In today’s business world, solid skills in English are simply a must. Whether doing business with international customers, planning projects with colleagues in another country or presenting your products at a global trade fair, chances are you will be talking in English. In fact, with 1.5 billion people speaking it as their native tongue or second language, English is currently the most spoken language in the world.
In other words, if you want to stay competitive and excel in an increasingly global economy, you need to make sure your employees have excellent business English skills. But how can you know for sure that they do? Here are five sure signs your employees may need to improve their business English skills – and what to do about it.
They have difficulty writing in English
Difficulty writing in English is definitely a sign your employees need to improve their business English skills – and one that is important to address as soon as possible. After all, the majority of a company’s communication both internally and externally is likely to be in written form. Although a few minor grammar mistakes in an e-mail to a foreign colleague may not be a big deal, sending a message full of mistakes can make a bad impression, and using language that is too direct might even be offensive.
Needless to say, your communication with customers needs to be absolutely flawless, including e-mails, letters and your website itself. Speaking of websites, the better your employees are at writing in English, the less content you’ll have to outsource to external writers or translators, which will save you money in the long run.
They are uncomfortable talking to customers in English
While some companies constantly communicate with customers in English, other companies may only have an occasional e-mail or phone call in the language. If this is the case at your company, your employees may feel very nervous communicating in English. After all, it takes a lot of time to learn a foreign language but unfortunately no time at all to forget what you’ve learned!
To ensure your employees maintain their business English skills, you need to make sure they get the chance to continually practice their English in both written and spoken form. If you do, your employees will communicate in English with professional confidence, no matter how often they have to do so.
They don’t know the right job-related vocabulary
Sure, your employees may be great at small talk in English, but they won’t get far with savvy customers if they don’t know important job-related vocabulary. If they don’t know key business English terms and phrases, communication won’t get much further than greetings and sharing basic information.
Improving business English therefore should mean getting the right job-specific words to make sure your employees can share their expertise and knowledge with as much ease as they do in their native language. In addition, this is also an ideal way to bring that extra level of sophistication to the English skills they already have.
They are terrified of making presentations in English
No doubt about it, making presentations can be nerve-wracking experience, especially if you have to give them in a foreign language. But they certainly don’t have to be! If your employees try to avoid giving presentations in English, or are making too many mistakes when they do, then it is time to improve those business English skills.
Luckily, this can be a stress-free process. Learning key English phrases to structure presentation will allow your employees to bring more professional polish to their presentations in an instant – and help them further develop their general presentation skills in the process.
They don’t know anything about the cultural customs of their target group
Wait, what do cultural custom have to do with business English? Well, actually a lot! After all, selling to customers, making deals with companies located in another country or building an international team is about much more than just grammar and vocabulary. Business English is also about culture, which means understanding your own as well as others.
No matter how good their overall business English skills are, if your employees are still communicating or addressing your target group using language or communication tactics that do not meet their expectations or even come across as offensive to their audience, this could have negative results for your company or reputation. Good business English therefore always means rising above your own cultural biases and assumptions – and adjusting how you communicate accordingly.
Help is on the way
If you’ve realized your employees need help in one or more of these areas, whatever you do, don’t panic! Whether they need to learn the right phrases to a give a presentation at an important event, write a report in English for the global group, communicate effectively with their new Polish colleagues or improve their general e-mailing and messaging skills, your employees can and will improve their English with the right partner at their side.
When it comes to learning business English, consistency of learning, high-quality materials and flexibility are absolutely essential. And this is exactly what Learnship can offer – no matter the size of your company or where you are in the world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rebecca Dean is a CELTA-certified English trainer and writer based in Berlin. For 13 years, Rebecca taught EFL at the Technical University Berlin. During this time, she also taught in-company business English in various cities throughout Germany to learners from a wide range of industries. In 2016, Rebecca moved more in the direction of teaching training and curriculum development. She worked as a curriculum writer and TEFL trainer/course tutor from 2016 to 2021. Rebecca also has many years’ experience in editing, translating and copywriting for clients in education, academia, business, travel and tech. She’s worked for Learnship as a Business English Content Developer since May 2022.