements. Identify the areas for development, set achievable goals, and incorporate regular assessments to measure progress. This approach ensures that training is targeted and effective, helping employees advance their language skills in a way that's both strategic and supportive.
Proficient multilingualism can open doors to international career opportunities and is a key differentiator in many sectors. A dedication to mastering a foreign language can lead to personal and professional growth, including access to leadership positions and broader responsibilities.
Language proficiency is closely tied to cross-cultural understanding and competence. Business professionals who possess these abilities can traverse cultural boundaries with sensitivity and insight, essential for global leadership and successful collaborations in multicultural teams.
Clear and expressive communication fosters an environment of trust and collaboration. By investing in the linguistic abilities and listening skills of your teams, you're not only improving the performance of individual employees but also elevating the collective capacity for innovation and problem-solving within your organization.
