Bob Shankly, the human- resources manager at Hams Hall, agrees that language skills are vital. He said: “BMW makes engines in Germany, Austria and Hams Hall, and the three plants compete on cost, quality and delivery. English isn’t enough here. We are in daily contact with BMW plants in Germany at all levels in the organisation, and to be able to communicate in someone else’s tongue gives you a competitive advantage. It’s debatable whether BMW would have built this plant if the Brits hadn’t agreed to learn German.”
The world’s financial system is dominated by English- language banks, and English-language law prevails in global commerce. “But that’s not the point,” said Jenkins. “The point is to be able to relate to your business counterparts wherever they come from, and just speaking English is not enough.”
Eversheds now uses its fluency in languages and cultural awareness to offer clients what it calls a seamless service: the company understands not only the legal system in different countries, but also their business and social mores.
“If we hadn’t taken the steps that we have in language and cultural training, we would not have seen the expansion we have enjoyed,” said Jenkins.
A one-day course in cultural awareness for a group of employees will cost a company between £1,000 and £2,200, according to Barry Tomalin, a consultant who has trained people in 65 countries.
“Cultural awareness enables you to establish rapport and credibility when you travel,” said Tomalin, director of cultural training at International House in London. “Just a 20% change in your behaviour will achieve an 80% change in the way people respond to you.”
Tomalin offers delegates on his courses a formula for mastering cultural awareness; the technique analyses people’s behaviour and values in their working and social lives, and demonstrates how to empathise with them rather than stumble into embarrassing gaffes.
American managers sometimes claim that the British speak in euphemisms rather than English. “So Americans will come out of a meeting with British managers and ask: ‘Did they decide anything in there?’” Tomalin said.
“On the other hand, we have a pretty matey culture in Britain, and we tend to address French and German people by their Christian names too soon. But their business cultures are usually more formal, and we can seem like cowboys to them.”
Figures produced by CILT — the National Centre for Languages — and the British Chambers of Commerce indicate the depth of Britain’s monolingual rut. Incredibly, four out of five British export managers cannot negotiate in a foreign language, and Britain rates 27th out of 28 European countries in foreign-language skills.
Britain sells the same amount of goods and services to Latin America’s 390m people — where Spanish and Portuguese prevail — as it does to Denmark’s 5m, who tend to be fluent in English.
And while British companies with key staff who speak foreign languages are increasing their overseas trade by £300,000 a year, those without these essential skills are losing export sales at a rate of £50,000 a year.
