As part of our A Million Chances campaign, each year, we donate one million Euros worth of language courses to charities and NGOs around the globe. This January, we started a new partnership with Concern Worldwide, a charity that works with the world’s poorest people to transform their lives by tackling poverty. Instead of donating financial resources, we decided to support Concern in their learning and development with online language courses. As part of this project, we give Concern employees the chance to improve their foreign language and communication skills. After all, communication is crucial at Concern, not only for speaking and writing with colleagues, but also for staying in touch with those in need. This communication often takes place in a language other than their mother tongue and needs to be quick, error free and clear. Over 200 employees at Concern Worldwide have signed up for Speexx to improve their French or English in terms of grammar, vocabulary, writing, listening comprehension and spoken skills. The numbers are growing every day. With Speexx, members of staff at Concern build their skills at their own pace and also take part in regular virtual classroom sessions. In these live sessions, they communicate with colleagues from all over the world, while receiving guidance and support from a professional native speaker and their language trainer. The online course is flexible, available on a 24/7 basis and can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection. This has made it possible for Concern employees from countries all over the world to take part, including Bangladesh, Rwanda, Ireland, Uganda, Zambia, Haiti, Pakistan, Malawi, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Tanzania, Turkey, the UK and the USA. The education project covers all language levels from beginners to advanced for English and French. In addition, HR Managers at Concern have a user-friendly overview of all learning progress in the Speexx Performance Centre. Here’s what some of Concern Worldwide’s students say about Speexx: "Speexx has been very interesting for me. The topics are motivating and engaging, so I’ve spent much more time on it than expected. The learning process is based on leading instructional design as well as a range of exercise levels ranging from easy to difficult."   Mohamed Ahmed Tarabi, Somalia "I’m a proud to have the opportunity to learn English with Speexx. So far, the course has offered me a formula for success and I am ready to continue from that point." Abdifatah Ibrahim, Somalia   "I really appreciate their approach of teaching. Learning with Speexx is like chatting with a friend while developing your language skills." Tigist Tadesse, Ethiopia "I am about half way through the course. The coursework is very interactive and offers students a way to learn that does not feel like a chore. I am motivated to continue to the end, due to the diversity of methodologies applied to keep the student interested and engaged." Alice Simington, Rwanda "Speexx is great. It has allowed me to revise my French language skills when and how I want. It is great to be able to attend lessons with native French speaking trainers and interact with other learners. I like the balance between grammar and conversation skills. The website portal is both fun and useful." Simon Foster, Zambia We’d like to thank our partner Concern Worldwide for their great collaboration and look forward to continuing this great partnership! About Concern Concern Worldwide is an international charity dedicated to tackling poverty and suffering in the world’s poorest countries. Concern works in partnership with the very poorest people in these countries, directly enabling them to improve their lives. They use their knowledge and experience to influence decisions made at a local, national and international level that can significantly reduce extreme poverty. Want to know more about Concern Worldwide? Visit https://www.concern.net/.  

We just kickstarted our year by presenting at one of China’s greatest educational events. The 2015 China Online Education Summit in Shenzhen, China, is one of China’s largest events of its kind, with representatives from 1,800 learning centers and 800 attendees. The focus of this year’s forum was to open up new distance learning opportunities for university students by adopting innovative technologies. Building an open distance learning ‘ecosystem’ will benefit government departments, educational institutions as well as students. Armin Hopp, Founder and President of Speexx, was among the event speakers and talked about "Empowering communication - why are communication-empowered organisations more agile and profitable?". The presentation highlighted how organizations can leverage strong communication skills to drive business results. We’re the first non-Chinese learning provider to have a speaking opportunity in the history of the event! Check out the press release here.

