Corporate Training
We have delivered customized training for major international companies. We will work with your team to define your Career English communication needs and then create a training which simulates the real work environment in the classroom so they can acquire the correct language skills. To learn more about the training we can customize for your company, contact Ms. Danielle Rowley by e-mail.
Comments from Steffen Schlesiona (Team Leader, Supplier Audit & Development, TRW Automotive Occupant Safety Systems):
‘I
will recommend that (you) be added to the company’s list of recommended
suppliers and will have no hesitation in recommending that other
departments undergo the same training’.
Students' Comments:
Markus - ‘Relevant examples were used in a real-life type scenario. The atmosphere was very good’.
Norbert – ‘The days’ programs were realistic and in depth’.
Stefan – ‘ Training was 100% in English and was very good practice’.
Comments from Eric Lien, Sales Manager at Peter Herdt und Söhne:
‘The
participants are speaking much more freely and appear to have grown in
confidence. The final dinner was conducted almost totally in English –
this would not have happened before the course!’
Students’ comments:
Sabine - ‘I feel much more confident in using English now’
Christina - ‘Lots of practice and lots of fun’
Kuddusi - ‘Lots of practice, great atmosphere’
Manuela - ‘The atmosphere and the trainer, working with my colleagues and I, was relaxed and great fun’
Marion - ‘Lots of speech practice in a comfortable atmosphere. It was a lot of fun and I wish that the course could have been longer’
Read about our training for a team of office workers who needed English several times a week:
The office and sales staff of Peter Herdt und Söhne, a Coca-Cola bottling affiliate in Offenbach, Germany, use English several times a week. The office staff periodically handles calls and faxes in English from customers and suppliers, discussing orders and handling complaints. Once or twice a year, the office and sales staff welcome English-speaking visitors to their office.
Sales Manager, Eric Lien, asked us to develop and deliver an English course customized specifically to the needs of his staff to help them speak English more fluently and confidently to do their jobs.
First, to assess their needs, we conducted person-to-person interviews with the staff and Eric completed an e-mail questionnaire. We identified functional communication objectives which formed the core of our course (note: telephoning and e-mailing were not taught separately but taught in the context of when they were used to meet their goals).
Although the language ability of the staff varied from lower intermediate to upper immediate, we placed all seven of them in the same group because they had the same communication goals.
To best fit their busy schedule & budget, we created one course called “Surviving in the International Office of Herdt & Söhne”, incorporating all of the above functions and meeting twice a week for a total of nine sessions or 18 units (of 45 minutes each). By meeting twice a week, the participants really felt a part of the story as it took place in ‘real time’ and learning was quicker because of the intensity.
The language was exercised in realistic stories which “took place” or were simulated during the sessions. For example, during the course when the story was that Herdt & Söhne got a new supplier, the staff had to meet him, describe their company and explain merchandising requirements.
Read about our training for a team who needed to conduct supplier audits in English:
TRW Automotive Occupant Safety Systems subsidiary located in Aschaffenburg, Germany, designs and manufactures steering wheels with built-in airbags for the world’s auto manufacturers. The Supplier Audit & Development group is responsible for maintaining the quality of the parts used in the steering wheels and which are obtained from their suppliers located throughout Europe. To do this, the team visits the suppliers and audits their processes regularly or when there is a specific need such as launching a new product. Until this year, the audits were conducted in spoken English, but the audit reports were written in German, the native language of the auditors. However, with effect from the beginning of this year, TRW, an American-based company, requires that all documentation be in English. The audits are especially challenging because the suppliers themselves are non-native English speakers with varying language abilities.
Team Leader, Steffen Schlesiona, asked iAchieve to develop and deliver an English course customized specifically to help his team complete the audits and documentation more confidently and effectively in English.
Through a person-to-person interview with Mr. Schlesiona, we assessed the following needs:
- Writing e-mails relating to quality control issues in-between audits
- Questioning suppliers during the audit to get answers to 10 Elements of the Audit (Report form required by TRW)
- Summarizing the audit findings in a face-to-face discussion with the supplier
- Writing the summary on the Report Form
Although the language ability of the team varied from lower intermediate to advanced, we placed all participants in the same group because they shared communication goals.
Due to the members of the group often being away visiting suppliers, we decided that the course should take place over two full days (since it was easier for them to set 2 days aside than to try to commit to 2 – 4 hours a week after work. Incorporating the language functions listed above, we created the course called “Surviving the Audit Process.”
On the first day, Barbara, their trainer, started the course by mapping out the audit process step by step. Then, they concentrated on exercising effective language for questioning suppliers during the audit to get answers to most of the Elements of the Audit (from the Report Form). And on the second day, the group exercised effective language for the remaining Elements as well as practiced writing e-mails and writing the summary.
The language to achieve their functional goals was then practiced in realistic stories which were “simulated”. For example, three people acted as supplier; the other two people acted as the auditors. The “auditor” would “audit” the “supplier” just as he does in real life by asking the relevant questions to get the answers to the Elements on the Report form and to ensure compliance to ISO and other standards.
As everyone was busy with their “audit” and they were not watched and judged on their correctness by their trainer or peers, the atmosphere was relaxed. Because the participants could speak comfortably and freely, they spoke more and better.
The more they spoke, the more confidently they spoke. As their confidence grew, they remembered more vocabulary and made fewer grammatical errors.
To reinforce what they learned during the course, each participant was given a “Handbook” containing common, effective language for each of the functions listed above. They keep the Handbook “at hand” to refer to when they need it until they know the language by heart.
To learn more about the training we can customize for your company, contact Ms. Danielle Rowley by e-mail.
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