Creating international working teams and advocating for a single mission moves internationalized enterprises to build high-quality and understandable internal communication for all its departments.
Some key data:
- 4 out of 5 workers feel more motivated when managers offer regular updates on company news. (Research conducted by Trade Press Services)
- 72% of employees don’t have a full understanding of the company’s strategy. That translates into 17 hours a week spent on average, clarifying unclear communication to the cost of $525.000 annually. (Gallup Research)
- Employee productivity increases by 25% in organizations where employees are connected. (Data published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology)
- Organizations with efficient strategies and communication programs are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their peers. (Towers Watson, 2014)
These data shed light on an important matter: internal communication is a company’s cornerstone. Whatever the size of an organisation may be, it requires effective communication processes to ensure that employees feel connected and make them feel part of a whole.
However, the cultural and language diversity among workers can make it difficult to understand documents and internal communication guides capable of engaging and informing all the workers with the same effectiveness are essential.
The role of native translation
Translating internal corporate documents in the native language of the employees is essential, but not by any means possible. By using machine translation programs, there is a risk that the content doesn’t communicate the intended message. The subtle details and connotations that differentiate one culture from another could be lost in translation and affect the overall message, reaching a team with diverse backgrounds and points of view in very different ways.
For this reason, it’s crucial to work with native translators specialized in the particular characteristics of internal communication, capable of communicating the same message, vision, and values to a multicultural staff.
To ensure that the internal communication of your company doesn’t get lost in the translation process, it’s important to take into consideration the following:
1. Emphasize your company’s goals
The entire workforce needs to be aware of the mission and objectives of the company, as well as the role which they play in contributing to the achievement of these objectives. All the information related to these areas should be communicated in their mother tongue. Often many companies identify the 10-12 languages most common in their organization and adapt the original content to these languages. Translating your content into your team’s languages is the only way to create a successful business and effective communication.
2. Establish quality control processes
This is an important benefit that comes along with partnering with a professional translation provider. At Berba, we manage all your translations from start to finish, so you do not have to waste your resources and time internally, and your employees can focus completely on their tasks.
Since all the translations are coordinated centrally by a high-quality translation service, all nuances and specific requirements are addressed, ensuring that the content’s message and meaning are communicated efficiently.
3. Communicate
Experts point out that communication and feedback are key to employee engagement, both locally and globally. Most probably, the team will have questions, comments, and suggestions to give when receiving news, guides, or announcements.
Incorporate face-to-face conversations or video calls and feedback techniques to build a communication foundation to understand if your workers are synchronized and understand the message. This way, you will acknowledge that the team involved understands the content, and you will allow your employees to share what they think and suggest.
4. Define critical terminology and concepts
Often, each culture doesn’t have an exact equivalent for a crucial term or phrase. Even something as simple as the phrase “company’s growth” may not be translated accurately if you simply substitute the English Words with its equivalent in another language.
Coordinating your internal communication content with a team of professional translators may help you understand which concepts are the most effective for your message to resonate in all the working-teams.
5. Let your workers choose
It’s important not to assume which language your workers prefer when they receive internal communication documents.
Give them the chance to choose in which language they prefer to receive information and materials. This way, you make it clear that their needs and preferences are important to you and assures that the message will resonate with them.
When companies acknowledge the subtle cultural differences existing between the different team members, they demonstrate that they are committed with their staff. By talking with their employees, partners, and third parties in the most personalized, precise, and clear way possible, you will improve the collaboration, comprehension, and relevance of the message.
Effective internal communication is essential for the proper functioning of the company. Global organizations must combine AI-powered translations with the ability and expertise of human linguists, providing internal communications accurately, fast and localized to the workforce around the world. At Berba, we make it easy for you, place your order, and we will make sure that all your team understands and shares the same message!