A new year is a chance for us to get rid of some unwanted habits and set fresh goals. Many of our resolutions are work-related. While employees may be looking to finally get that promotion or switch to a new company, managers are concerned with meeting targets, keeping an eye on their budget and successfully managing their teams. But let’s face it; resolutions are notoriously hard to keep and many of us end up falling back into our old habits because they are what we’re most familiar with and what somehow always worked until now. However, there are indications that we need to make some serious changes this year. One of them is the fact that 2015 is being called the hottest - and toughest - year for hiring. A recent study found that more than half of recruiters cited a lack of quality candidates as the biggest factors hampering growth this year.  The war for talent is upon us, and companies are gearing up to secure the best people out there in innovative ways which will outsmart the competition. This includes working with aggressive hiring agencies, dipping into the digitalised world of social recruiting and even reaching out to Generation Z, who are now at an age to undertake their first internship. If companies don’t keep up with technological changes and get an understanding of what the modern employee really wants, they will miss the boat and fall far behind. But recruiting the right person is only the first step. How will we make sure our new hires are trained to suit the company’s needs and more importantly, what guarantee do we have that they will stay? The truth is we don’t. Let’s remind ourselves that nowadays the average staff member does not expect to stay in a position for more than 3-5 years. Nonetheless, there are a few steps we can take to enhance our employee retention and help them have a positive impact on our organisation, even if they don’t stick around forever. Motivation means more than perks and pay rises Most of all, our people need motivation. What motivates one person might not work so well for another, but in general terms it is safe to say that we all want to feel valued and respected within a company, work on a variety of tasks and continue to develop our skills over time. No pay rise will outweigh having to complete menial tasks or working under a dismissive boss. That’s why regular pulse checks with our workforce are crucial. It doesn’t have to be a complex and formalised process, but a simple chat to understand their needs and desires can make all the difference. The most successful companies out there are using 360° feedback sessions to let their staff make suggestions for improvement and have a say in their responsibilities. Motivation through effective learning and development According to a recent survey[1], many Millennials feel that their employer is not making full use of all the skills they have to offer. This kind of gap can be easily detected in a feedback session as mentioned above. What additional skills does he or she have and how can they be implemented and aligned with business goals?  Finding some untapped talent in your workforce could mean a huge advantage and save a lot of recruitment or outsourcing costs. But there are plenty of times when it’s necessary to upskill staff through formal training. In these cases, employees need to feel motivated and engaged by the content understand why they need to learn it from the organisation’s perspective. This is where technology-based learning comes in. E-learning solutions offer employees the chance to learn on multiple devices while at home, at work or during travel. They can be adapted to individual needs and offer HR and L&D Managers real-time progress reports, which can be discussed during a feedback session. An experienced third-party provider will be able to create a solution that fits both employees and managers and adapts to different industries or job functions. Furthermore, the rise of big data plays a significant role in finding out what our learners really want. Big data measures, collects and analyses data on individual learning styles; it tells us what motivates learners and what doesn’t and can even predict behavioural patterns in training programmes. The trick is to make it work in our favour. A popular saying goes, ‘What if you invest in your employees, and they leave?’ ‘Well what if you don’t, and they stay?’ Whatever happens, those of us who think ahead, adopt the latest technologies and understand our people will be the ones who continue to attract and retain a healthy and motivated workforce. So what’s top of your list this year? [1] http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/news/1149159/millennials-feel-organisations-skills

Almost a third of organisations (32%*) claim to be using corporate MOOCs to offer employees flexible, on-demand training, no matter where they are based. MOOCs (massive open online courses) are delivered over the internet to potentially thousands of learners at a time. They appear to offer economies of scale and effective learning and development but in many cases, MOOCS are failing to deliver on their promise. MOOCs entered the learning industry in 2008. Until recently, they were mainly found within higher education and had little impact on corporate learning. According to the Speexx Exchange Survey, however, MOOCs are making their way into the corporate training market, with 32% of organisations already using them and 29% rating their effectiveness as high. The potential is certainly there - the global corporate learning market is worth an estimated £90 billion and 58% of respondents plan to increase their e-learning budget in the next three years. But many MOOCs need further development if they are to work in a corporate environment. The rising demand for personalised, motivating and relevant learning content is a crucial factor driving the success of corporate MOOCs, which empower the learner to study what’s relevant to them at their own pace. They deliver mobile learning, largely in video format, to thousands of employees regardless of their