The influx of the English language can be found in every area of business. Whether a company trades direct on an international basis or whether they have subsidiaries, one thing is for sure and that is the need for the English language. So how does this affect employee performance and efficiency?
The fact is that an employee’s ability can be reduced by 50% and more and their speed in completing tasks reduced by over 300%. This situation can additionally lead to an employee seeking the help of another with better language skills and what do we have then? We have two employees tied up on one work task further reducing the overall efficiency factor! In a nutshell, reducing operational profit!
Needless to say, many companies have recognised this fact and are effecting language training, either using their own staff, material and plans, or using independent schools. But for as many companies that recognise this fact, there are twice as many that don’t and this is where the TOEIC can help.
The TOEIC is a tool. TOEIC stands for ‘The Test of English for International Communication’ It is an internationally recognised tool for the measurement of a person’s ability to communicate in the working environment using the English language. The difference between the TOEIC and other tests is that the TOEIC is biased more towards “practical assessment” After all, isn’t the object to train people for communication at work and not to become language specialists?
The TOEIC can create a proven, fair and standard framework for the maintenance and improvement of efficiency levels by way of testing an employees language ability, therefore singling out those areas or personnel that require training. Far from being negative for an employee, the test offers a very positive opportunity for the improvement of the employee and for the improvement of efficiency and profit. In fact, benefits all round.
The returns to a company in the improvement of efficiency in this way will far exceed the costs of training. Hamburg English (www.hamburg-english.de) have been developing systems for many years to support the TOEIC system. At HamburgEnglish a company can very quickly and cost effectively assess a whole international company to locate those areas within the company where English is required. This is the first step. Naturally if a company already knows this information, this step can be omitted.
Secondly, an old saying states, to move forward you need to know where you have been, know where you are, and then know where you want to go. HamburgEnglish help again by finding out where you are. With the development of their ‘instant assessment’ internet testing system, a company can test it’s employees very quickly and again cost effectively. Reports from tests sat are received by the company by email within seconds of a person completing a test. The results of such a test can also be delivered as an anonymous departmental average if so required.
As for where you wish to go, from a job description and consultation, HamburgEnglish can suggest TOEIC levels for your new job vacancies and again, a system for instant job applicant testing that can deliver a report on your job applicant to you quicker than the job applicant can walk from the computer to the office where they will meet you face to face. This system allows all companies to easily integrate a testing phase into their interview procedures.
Training is also important and there are many official TOEIC test centres and schools worldwide that can help. HamburgEnglish have also taken preparation for the TOEIC test a stage further and have developed a complete TOEIC preparation training area online. The website at www.worldtoeic.com is the largest complete preparation area available and has a unique ability of showing a member their level for each section of the TOEIC. This allows members to focus there training effort and time on their weaknesses and additionally motivates them by showing their progress as their training continues.
Finally it may be interesting to do a small calculation of how much profit a larger company could be wasting, as an example; A company with 1000 employees has 300 employees that work with the English language, but because their English level is lower than needed, each employee wastes on average 15 minutes per day. This means that the collective 300 employees would need an extra 75 man hours per day to complete English related work, or 375 man hours per week, or 16,875 man hours per year! Unknown is the average employee wage however, if we assume an average wage of 7.0 Euro per hour, that amounts to 118 Thousand Euro per year!
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