ESL Training: Expense or Investment?

When companies consider English language training for their employees in China and Hong Kong, they increasingly seek out a positive Return on Investment (ROI). However, oftentimes companies do not link this training with the on-the-job-performance. This causes difficulty in assessing the effectiveness of the trainings and frustration for companies and English language training providers alike.

Before exerting efforts to measure training effectiveness, companies should recognize their genuine motives for supplying English Training. This exercise will help to determine either ROI is an essential measure or should be refrained from.

Simply asking, Why do we offer English language training?, allows you to clarify whether your company views English language training as an expense (tactical approach) or investment (strategic approach) and what are the ensuing complementary steps.

If you agree with one or more of the following statements, then your company most likely perceives training as an expense and probably provides English language training each year regardless of the business impact:
• English language training is a type of reward for the best performers.
• English language training is part of a development plan for employees with leadership and/or management potential.
• English language training is part of the company’s retention strategy and employer branding.
• English language training is pursued because competitors are providing this training already.
• The company has an annual budget allocated for employee training initiatives.
• Employees have communicated eagerness to attend English language training in employee surveys.
In this case, measuring satisfaction levels among participants and shopping for cost-effective solutions is appropriate.

On the contrary, if the following reasons apply to you, your company views training as an investment and thus conducts training programs aimed at creating significant measurable difference in on-the-job performance:
• During performance appraisals, employees have identified weak English skills as barriers to their individual performance.
• Supervisors recognize weak English skills as key barriers preventing individuals from achieving goals/objectives and greater performance levels.
In this case, you should certainly strive to calculate ROI after first linking training objectives with the on-the-job performance.

Understanding your approach can help you to effectively manage expectations, and improve your entire training experience and engagement with English language training providers.