location. This is particularly valuable to companies with dispersed subsidiaries. Knowledge exchange Corporate MOOCs allow employees to exchange knowledge with peers through discussion, role-play or other group exercises. Yet there is a real danger of losing the intimacy of face-to-face communication, making traditional classroom discussions difficult to replicate online. Contact with a human being makes students feel supported in their learning; 83%** of Speexx learners surveyed strongly appreciate the personalised coaching and feedback provided by a trainer. Additionally, if learners are to benefit fully from the potential of collaborative cross-border learning, there needs to be renewed emphasis on building language and communication skills that will underpin further learning and development. However, a lack of foreign language skills is the biggest factor hampering communication across borders cited (39% of respondents). Intercultural differences are also a significant barrier for 29% of respondents. Communication is not just a vital ingredient for networked learning with MOOCs, but also for a company as a whole. A corporate strategy - around training, new business goals or cultural changes - must be communicated clearly and effectively at all levels to motivate employees and help the organisation thrive. 89% of respondents to the survey rated communication as crucial or important for business success. The benefits of a strong communications strategy cited include cost savings (35%), collaboration across borders (28%), quicker decisions (19%) and better customer service (19%). Corporate MOOC considerations Corporate MOOCs have the potential to revolutionise corporate communication and learning. But before implementing them, there are three questions to consider. Are your learners ready for the switch? Rather than sitting passively in a classroom, your employees will be expected to take charge of their own training programme which requires a certain amount of self-discipline but can also achieve better results in the long run. How will you communicate the change? Your workforce needs to understand why learning in this particular way is important and what it means for the overall company strategy. This needs top management buy-in. Are you willing to experiment? Every MOOC project will be different and it’s up to you to find out which content, platform or learning method suits your workforce best. IT can play an important role in creating the right learning environment for students. You should also talk to the vendor and see what methods they suggest for your particular training needs. The answers to these questions will create the foundations on which to build a cost-effective L&D platform for the future - millennials, who are tech-savvy and will make up 50% of the global workforce by 2020, are more likely to be able to work with corporate MOOCs independently, at a cost much lower than traditional training.

As the dominant language of business and technology, English is no longer just about grammar and vocabulary. A new art of ‘plain English’ is helping managers overcome cultural boundaries when directing global employees. There are close to 400 million native English speakers, 300-500 million fluent speakers of English as a second language and an additional 750 million foreign speakers with varying levels. With nearly a quarter of the world speaking some level of English, communicating in plain, direct English has become important for businesses around the globe. Although in many international companies, native English speakers make up just 10-15% of human capital, these companies often choose to adopt English as their official language. Many of these firms focus on hiring new managers with diverse cultural backgrounds and a mastery of the English language. Understandably, this helps executive committees understand and adapt to cultural differences among employees and competitors. But even someone with a gift for languages and management may still be hard pressed to make his or her wishes known to co-workers. That’s why established managers often undergo global management training, with ‘plain English’ being an integral part of the overall cross-cultural management training package. ‘Plain English’ reduces sentence length, uses the traditional ‘subject-verb-object’ sentence structure and tries to eliminate the unnecessary use of jargon. The method also discourages verbnominalization: users of plain English are encouraged to say ‘The project will be complete on February 1’ rather than ‘Project completion is scheduled for February 1.’ Likewise, teachers emphasize using the active vs. the passive voice, or in layman’s terms: the ‘He told me’ versus the ‘I was told.’ Cross-cultural managerial training also aims to reduce colloquial speech and subtle sarcasm, which can easily be misinterpreted by parties around the conference table. In the United States and United Kingdom, for example, it is not uncommon to criticize others or openly use humor to poke fun at coworkers. In France and Germany, however, casual humor or open criticism of colleagues or even the boss in front of others is not always understood or appreciated - especially in a foreign tongue. Another potential pitfall involves confusing a demand with a request. In some Asian cultures, for example, the directness of an order may be understood very differently. Saying ‘I would like this to be done by Wednesday,’ may be interpreted as ‘It would be nice if this were completed by Wednesday, but Friday is okay too.’ Not only has ‘plain English’ proven useful as a lingua franca for international companies, but it has also taken hold in countries where most people speak English as a first language. In America and Great Britain, the ‘plain English’ movement has been lobbying for government reports, financial information and legal documents to be written in plain English so that the average citizen has a chance of understanding it too. In short, the straight-forward, basic language used in plain English favors the reader rather than the industry.

