Combining language, intercultural competence and DEI to create business advantages.
Join us this fall for a series of free webinars about the future of international business, the challenges organisations face, and how to overcome them.
Labour markets are rapidly changing, something organisations all over the world are noticing – on all levels. Human Resources departments are facing new challenges regarding onboarding and retention. Managers struggle to create unity in their teams and have trouble developing a working culture where all employees can thrive. Employees have to adjust their ways of working, learning the lingua franca, and effectively working together within increasingly virtual and diverse teams.
For this series, we’ve invited experts in the fields of labour market development, intercultural competence and language learning to shine a light on the challenges facing the business world. This series is designed for anyone who works in an international environment, and all webinars will be given in English. Some subjects might be more relevant for HR and management, but there’s something for everyone in each. We’re very excited to share this with you all!
The four pillars supporting international organisations
We’ve created these series to help organisations, managers, HR teams and employees to understand and prepare for the changing global business landscape. We’ll share applicable tips and tricks that you can put into practice immediately. Our work and experience has allowed us to establish four pillars supporting international organisations: talent retention, intercultural competence, multilingual teams and fluency gaps. Each month, from September till December, we’ll focus on one of them.
1. (FINISHED) 14 September 10:00-11:00 CET: Staying ahead in today’s business world – Diversity, Recruitment & Retention
Automation, geographical shifts, immigration, birth rates and ageing are forcing changes on both labour-markets and -pools. Increasing globalisation is continuing to expand the illumination and engagement with diversity in ways that were previously uncommon. This creates new needs and challenges for employers, HR and multicultural teams. International recruitment is also increasing, bringing further changes to navigate.
Once you’ve established an international, culturally diverse, and possibly virtual team – what’s next?
2. 10 October 10:00-11:00 CET: Intercultural Competence as an Essential Skill for the Future – Stories of bridging cultures in organisations.
In this webinar three of our intercultural consultants will share an experience that stuck with them. From supporting leaders in cultivating their diverse teams, guiding expats in a new culture, to overcoming miscommunication and frustration within global teams – join us in learning how developing intercultural competence helped these organisations bridge cultures and thrive in a global business world.
Hosted by our intercultural competence expert Maja Warnstam, the three stories will highlight:
- Collaboration in a Multicultural Environment
- Effective Management of Culturally Diverse Teams
- Cultural integration of International Talent
You’ll leave the webinar with applicable tips and tricks that you can start using immediately. If your curiosity can’t wait, you can take a look at our cultural training offer now.
3. 9 November 10:00-11:00 CET: How Culture Impacts Language – Beyond the Lingua Franca
In an international team, speaking a common language – or lingua franca – should be a first priority. It’s important to make sure everyone in the company is comfortable in whichever language is best for those involved.
In this webinar we’ll talk about the impact language has in the creation of an inclusive culture. A common language is just the first step. How do you deal with a team that consists mostly of non-native speakers, what if there is a variety of cultures involved as well? How does culture influence the ways we use and understand language? A person from a more direct culture will speak English in a different way than someone from an indirect culture. How do you deal with problems that arise from these differences? We’ll be sharing examples of how miscommunication occurs and provide you with tips on how to improve your own intercultural communication skills in order to avoid misunderstandings and bridge cultural communication gaps.
4. 30 November 10:00-11:00 CET: Effective Communication and Fluency Gaps – Where Language, Intercultural Competence and DEI Efforts Meet.
This webinar will discuss how we can help others cultivate a culture in which everyone can be more understood, and demonstrate and receive respect while actively participating and contributing to their organisation. It will demonstrate a need for the combination of language and intercultural competence in order to create an inclusive culture.
More and more people of differing backgrounds are starting to work together. Often, English is the lingua franca, or shared working language. By definition, a multilingual workplace is diverse. This can bring some challenges, such as miscommunication and interpersonal conflicts, but when a diverse team has an inclusive culture, the things that make them unique can be harnessed. Such a culture has measurable benefits such as increased: collaboration, innovation, productivity, employee/client satisfaction, employee retention and attendance.
With language courses and intercultural competence training, we can work towards closing the language and cultural fluency gaps. Doing so is key to enabling yourself, your team and your organisation to maintain a competitive edge while increasing the satisfaction of everyone involved.
If you register for one or more webinars, you’ll automatically join our newsletter series accompanying the webinars. For each subject, you’ll receive relevant articles and whitepapers as well as a practical list of tips and tricks after each webinar. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time.
