Summary

This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about adapting eLearning modules for multilingual corporate training, including localization, cultural adaptation, and best practices.

There is a very interesting insight that UNESCO released in 2022. It says, “Education in the mother tongue is a key factor for inclusion and quality learning, and it also improves learning outcomes and academic performance.”

About 40% of the world’s population does not have access to education in a language they understand! And there are 6909 languages spoken in the world!

While we may have made a mistake when it came to education in schools and colleges, we can rectify that through our corporate training localization programs by making them multilingual and adapting our eLearning modules. There is enough said about globalization.

Let’s talk about what localization can do for your organization.

Table of Contents:

What is Multilingual Corporate Training Localization? 

Corporate training localization goes beyond simple translation of the eLearning language into local languages. It is an “adaptation” where cultural beliefs, norms, social practices, local laws, different branch policies, etc., are also taken into account.

It includes localizing all kinds of training materials, including videos, audio, text, and everything that is used for eLearning. 

Why Adapt eLearning Modules for Multilingual Corporate Training?

The right question is, why not? There are over 60,000 multinational corporations worldwide that operate more than 500,000 subsidiaries. While every employee undergoes training (which also reduces turnover rate), having one standard, global training module might not lead you to your desired result. 

Here are the three primary reasons why you should adapt your eLearning modules to multiple languages:

1. To Celebrate and Support Diversity and Inclusion

Welcoming people from different parts of the world into your workforce can be done easily by making the training content available in a language they are comfortable in.

Their cultural practices can also be accounted for (for example, by avoiding the mention of words that may be acceptable in a certain country but looked down upon in another). It can also improve contextual understanding.

Also Read: Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Learning Programs You Design

2. To Increase Engagement and Retention

Through language localization, the training content resonates more with your workforce. The retention rate also increases, which means the learning outcomes are more favorable for the company.

Another obvious benefit of translating training materials is that your employees learn much faster due to this cross-cultural training.

3. To Improve Accuracy and Compliance

The best way to understand how corporate training localization can help improve the accuracy of your eLearning content is through this example.

If a training module shows two people greeting as one of the accepted ways of non-verbal gesturing at the workplace, your Indian, Chinese, or Japanese employees might not feel included.

As the ways of greeting in those countries are different. It also allows you to include the local laws of the region, where providing training materials in the local language is mandatory. 

How to Adapt eLearning Modules for Multilingual Corporate Training?

Here are a few best practices you can follow to adapt eLearning modules for corporate training localization in your organization:

1. Build a Strategy

Why are you undertaking a localization program? Is it because everyone else is doing it? Define your reasons and goals clearly.

This will make sure you can align your strategy to those while they work as a tether in the long run. Conduct thorough market research and gather as much information as you can.

2. Understand the Locale

Take the language Spanish for example. It’s different in Spain and Mexico. Find out the dialect and what is culturally important for your employees to adapt it right for your target audience.

It could be the little things like slang, text size or direction, slogans, colors, imagery, currency, date and time formats, etc. Pay attention to these things.

3. Look at the Logistics

Ask important questions about implementing localized training. Does that office have the capabilities or tools? Do you have the resources to spend on cross-cultural training? How much time do you need to plan to implement it?

Think about the personnel you need or any localization partners. Decide on a translation technology you are going to use. Assign responsibilities, set timelines and a budget, establish a review strategy, create a quality assurance procedure, etc. 

4. Dive into Data

Once you have localized your eLearning modules, track the performance metrics.

Look at the engagement rate, completion rate, retention rate, feedback, and, above all, if it has filled the knowledge gaps while promoting inclusion. Use this data to improve further and continue translating training materials.

5. Hire an Expert

The eLearning experts can completely customize your training modules for you, and they are state-of-the-art.

The expertise, experience, understanding of the different markets, technical abilities, etc., from a localization partner can make the corporate training localization much more effective, efficient, and high-paced.

It can also ensure that your training modules are regularly updated, glitch-free, easy to use, and, if required, uber-personalized.

6. Consider the Pareto Principle

Also known as the 80-20 rule, the Pareto Principle states that 20% of effort can result in 80% of goals. This means localizing 20% of your content could give 80% of the results.

Identifying the core 20% of your corporate training modules and starting with that is a smart choice to make. Measure the results after doing so, and you are free to localize 100% of the content then, but it won’t take as much resources or time since you’ll know the direction.

Also Read: 7 Factors to Consider for Large-Scale eLearning Content Localization

Comienza Ahora. 现在开始. अब शुरू करो. Start Now!

That was Spanish, Mandarin, and Hindi if you were curious.

And if you don’t understand one or two of those languages, you’ll find yourselves in the shoes of employees who undergo training that is not localized. This further highlights how important corporate training localization programs are. Companies like Netflix, ASOS, and Nintendo, among others, are already leading the way.

While adopting a corporate training localization program, you can face multiple challenges, but remember how it can boost your brand image, lead to better ROIs, increase the impact of your training, along with offering other advantages.

If the challenges still worry you, you can navigate them easily by contacting an eLearning expert like Hurix Digital, who can customize eLearning for your organization efficiently.

With Hurix, you can create immersive learning experiences, fully customize the learning solutions and get support on end-to-end performance improvement and evaluation strategy. We also offer game-based and scenario-based learning options. Get started now!