The dictionary defines the term small talk as ‘light conversation about common, everyday things or chit chat.’ In a business setting, this ‘light conversation,’ when done successfully, can lead to some heavy business. For many, just the thought of making small talk leads to sweaty palms and an increased heart rate. Those few seconds at the coffee machine, racking your brains for something to say to a colleague or boss can be utter hell. And then, no matter what you say, afterwards you wish you’d said something else. So why bother? Isn’t it easier not to say anything at all? Researchers at Midwestern University discovered that in 80% of cases, it is not people’s deficit in technical or business knowledge that prevents them from getting ahead, but rather their lack of social skills. A similar study carried out by Stanford University School of Business tracked MBAs over a period of ten years and discovered that it was their ability to converse with ease, and not their grade point average, that had a bearing on their success. Small talk is not just important ‘unimportant’ conversation at the coffee machine. Far more, it is an opportunity to build a relationship and gain trust - two vital elements required in business. When entertaining potential business partners or clients, good social skills are a must. Though getting down to business straightaway is acceptable in the United States, on the international stage, small talk is still taken seriously - so much so that it can be the focus of an entire visit. When meeting for the first time, it is standard etiquette for the host to lead the small talk. The guest need only follow his lead. Networking experts recommend preparing three topics to chat about, as well as some generic questions to get the ball rolling. If you have met your guest before, try to refer back to something you know he or she is interested in. There are no real rules on what to talk about, but it is recommend that people steer clear of controversial topics, such as politics and religion, personal health issues, gossip, or inappropriate jokes or stories. Humor is not off-limits. On the contrary, it is an excellent addition to conversation if it is genuinely funny and not in bad taste or at anyone’s expense. Topics generally accepted as safe include the weather, traffic, books, the arts, and topical current events. An environmental disaster can be a real godsend for the small talker. Regardless of topic, small talk is not an invitation to rant, flaunt or brag. The conversation should be inclusive, and not leave anyone feeling left out. In other words, topics should be so broad that anyone can take part in them. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, small talk should be listened to. Good manners dictate that you provide feedback and stay focused on the conversation. Glancing around the room at this point is a big no-no - and might just be the end of what could have been a beautiful relationship.

We’ve just published our latest white paper on big data and talent mobility in 2015. The world of work is being revolutionized more rapidly than ever. Globalization, a 24×7 work environment and pervasive technology, coupled with demand for greater transparency, are transforming the modern workplace. By 2020, the tech-savvy millennial generation will make up almost 50% of the workforce and they expect on-demand learning content across multiple devices. But are HR and L&D Managers ready for this? There’s a lot of talk about big data and how it can help businesses become more responsive to customer needs, and the same thinking can be applied to corporate learning. We’re excited about helping you exploit this opportunity and recognize other industry changes with a new white paper edition. Grab your free copy now and find out   How to maximize on learning technology and big data How to address the global war for talent How to foster a more mobile workforce   Download now  

There is a lot of talk about big data and how it will transform businesses and help them become more responsive to customer needs. The same thinking can be applied to corporate learning and development. To date, HR managers and L&D professionals have approached skills development from either a business need perspective or to meet demand from line managers. Now big data, revealing the way in which individual learners are embracing and using e-learning, is driving and developing more effective workforce learning. The increasing availability of learner data looks set to change learning and development planning and delivery. Learner data can provide real insight into which strategies and content are working and which aren’t. Analytical tools allow HR managers and L&D professionals to respond to individual learners much faster and more efficiently than before. Data gets personal Learner data will enable better personalisation of learning to individuals. Personalisation, relevance of learning content and smooth delivery of personalised content to all platforms from PCs to mobile phones is key to the success of long-term learning initiatives. Big data not only informs HR about how well individual students performed on a test or how quickly they finished an e-learning module, it also offers insight into every student’s individual learning path and allows learning providers to respond to individuals as they encounter issues. A personalised, individual approach is key to successful learning delivery - even the most effective use of big data combined with powerful analytics is best supplemented by the human touch. A recent survey* found that 83% of corporate learners appreciate coaching and feedback provided by a personal trainer, while 84% of corporate learners consider a professional kick-off session with introduction to the course to be useful, highlighting the importance of the human factor and ongoing support. One to one coaching and active use of big data offers the best combination to deliver a personal learning experience that is just as effective as costly one-to-one training while being available 24/7. Multinational companies are increasingly looking to ensure consistent delivery of training programmes to staff across all locations. More often than not, they are focused on delivering consistent communication skills training, getting all employees up to speed with foreign language skills to allow them to communicate effectively with each other, as well as with partners and customers.  