How multi-language eLearning can improve company culture

Businesses around the world are turning into melting pots of cultures and languages, thanks to an uptick in remote working. Being in a multicultural environment can be inspirational and exciting. However, when employees have to communicate in a non-native language, they may also find it challenging. The good news is that a well-planned strategy and a powerful content authoring tool can make all the difference. 

With the right approach, your multi-language work environment can greatly enhance your company culture. It can boost your reputation and help you reach DEI targets. It can empower staff from all backgrounds to do their best work. It can even smash knowledge silos and bring people together. Read on to learn more.

Elearning content in multiple languages helps you attract and retain talent from a wider pool

A Pew Research Center survey shows that a majority of U.S. adults think boosting diversity at work is a good thing. Varied perspectives and skill sets can help you build a vibrant, rewarding culture. If you want to attract and retain a more diverse workforce, you have to walk the talk and show staff and candidates that you can accommodate various needs. 

Creating a welcoming culture overnight is anything but easy, but translating your content with an eLearning authoring tool can be a quick win. Showing your employees and candidates that you’ll train them in the language they’re most comfortable with signals that you value diversity. Even when the business language is English, for example, learners will appreciate onboarding and continuous learning that take their needs into account.

You don’t have to juggle a ton of separate courses to accommodate this. Gomo is an easy-to-use eLearning authoring tool that takes the headache out of multi-language authoring. You can choose from a long list of available languages to create separate language layers for every course. This means you can easily manage and update your course in every language you wish to offer.

Culturally appropriate learning creates a sense of belonging

Good company culture has less to do with free pizza or ping-pong tables in the office and more to do with how employees feel about their day-to-day experiences. It’s often the little things—like being asked out to lunch or hearing an off-color joke—that can make someone's day or ruin it.

Getting eLearning right can go a long way toward making everyone feel respected and included. No one wants to study material that feels irrelevant or exclusionary. Offering courses in different languages is a good start, but it's not just about the content—it's also about the presentation and eLearning delivery. People may not always remember everything you tell them, after all, but they will always remember how you make them feel.

This is where the right authoring tool comes in: Gomo is a great option for boosting psychological safety across cultures. Gomo makes it easy to localize content to appeal to different communities. You can create separate layers for different regions, or preserve the unique features of different international varieties of a language (like American English and British English, for example). Weaving in these kinds of subtle changes will show you care and want everyone to feel welcome.

Multi-language digital learning improves collaboration

A study published in the International Journal on the Biology of Stress showed that using a second language in social contexts can increase our cortisol response. This stress hormone can make us feel frazzled and uncomfortable and put a serious damper on collaboration.

Multilingual employees can be a boon to your company—but no one can do their best work when their environment is causing a lot of cognitive strain. Supporting employees’ unique needs is key to unlocking collaboration and productivity.

Your staff may prefer to learn in their native language, for instance, but they may still need to communicate in a second language. This means they have to spend time or effort translating the content they learn before they can put it into practice around coworkers, which can hamper their ability to collaborate and put a dent in productivity.

If you use Gomo, you can lighten the load and help your staff work together seamlessly. Because Gomo allows learners to toggle between languages, they can switch back and forth as required. When they’re learning via video, they can even change captions and audio independently. That’s inclusivity and collaboration boosted and cognitive load slashed—all thanks to the right approach to eLearning.