Undeniably, mastering a second language has many benefits in the workplace. Among the advantages are standing out in the recruiting process, the possibility of receiving promotions, greater responsibilities, and a better salary. On the other hand, having bilingual employees is advantageous for a company because it can expand its business internationally and increase its competitiveness and income, among other benefits.
However, not all employees know how to speak another language, or have the desired level, when they are hired. For this reason, many companies offer business English or Spanish language courses. In addition to being able to use the language to communicate with customers, suppliers, and team members from other countries, when employees are offered opportunities for work and personal development, 45% say they would consider staying with the company. Therefore, providing training courses increases retention and job satisfaction and gives the company competitive advantages.
Why implement incentive policies?
It is often the case that companies need their employees to improve their level of, say, English in line with the company’s strategic objectives. To this end, as language training service providers, we promote incentive policies to motivate learning. Additionally, we help our clients define the conditions employees must meet to access these incentives and support the HR team with feedback and progress reports.
Reward Ideas
Based on our experience, we can suggest different options, including rewards such as theater tickets or hotel stays; gift cards; upgrading the health insurance plan; or monthly, quarterly, or annual bonuses. Another option is to manage a co-payment system that works as follows: each student pays a percentage of the language training program out of pocket and, if they meet the objectives, the company reimburses the amount.
Conditions That Must Be Met
Each company defines the conditions that students must meet to qualify for the incentive, which may include a certain level of class attendance, promoting a module or a complete level, exceeding the completion of mandatory asynchronous activities, or excelling in the program according to the criteria defined between the company and English Services.
Feedback
In order to keep track of student performance, we create customized reports for the Human Resources or Learning & Development departments. These reports can be accessed through our 24/7 platform and contain attendance and progress data, which the companies use to award bonuses and prizes.
Double Impact
We use gamification elements, badges, and a scoring system to encourage learning in our synchronous lessons. We firmly believe that using gamification in class helps students learn a language and improve soft skills. Consequently, our programs have a double impact: language learning and soft skills acquisition.
The takeaway
– The implementation of incentive policies results in lasting motivation for learning.
– It is vital that the method chosen highlights the benefits of learning beyond the attractiveness of the benefit itself.
– This type of incentive promotes commitment to learning.
– Offering personal and career development opportunities increases retention rates.
– English Services works with HR and L&D to set objectives and provides follow-up support.