Research has also shown that 89% of corporate learners appreciate the flexibility offered by online language training and 80% of corporate learners report an overall positive outcome from their online language training*. With big data and the right analytical tools, L&D professionals are able to track an entire learner population at multiple locations throughout the learning process. Data helps organisations to understand where current skills gaps reside - or might be in the future. It can unlock enormous potential for an organisation’s talent succession strategy and workforce mobility. For example, a skilled employee with a solid grasp of English working for a subsidiary in France may be transferred to fill a temporary or long-term skill gap in a UK subsidiary. Big data underpins standardisation Big data also helps to identify patterns that will support the standardisation of learning modules across borders and for the entire organisation. Standardisation of terminology is crucial for large multinational manufacturers looking to guarantee an effective production chain. For example, one of Speexx’s customers, a major car manufacturer, has 42 different terms for a single small part of a car engine. These terms are unique to this corporation and needed to be consolidated so that they had the same meaning for more than 50,000 staff across five continents. Big data analytics has enabled the car manufacturer to build and measure the usage of a standardised glossary across the entire organisation. Increasing use of personal data tends to go hand in hand with raised concerns about the privacy and security of that data. Data privacy regulations vary from country to country and the level of concern about privacy issues varies accordingly. However, these concerns can and have been overcome as learning solution suppliers have become expert in navigating global privacy regulations. Perhaps the greatest challenge facing HR and L&D managers has been the requirement to collect as many types of learner data as possible and feed them meaningfully into a central talent or learning management system. There is a pressing need for learning content providers to develop custom APIs that will interface with learning systems in a way that goes beyond the simple view of learner data that standard interfaces allow for. Widely used technical standards for e-learning system interoperability, such as SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model), did not go far enough in the big data world. However SCORM is evolving fast and in its new incarnation as the Tin Can API it offers a new specification for learning technology that makes it possible to collect data from the wide range of learning experiences a person has online and offline, using multiple technologies, in a consistent format. As the technology matures, HR and L&D professionals can plan to incorporate big data into their global workforce development strategy. Individual learner data has always been key to the most effective learning delivery and the technology is now available to turbo charge the collection and analysis of learner data to achieve the most effective and consistent training delivery. *Data source:  Global audit of HR and L&D professionals and senior managers carried out by Speexx from sample size is 72,197 Speexx students, during the period 01/06/2013 - 31/05/2014 across Europe, Americas, Asia and Africa.

Pancake racing, a seemingly unlikely event found on sports calendars in Great Britain, traditionally takes place the day before Ash Wednesday, and offers a final shot of fun before the sobering weeks of Lent. In the forty days leading up to Easter, known as Lent, devout Christians are expected to fast or give up various things: meat, sweets, entertainment or other frivolous things. On the day before Lent begins, Shrove Tuesday, believers were expected to go to church and ‘be shriven.’ The name stems from the past tense of the English word shrive, which means to acquire absolution for one’s sins by confessing them and doing penance for them. Throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, Shrove Tuesday is more colloquially known as Pancake Day or Pancake Tuesday. As one might expect, pancakes are a popular dish on this day. Making pancakes used up rich foodstuffs such as eggs, milk and sugar, all items that would spoil during the fasting period. British pancakes are only a little thicker than French crepe - and can be easily filled, rolled up or folded. They are traditionally made using only milk, flour and eggs, although some cooks add melted butter as well. They are most commonly topped with sugar and lemon. It is believed that the tradition of pancake racing can be traced back to a housewife in Olney, in Buckinghamshire. She was busy making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, when suddenly she heard the church bells ringing, calling her to service. She ran out of the house, still carrying the frying pancontaining the pancake. Pancake races are traditionally held on Shrove Tuesday throughout the United Kingdom. The most famous race takes place at Olney, and has been held there since 1445. Contestants race a predetermined distance to the finishing line while carrying a frying pan and tossing a pancake in the air as they go. The winner is the first to cross the line with the pancake still in the pan and intact. Increasingly, pancake races are held as a way of earning money for worthy causes, such as hospitals or other charities. London’s biggest event, the Great Spitalfields Pancake Race will be raising funds for the London Air Ambulance, while the Parliamentary Pancake Race which pits teams comprised ofMPs, Lords, and members of the press against each other, is organized by the charity Rehab. Despite the differences in pancakes on other side of the Atlantic, Americans too are getting in on the fun. Since 2006, International House of Pancakes (IHOP) has provided all guests with acomplimentary short stack of pancakes at all of its locations on Shrove Tuesday, which is usually called Fat Tuesday in the US and Canada. In return, customers are asked to donate to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals or other local charities. This year’s goal is to raise $3.5 million for charity.

