Hiring people who can communicate in multiple languages is a smart growth strategy for globally-minded organizations. If your company aims to expand your business reach both nationally and internationally, it is in your best interest to invest in multilingual employees when hiring new team members. People who possess fluent communication skills in multiple languages are an asset to all departments, from sales and marketing to customer support.
Here’s how having multilingual employees in your workforce can introduce a world of value and benefit to your company.
They will bridge gaps in understanding and communication
When it comes to facilitating communication initiatives across language boundaries, employees with multilingual capabilities can provide support in building a stronger sense of understanding between your company and your consumer base, along with improving the quality of your relationships with your clients and customers. In utilizing their lingual and cultural mindsets and knowledge in their interactions with international clients and customers, multilingual workers are able to pinpoint and grasp their concerns, issues, and pain points, as well as provide valuable intel on their preferences and wishes. They are your best ambassadors when it comes to getting to know what your target audience needs and wants.
They will provide language support in-house
By having bilingual and multilingual employees on staff, your organization has the opportunity to centralize your language-centric projects in-house to ensure maximal consistency and quality in your deliverables. These team members can apply their fluency in reading, writing, and speaking and provide help in proofreading, interpreting, and translating written materials, from website copy to official documentation, for grammatical and factual accuracy. Not only does your company remove the hassle of outsourcing contracted work, but with the in-depth understanding of your business your multilingual employee already possesses, you save time and resources it takes to get them acquainted with your product and services. Having language support in-house helps your brand in establishing itself as trustworthy and reputation to international consumers. Additionally, your multilingual employees can provide support with localization, allowing your company to successfully launch and go to market with your products and services in new regions.
They are highly skilled workers
By investing in employees with multilingual capabilities, your company is investing in what are sure to be high performing team members. Studies have revealed that bilingual individuals can switch tasks faster and more easily than monolinguals and are better equipped to process information more efficiently and simply. These abilities in multitasking and information processing are in high demand in the workplace and benefits all areas of your workforce.
Even more, with their skills and experience, multilingual workers have the advantage of thriving in fast-moving and fast-growing environments. Anticipating the corporate changes your organization is bound to encounter in your global expansion, these workers are well equipped to handle stages of transition and hyper-growth at work. Multilingual people are less impacted by environmental changes and more open to new experiences, as they are used to switching back and forth between languages and perspectives. With their proficiencies in problem solving and navigating change, they will have a profound impact on your business functions and goals.
They foster a diverse and innovative organization
A workforce comprised of people from culturally diverse backgrounds and that can communicate in multiple languages is vital to organizations looking to expand their national and international reach. Companies with employees who can converse in several different languages and see situations from a variety of perspectives have access to talent that can see and solve problems differently, leading to innovative solutions. Furthermore, prioritizing talent diversity leads to a ripple effect that positively affects both recruitment and retention efforts as well as your relationship and connection to your network of international vendors, partners, and customers, all of whom will see that your company is prepared to meet their needs.
Bilingual employees are a tremendous benefit to organizations with plans for market growth beyond your current territories. As part of our plans for Canadian expansion, we’ve made it a priority at Rise to find and hire talent with bilingual or multilingual skills. Particularly as we increase our presence in the Eastern Canadian markets, team members with French fluency are vital to helping us bring our services to Montreal-based companies. We consider these team members a competitive advantage for our business.
With the right strategic execution, your organization can form a pipeline of multilingual talent to power your global expansion. Now is the time to invest in employees who can widen the possibilities of your organization and lead your company into the future.
