As companies across the world continue to embrace a global presence, it’s critical for employers to ensure that their employees have access to all the career advancement opportunities they need, regardless of where they are located. Implementing a fair system for providing these advances is important not only in recognizing and rewarding employee achievements but also by tapping into their workforce diversity of knowledge and cultural experience.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the benefits and challenges of providing training to a multiculturally diverse workforce in an effort to provide equitable career advancement opportunities to international staff members.
Benefits of training & development
Investing in employee training and development programs can provide numerous benefits for a company with a global workforce.
- Enhanced leadership training. With the right training, employees can gain valuable leadership skills and knowledge of how businesses operate from top-level managers and executives. Companies often have dedicated team-building sessions or management workshops that help employees cultivate their leadership potential and understand the nuances of management roles within the organization.
- More career advancement opportunities. Training and development programs can also help to build a competent and skilled workforce, which is essential in today’s global market. By providing employees with new job-related skills, they can acquire the necessary knowledge to remain competitive in their fields. This can help a company stay ahead of its competitors and remain relevant in the market.
- Improved performance and productivity. By providing employees with the necessary skills and knowledge, they can perform their job more effectively, leading to increased productivity and efficiency. This results in better overall performance and can lead to higher profit margins for the company.
- Increased employee engagement and job satisfaction. When an employer invests in their employees’ professional growth, it shows that the company values them and that their contributions to the organization are significant. This can, in turn, lead to increased job satisfaction and improved employee retention.
- New skill building opportunities. As technology becomes increasingly important in business operations, having tech-savvy employees is essential for companies seeking competitive advantage through digital transformation initiatives. Companies should focus on providing specialized courses that teach topics such as data analysis, cybersecurity protocols, software development methods, and machine learning concepts—all areas are necessary for staying ahead of digital trends in today’s economy.
The language barrier
In the case of global companies, most training is provided in English because it’s assumed that most employees speak that language. However, when it comes to learning new concepts or skills, it’s not the same to have training provided in your mother tongue than in English, even if employees can communicate in English for business purposes.
Studies show that employees incorporate knowledge better when the training is in their native language. Providing training only in English puts non-English speakers at a disadvantage; it ultimately makes them feel incapable and that they will be passed over for promotions by native English speakers. Unless training is provided in their mother tongue, we can’t talk about equal advancement opportunities for everyone.
Conclusion
Diversity and inclusion are top of mind for many businesses nowadays. One way to make sure companies are being inclusive with all their employees is by thoroughly assessing the training opportunities that they are providing and making sure all employees have a fair shot to grow and reach leadership positions, regardless of their background. In the end, diversity and inclusion initiatives are not only aimed at having more diverse staff but also having diversity at the top.
