…ArcelorMittal to improve business efficiency by supporting multi-lingual communication skills across its 262,000 global workforce…
MUNICH – Thursday 22nd March 2012 – dp (digital publishing), the global provider of the award-winning corporate language training Speexx, today announced that ArcelorMittal, the world’s number one steel and mining company, has partnered with dp. ArcelorMittal aims to deliver a truly global, multilingual, language learning programme through a dedicated online portal. It is expected that 262,000 staff across 60 countries will have access to language courses to improve their business communication proficiency. The programme allows employees to have unlimited access to English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German and all staff can study several languages if they wish.
The self-paced language learning courses will be delivered through dp’s award winning product Speexx which provides grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation (with Speexx’s IntelliSpeech voice recognition). The structured courses will also be supported by mobile phone vocabulary applications. The global Speexx portal, which has been recently re-launched by dp, also offers HR and L&D professionals with a dash board for tracking and measuring staff performance. With Speexx dp offers a single, global, and scalable learning solution with access to several languages and not just English.
Christian Standaert, General Manager at ArcelorMittal University, explained “Fewer than 15 per cent of our employees are native English speakers and despite a considerable investment in language training there is still a long way to go to reach acceptable levels of English proficiency in our global organisation. After a thorough selection process we have signed a contract with Digital Publishing to make their Speexx language learning solution available to the entire ArcelorMittal workforce. We are extremely pleased that Speexx is being adopted in positive manner by our employees. Within just a few weeks of launching over 5,400 learners enrolled on the programme to improve their skills in one or more languages with Speexx.”
The uptake of language learning is also supported by the dp 2012 European survey which indicates that ‘improved language skills’ is getting more mindshare within businesses, with 79 per cent of those interviewed actively supporting staff.
Jörg Koberling, Founder and CEO of Speexx, added, “The changing demographics of the global workforce – and particular imbalance between needed and available skills – must be addressed promptly by organisations[1] in order to maintain continuity. A thorough succession management strategy includes staff language and communication training. Forward thinking organisations will recognise the value of language skills – and acknowledge how to make the most of staff talent and where to place them within the company. dp provides its customers with one seamless, standardised blended learning system that delivers an invaluable solution to managing business continuity – and meaningful results.”
[1] Reference: Bersin & Associates - Strategic Human Resources and Talent Management: Predictions for 2012 - Driving Organizational Performance amidst an Imbalanced Global Workforce
