Where to Start: Building a Workplace English Program
Amidst ongoing staffing shortages, employers are increasingly invested in recruiting, retaining, and engaging workers from untapped talent pools – including adult English learners, who now represent 1 in 10 working-age adults in the U.S.
These companies understand the benefits of upskilling with English, yet many organizations aren’t sure where to start. Larger employers may have never before offered a workplace English program and benefit from a roadmap to help with implementation. Small and mid-sized companies may wonder where they’ll find the staff or resources to build a successful effort.
In either scenario, rest assured that you’re not alone: EnGen is committed to supporting you in creating and implementing a program that will boost your employees’ English proficiency and career mobility, along with your organization’s bottom line.
Benefits to Building a Workplace English Program
Research shows that the most effective language instruction is built with content that reflects learners’ real-world needs and goals. That’s why workplace-based English programs not only provide an ideal context for language learning—empowering your workforce with English skills they can immediately apply on the job to advance in their careers—but also offers benefits back to your organization:
Ensure that speakers of languages other than English can access training and onboarding, equipping them with the English skills to excel in their roles from day one.
Improve communication, safety, collaboration and morale in multilingual workplaces.
Connect employees with English and job skills simultaneously, enabling them to take on new roles and responsibilities.
Develop a multilingual, multicultural workforce that can connect with a larger base of customers and clients.
English upskilling boosts recruitment and retention too: In a survey of nearly 2,500 EnGen learners, 83% said they would likely stay with their company because English instruction is offered as an employee benefit. A full 89% said they would refer a friend to work for their company for the same reasons.
Operations Checklist for Workplace English Programs
No matter the size of your company or your industry of focus, the elements of a successful workforce-based English program look the same. Use this checklist as a roadmap to begin planning your program.
1. Identify employees who would benefit from English upskilling.
Whether you’re planning a program for 10 people or 1,000, knowing who in your organization will benefit from English instruction is the place to start. Are they front-line workers? Do they interact with customers? Are they focused on performing specific roles or tasks within your organization? Answering these simple questions can tell you a lot about the type of programs, content, and focus areas needed for success. EnGen is ready to design the program from there: With a catalog of more than 140 industry-aligned courses, English for Healthcare Professionals to English for Manufacturing to English for Cybersecurity, EnGen can customize a curriculum based on your employees’ workplace language needs.
2. Designate a point of contact.
No matter the size or the sector, an organization needs an internal person who is invested in the success of your organization’s English program. This person serves as a point of contact for EnGen’s team of onboarding specialists, coaches, and instructors who ensure that your company’s learners are optimizing the platform. In many organizations, the point of contact is in an HR or benefits administrator role, but other companies have built successful programs with people in training and development, project management, or frontline management roles. EnGen’s staff will collaborate closely with your organization’s point of contact to ensure learner success.
3. Decide where training should happen—at home, at work, or both.
Research shows that a blended approach works best, giving employees time at work to study English—whether on break or on the clock—and then making the program available outside of work too. We find that many learners use their commutes to work on their English skills, practicing while they are taking public transportation or carpooling. EnGen’s on-demand, mobile-first platform is ready to serve learners whenever and however they want to access instruction: Our learning platform is available 24/7, offering lessons in bite-sized segments that are optimized for busy working adults. There’s no need for employers to get involved with instruction: EnGen’s comprehensive support includes coaches to help with goal-setting, instructions to provide customized lessons, and staff to support with troubleshooting and platform optimization.
4. Bridge digital divides.
Ensure employees have access to mobile devices or computers. Access to these devices can make or break a learner’s ability to successfully complete the program. Some employers provide laptops as part of the instructional benefit, while others simply encourage learners to access English instruction on their personal smartphones. An added bonus of programs like EnGen is that your workforce will advance their language and high-demand digital skills at the same time: 85% of our learners said that their digital literacy has improved as a result of using our platform.
5. Support an organizational culture of inclusion.
Workplace English programs are most effective if they are part of a broader commitment to championing newcomers and multilingual talent. Small efforts—such as providing multilingual signage in common areas at work—can go a long way in ensuring that multilingual staff can not just do their jobs, but also thrive at your organization. Larger companies may want to review and reimagine their hiring, training, employee engagement, and other programs to ensure they’re accessible to speakers of languages other than English. EnGen’s team can provide additional information on best practices in workforce inclusion.
6. Identify metrics to measure success.
Our employer partners hear lots of positive feedback from their learners; many find that it’s helpful to also have quantitative data to measure results. EnGen’s platform will provide real-time data to track your learners’ success. And our team can provide advice on other metrics—like improved employee retention, stronger work performance, or more effective employee development—that can help you measure organizational impact.
Are you ready to take the next step in building a high-impact workplace English program? Contact EnGen to learn more about our platform—and how we can support you in implementing a program that will set your organization up for success: https://getengen.com/contact-us