21st February 2015 marks the sixteenth International Mother Language Day[1], which was originally established by the UNESCO in 1999. The aim of International Mother Language Day (IML) is to promote linguistic and cultural diversity, as well as multilingualism across the world. It got me thinking about just how valuable multilingual and multicultural skills are in a today’s globalised business world. For one thing, the right linguistic abilities will allow employees of a multinational organisation to communicate much more efficiently among each other. If they are open and sensitive to intercultural differences, this builds an environment of mutual respect and understanding. A culturally diverse workforce provides a rich source of perspectives, ideas and lays the foundation for innovation. Of course, some cultural gaps are inevitable - the way people start a meeting in the USA might not be the same as in Spain. A Polish employee might address a senior manager differently to the way a Chinese person would. The good news is, if such nuances are recognised and addressed early on, conflict can be avoided. Training your workforce in cultural awareness and foreign languages will give them the abilities they need to handle these situations. On top of that, this type of training can be a rewarding and inspiring experience for staff. It doesn’t need to be a formal face-to-face training programme either - with the help of technology, these skills can easily be acquired with online courseware, in live virtual classroom sessions or via mobile apps. Many organisations have opted for having one standard business language for all employees, no matter where they’re located. A new company perk might include letting employees spend a period abroad to discover the language and working culture of another country. Ultimately, strong intercultural and foreign language skills will harmonise relations among personnel, speed up processes and limit misinterpretations. Multilingual business But such skills can be extended and utilised beyond a company’s boundary, too. Knowledge of a second or third language means opening up the lucrative opportunity for new business abroad.  We cannot assume that, just because English has come to be the dominant business language, it is automatically spoken and comprehended flawlessly by all business people worldwide. In fact, the number of native Mandarin and Spanish speakers (955 million and 405 million, respectively) outnumbers those with English as their mother tongue (350 million)[2]. When dealing with clients or partners around the globe, soft skills such as cultural awareness or knowledge of the other person’s native language are a real competitive advantage. Not only will these abilities reduce the potential for error, they will also make the customer feel comfortable and able to express themselves openly. More than anything, clients wish to feel understood by their supplier, not just on a business level. A provider who can communicate with a customer taking into account their cultural and linguistic background will have a higher chance of winning a contract and building a successful and long-lasting partnership. Scientific backup There are other advantages, too. Did you know that learning a new language makes your brain grow? According to a Swedish MRI study [3], just three months of intense language study causes certain parts of the brain to increase in size. This includes the hippocampus, which helps consolidate information from short-term to long-term memory and is partially responsible for navigation, as well as three areas in the cerebral cortex. Another study found that people who speak more than one language scored better on attention and concentration tests, regardless of whether they’d grown up bilingually or had learnt the second language later on [4]. So it’s never too late to start learning! A more long-term incentive is the fact that studying a foreign language is said to slow down brain ageing and delay dementia later on in life. If these facts are not enough to convince you, here’s a final quote from the United Nations IML Day microsite, "All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue." Happy International Mother Language Day!   [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mother_Language_Day [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers [3] http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/sep/04/what-happens-to-the-brain-language-learning [4] http://www.livescience.com/46048-learning-new-language-brain.html