All workers were required to take a two hour question test to assess their reading and listening comprehension of business English and continue to take the test until they passed. A second phase involved bringing in lecturers to discuss with employees how to study and manage learning the language. The last phase was encouraging workers to use English in meetings. In line with a do it yourself culture one early problem was that Rakuten offered little initial training or support to workers who were expected to pay for their own English classes and learn during off hours. Neeley who drafted some best practices that the company began to implement says Rakuten has quickly moved to make substantial changes including paying for language classes.
While workers in their s and older typically resist language mandates more than do somethings Neeley says the older workers at Rakuten also shared advantages they often had more education and money to pay for additional private or small group classes. with stronger Malaysia Email List language education she says. If you have a second language already it is so much easier and people in their s can make inroads. While it s challenging for workers to start from scratch it is absolutely doable she says. English In A French Firm In a separate forthcoming Organization Science article titled Language Matters Status Lost and Achieved Status Distinctions in Global Organizations Neeley interviewed workers at a billion Paris based high tech company about its two year old English only language mandate.
She uses the pseudonym Frenchco for the company in the case. With about percent of Frenchco s employees based outside France pressure had mounted to change to English only. The company s customers partners suppliers and competitors were using English exclusively its operations were becoming increasingly global and it had made recent acquisitions in Poland and the UK and opened a subsidiary in China. “IN ENGLISH I AM NOT MYSELF.