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TITEL

Berlin, 18.11.2007

The DICE Survey:A market analysis of Language & Intercultural Training in Germany

2007 Copyright by SKYLIGHT GmbH _ Seite 2

Nicola Schlöder, SKYLIGHT GmbH

Who am I?

Magister Artium in French and Italian Literature and Linguistics

Freelancer and trainer of German as a Foreign Language since 2001

Consultant at SKYLIGHT since February 2007

What is SKYLIGHT?

SKYLIGHT is a consultancy which advises companies in developing the international business communication skills of their staff effectively.

We create new training concepts and systems to support the development of employees‘ communication skills at the workplace.


Reasons for the market analysis, DICE

The speed of globalization in recent years raises the question whether companies have changed their investment and approach to language and intercultural training.

How effective these training measures? Is the money invested in a useful way?

How do companies in Germany organize their language and intercultural training?

What measures do companies take to assure the quality of their training measures?

Which are the most common forms of trainer / course / learner evaluation?


Overview of DICE

Who was asked?

– HR-managers: members of the ERFA-Wirtschaft association

– HR-managers: members of the online platform ‚XING‘

What instruments did we use?

– Separate online-questionnaires for language training andintercultural training

How many are experienced with these kinds of training measures?

– 79% of companies who responded offer language training

– 39% of companies who responded offer intercultural trainings


Objectives & content of DICE

Topics

I. Who organizes language trainings and intercultural training and who undertakes the administrative planning?

II. How do companies assure the quality and effectiveness of language trainings and intercultural trainings before, during and after the training measures?

III. How much time and money do companies invest in their training measures?


Structure of the presentation

1. Results for language training in companies in Germany

– Organization and planning

– Forms of quality assurance

– Budget

2. Results for intercultural training in companies in Germany

– Organization and planning

– Forms of quality assurance

– Budget

3. Comparison & Conclusion


Language Training

I. Organization & planning of training measures

Language training is organized by specialists in only a few companies (24%)

In 62% of companies, the person who organizes the language training, spends less than 8 hours a week dealing with the training measures.

42% of companies contract freelancers to carry out the language training

35% contract major school chains to carrxy out the training


Who is teaching in companies

41,94%

35,48%

29,03%

19,35%

17,74%

4,84%

0,00%

10,00%

20,00%

30,00%

40,00%

50,00% Freelancers

A school chain

A private language school

A public institution (e.g. VHS)

others

An employee


Language Training

II. Quality assurance – before the training measure

24% of HR managers define and check the qualifications of their language trainers

Most companies (60%) themselves place staff who participate in language training

=> 40% do not place their participants and do not define any learning goals

33% use the CEF to place their participants

2007 Copyright by SKYLIGHT GmbH _ Seite10

Language Training

II. Quality assurance – during the training measure

66% ask their employees for feedback about the quality of the trainer

42% of companies carry out interim tests

36% demand and ensure full attendance from their course participants


Language Training

II. Quality assurance – after the training measure

Most common way to evaluate training is with a Feedback-form (63%)

Many companies (31%) require that their employees acquire a certificate (e.g. Cambridge certificates, TELC or TOIEC)

The most common certificates are the Cambridge examinations (71%)

11% of companies do not evaluate their training measures


Language Training

III. Costs of training measures

In the last 3 years

– The investment for language training has generally increased

– Only in 8% of companies has the budget for language training been cut

In the next 3 years

– None of the companies is planning to cut the budget

– 41% of the companies are planning to increase their budget or at least maintain it at its current level


Language Training - conclusion

Bad news

Those organizing language training do not spend much time doing it

There appears to be fewer specialists for language training

The quality assurance is clearly inadequte

76% of companies have not defined the qualification of their language trainers

Good news

Freelancers are still the most popular source of trainers

Companies see the need to invest in language training

No company is planning to cut the budget for language training


Intercultural Training

I. Organization & administration planning

Most intercultural training (47%) is organized by HR-managers who organize other kinds of training measures as well

In 82% of companies the person who organizes the training spends less than 8 hours a week on intercultural training

66,67% of the companies contract freelancers to carry out intercultural training


Who is teaching intercultural competences

64,86%51,35%

5,41%

Freelancers A private training institution A public institution (e.g. INWENT)


Intercultural training

II. Quality assurance – before intercultural trainings

Companies try to assure quality by aligning training to employees needs (24%)

20% define the trainer‘s qualification

Trainers must have lived and experienced several years in a foreign country

Trainers must have an academic background in intercultural competence



II. Quality assurance – during intercultural trainings

74% of HR-managers ensure the quality of training by asking their employees for feedback

Only 30% ensure and demand the full attendance of the employees

13% do not assess the quality during the training measure



II. Quality assurance – after intercultural trainings

The most common method (91%) is to evaluate the training with feedback forms

Very few companies (9%) evaluate the training output after it has been completed

There is no Common Framework for Intercultural Competence



III. Costs for intercultural trainings

In the last 3 years

– 50% of companies have increased their budget for intercultural training

– Only 10% have cut their budget

In the next 3 years

– Only 10% plan to cut their budget

– 30% plan to increase their budget


Intercultural Trainings - conclusion

Good news

Freelancers are very popular

Very few companies (10%) have cut the budget for intercultural training in the last 3 years

Only 10% will cut the budget in the next 3 years

The need of intercultural training is increasing

Bad news

The person who organizes the training spends only a few hours a week

There are very few specialists for intercultural training within companies

80% of companies do not define the qualification of their intercultural trainers


Language Training & Intercultural Training

Comparison:

Language training is offered more frequently than intercultural training

After a language training there never seems to be made a long-term-evaluation, whereas for intercultural training this form of evaluation is employed in a number of companies

There are no certificates for intercultural competences as e.g. Cambridge examinations for language training

There are more instruments to place employees for a language training, for intercultural trainings a CEF currently does not exist


Conclusion

Business activities in foreign countries are growing and the importance of language & intercultural competence is clearly increasing

The majority of companies is planning to keep or to raise their budget for training measures to develop intercultural and language competencies

Companies seem unsure and unclear about what makes a good trainer for languages and intercultural competences, or do not take the time to define a trainer qualification

The challenge for trainers is for them to distinguish themselves

Feedback-forms are the most common instrument of evaluation and frequentlythe only one


Questions resulting from the market analysis

Is it possible to organize training measures of high quality, if the responsible person spends less than 8 hours per week?

What can freelancers do to distinguish themselves and maintain their position over language schools and other institutions?

Only 36% can ensure that their employees attend the training courses

Are there other forms of training, such as blended learning, which may be more suitable?


SKYLIGHT GmbH

Nicola Schlöder

SKYLIGHT GmbH

Hansaring 61

D-50670 Köln

phone: +49 221 1612 190

fax: +49 221 1612 100

mobile: +49 176 2213 7427

mail: [email protected]

web: www.skylight.de

Contact

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Technology

language training ii

intercultural training ii

companies contract freelancers

language

intercultural trainings

language training

intercultural training

intercultural competences