The Tribune

With globalisation in full swing and worldwide markets becoming more interdependent, the need for bilingual employees continues to rise. Businesses that take advantage of adding bilingual speakers to their payroll can benefit immensely because these workers can expand their client base.

The Bahamas, like many other developed or developing nations, has historically welcomed many different races of people, who represent diverse cultures and languages. These individuals make up a sizeable percentage of the workforce and, while they largely speak our native language, the great advantage they have over the rest of the workforce is the fact they are bilingual.

Having bilingual speakers in the workplace can give business owners the opportunity to reach a wider customer and client base. Bilingual speakers can serve as interpreters for potential and existing clients.

It is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to set up business relationships with customers or clients in foreign countries because of the language barrier. Bilingual speakers can bridge that gap. Additionally, that bilingual speaker may even have contacts in their home country who could be potential clients.

Companies who understand this have made investments in their employees by enrolling them, or encouraging them to take, various structured and self-teach programmes. Others simply make benefit packages more attractive to those who have these language skills.

While the benefits to the company are clear, it is the employee who benefits significantly from having taken advantage of learning another language. Here are some of the key benefits of becoming a bilingual employee:

1. You gain instant rapport with your customers. There is nothing more heart-warming to a foreign language speaker in another country than to hear his native tongue being spoken as he/she is conducting business. It is an automatic ‘shoe in’ for the professional who has acquired the second language.

2. Employees with language skills are usually able to demand higher salaries than counterparts without those skills.

3. In today’s competitive job market, being bilingual is a tremendous value-add for employers, and separates you from the other pile of resumes. The more diverse your skill set is, the more hirable you become.

4. With another language, you automatically increase your target market share. For example, the second most-spoken language globally is Spanish. Some 500 million persons speak it as their native tongue. Being able to communicate with this demographic automatically increases your client base.

It is fair to conclude that whether you are fresh out of college or a seasoned executive, fluency in a second language can not only help you stand out among prospective employers, but can also open doors to opportunities that those without foreign language skills might miss.

• NB: Ian R. Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@coralwave.com.