The client and the challenge
A company in the financial sector, operating across multiple locations and serving both business and private clients, needed to systematise the development of its employees’ language skills across the organisation.
English is used in different ways across various departments. The finance and controlling teams worked with reports, statements, budgets and documentation. Sales and customer service required greater fluency in conversations, correspondence and explaining financial matters. Management used the language during meetings, results presentations and contacts with foreign partners.
Employees’ proficiency levels varied, as did their training objectives. Some people primarily needed to overcome their fear of speaking, others wanted to refine their business language, and selected teams required work on specialist financial vocabulary.
The HR department was looking for a solution that would enable them to train a large group of employees, maintain a consistent organisational standard and ensure transparent progress reporting. It was also important to plan the programme in such a way that the training was tailored to the participants’ actual duties, rather than being detached from their day-to-day work.
Aim of the project
The aim of the project was to develop a scalable language training programme for the financial sector, designed to support business communication, customer service, reporting and collaboration in an international environment.
What we did
We began the project with a language audit and an analysis of the needs of individual departments. We assessed the participants’ language proficiency, the extent to which they use English at work, and the most common communication situations encountered within the company. Based on this assessment, we developed a language training programme covering:
• training for various departments and roles,
• grouping of participants by proficiency level and training objective,
• group and one-to-one sessions,
• online training,
• modules in business English and financial English,
• classes supporting communication with clients, meetings, presentations and reporting,
• work on vocabulary used in finance, accounting, controlling, sales and compliance.
As part of the project, we also implemented a centralised coordination and reporting model. The HR department received up-to-date information on attendance, participants’ progress, programme implementation and recommendations for further learning.
Results
• creating a single, coherent system for multiple departments and proficiency levels,
• tailoring the programme to participants’ real-world professional tasks,
• developing practical business and financial language skills,
• greater confidence for employees during meetings, conversations and presentations,
• improved communication via email and telephone in English,
• the possibility of further scaling the programme to additional teams.
Customer quote
“The greatest benefit for us was combining language training with a real-world work context. The programme took into account different departments, levels and needs, whilst allowing us to maintain a single, consistent standard across the entire organisation.”
