Increase growth pace by helping employees learn to speak English fluently

“Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people” – Isn’t this advice once given by Nobel prize-winning poet, W.B. Yeats still so relevant to present day communication?

So what is the global language of communication, today? English!! Is it? In spite of all time and effort spent on enhancing external frills and fancies, do you feel the company isn’t quite progressing at the required growth pace – Perhaps, because nobody has yet paid attention to improving the English speaking skills of the work force. Speaking English fluently is the key to success in any walk of life; leave aside the much competitive corporate board room.

Where do English communication skills stand in your organisation? Every organisation needs internal communication in order to function. Internal communication plays a very vital role in enabling information to be shared across all directions of an organisation: upward, downward and horizontal. It is important that managers and leaders are transparent and communicate openly with staff about both challenges and opportunities. In the absence of communication channels, it is no surprise that there are dissatisfied employees, customers are lost and organisations fail.

Open, informative and continual communication results in enhanced employee understanding of the company’s vision which can be further transmitted to other important stakeholders. Many organisations pay far too much attention to the external stakeholders whereas the main attention has to be paid to improving English communication skills within the organisation which will affect the bottom line, eventually.

It has been proven that 90% of communication is listening. We ignore this special skill, as if it is not important. At inlingua, your employees will “learn” to practise this skill as listening and understanding what is being said is the first step to improve English speaking skills and speak English fluently.

Good English communication skills lead to team work When employees can communicate and speak fluently in English, team work gets enhanced. Team work results in improved efficiency and increased productivity. How do good communication skills affect team work? When employees are able to express their thoughts accurately in English speaking conversation and written form, they interact among themselves much more.

When English communication skills improve job duties get performed better. Inability to give clear meanings to thoughts and speak fluently in English could also result in information being misinterpreted which leads to internal conflict. Conflicts arising out of organisational communication barriers or personal reasons are an obstacle to a productive work unit, damage the company's ability to do business and slow the growth of the organization. Good English communication skills save a lot of wasted time and effort.

How can team members know of what is expected from them? This could be either though an email, a briefing, a team meeting or any other creative form. Needless to say, if the team manager is unable to communicate or speak fluently in English, team members may never be able to understand their individual responsibilities and that of their team in their company’s progress and stay updated with new information.

Communication barriers affect the growth of the company Inaction results when the message to be communicated fails to have the required impact. For example, if a team leader fails to brief the team members using appropriate English speaking skills and the right body language including pace and intonation, team members won’t take the message seriously. This may be the case with just one team.

Imagine if all team leaders are unable to speak English fluently in a briefing, then all team members are plunging into inaction with grave results for the company. . Speaking English fluently will also help managers and employees to engage in constructive feedback which is very important for the well being and success of the company.

As diversity is becoming a part of the work culture in many companies, English and the ability to use and speak English fluently should be a priority for all organisations.

Sherin D'Souza, 24 July, 2017 (7:37 AM)