🌍 With 75% of the world's population not speaking English, it's surprising to think how English has become a dominant global business language. It traces back to British colonialism from the 16th to 20th centuries. Cemented during the Industrial Revolution with Britain's economic lead, it expanded further with the US's emergence as a global economic leader and influencer of pop culture.
😟 This dominance of English creates challenges in the workplace. Have you ever felt forced to communicate in English because everyone else does, even if it doesn't come naturally to you? I've seen incredibly talented colleagues, who add immense value, overlooked for their contributions simply because they couldn’t express themselves eloquently in English. This isn't fair.
🌈 Languages are more than communication tools - they're links to our culture, identity, and unique ways of thinking. If English becomes the only language spoken at work, we risk losing the rich diversity of our cultural heritage. We also risk marginalizing 75% of the world population who are non-English speakers, exacerbating educational, employment, and social inequalities.
💡 So how can we make our workplaces more language inclusive? Here are some best practices that we recommend:
1️⃣ Promote Multilingualism: Encourage the use of different languages in multilingual meetings, documents, and resources. Encourage employees to share phrases or sayings from their language, fostering a sense of curiosity and respect for diverse languages. This is made much easier with the advancement of neural machine translation technology 🤖
2️⃣ Language Learning Opportunities: Offer language learning courses or resources for your employees. This can be through in-person classes, online platforms, or providing allowances for language courses. This can encourage employees to learn new languages and appreciate different cultures
3️⃣ Cultural Celebrations: Celebrate cultural holidays and events. Encourage employees to share their traditions and experiences.
4️⃣ Inclusive Hiring Practices: Foster a diverse workforce by hiring from various linguistic backgrounds. A multilingual workforce can help with new and creative ways of thinking and build strong relationships with clients from different regions.
5️⃣ Inclusive Communication Practices: Encourage employees to speak in their most comfortable language during internal meetings. Provide interpreters or AI-powered translation for key discussions.
✨ Remember, the goal of promoting language diversity is not just about learning new languages but fostering an environment where all employees feel valued and respected for their unique linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
