Why do I say that corporate Human Resource Departments should use online Business English courses for corporate training? Well, besides the fact that I have an Online Business English teaching website with a virtual classroom, it can be useful for developing their employees and increasing their competitiveness. There are also some other very good reasons.
One reason is that there is a trend towards using more online learning courses in the corporate world (http://www.cnbc.com/id/101415252). There must be some good reasons for corporations to be doing this. I think that online courses can be more flexible in timing, number of attendees, etc. They can be more effective due to having one to one training or smaller groups (not as costly so no need to have large classes to reduce the cost per person). Thus, an online course will take less money out of the HR training budget, or it will allow more people to be trained with the same amount of money.
Why online courses?
They can be cost effective. There will be no needed airfare costs to bring in a trainer, or to send the students to the location, and also there will be no lodging and food costs. A classroom may not be needed for the students to access the internet. With a virtual classroom it is just like a classroom: there is a whiteboard that can be used by both the students and teacher, the teacher can show videos, the class can review word documents, excel files, and PowerPoint presentations. I know that with my virtual classroom, I can have students online at one time from five different locations, so there may be no need to have a physical classroom for the students to take the online course. As well, because of the lower cost, the course can be given to fewer students and still be cost effective. The money saved by using online courses can be used to give more courses to the employees.
If the HR departments and corporations are doing online training courses then why not online Business English courses? As shown above, online courses can have significant cost savings for companies. These can be used to upgrade and improve the English of the non-native English speakers in your corporation that have to deal in English in the business world. The courses can be customized to suit the needs of the company and the students. With fewer students needed to make the courses cost effective they can be even more customized for the students.
Why online Business English courses?
They can improve international communications for sales and business people. Employees, especially sales people, will be better able to give presentations. Employee will be more comfortable in business situations. There will be fewer communication problems with clients and suppliers. These courses can be targeted to an individual’s problem areas.
What courses can be taken?
There are many business English courses that you can take. For example at John’s Online English I offer the following online Business English Courses: English Job interviews, Business Correspondence, Presentations in English, Writing, Resume Writing, and Business English. Other providers may offer: negotiation, meetings, telephoning, socializing, and other similar courses. While I can offer these course, I prefer to focus on the business English courses that I listed above. There are many online English and Business English courses so, I would suggest ones with a virtual classroom because they will be better than Skype for giving a classroom like experience. This is because, as mentioned above, you can have business English courses with an onscreen whiteboard, use Office files, and show YouTube videos.
What are the benefits to the company?
The benefits to the company are many. Foreign companies can improve the English of local hires since most communication will probably be in English. Local companies can improve communications with foreign clients and suppliers. Your employees will be happier because they will be more comfortable talking with clients or suppliers in English. The clients and suppliers will be happier because there will be fewer problems caused by miscommunication. Online courses can be run with fewer students, so there will be a cost savings because the neither trainer nor the students need to be brought together.
For headhunters and human resource recruiting companies their candidate will be more appealing to the client, and will be more marketable. They should do better in job interviews with the client and be more likely to be hired by a foreign or international company searching for local employees.
In summary there are many benefits and savings from online Business English courses. Your employees will be more comfortable speaking English, there will be fewer communication problems, your sales presentations will go smoothly, and you will have lower training costs per employee. HR departments should use online Business English courses for all or part of their training needs if they are doing business internationally.
You can see this article published in Ezine at http://ezinearticles.com/?HR-Departments-Should-Use-Online-Business-English-Courses-for-Corporate-Training&id=8431307
APR
2014