Gained in translation

If your firm wants a strong global presence, having staff with language skills may well be the difference between success and failure

The world has become a smaller place, but language barriers can prove as much of a bar to business as distance once did. As Guernsey Finance and Jersey Finance, the Channel Islands" promotional bodies, seek out new markets globally, the industries they"re promoting are out to make the most of the opportunities that exist.

For some firms, this has meant opening new offices elsewhere in the world, giving them a physical presence in Europe, Asia, or whichever location suits their business. With this comes a demand on the ground for fluent, ideally native, speakers - a need that can be felt just as keenly at  home.

As Head of Fund Services at Carey Group, Joe Truelove works with foreign-language speakers in the Guernsey office and the group"s other bases. A language graduate himself, he"s clear on the benefits of studying other languages for both the student and employer.

“There are the intangibles, such as the self-confidence, communication skills and emotional intelligence you gain from a language degree. Plus you can always provide a better service to clients when you speak their language, as you"re far better equipped to understand their personal needs and circumstances. However, the tangible economic benefit is often grossly undervalued by employers.”

Truelove also highlights the demand for foreign- language speakers that"s not being met in the islands at the moment: “We have Middle Eastern clients and have a requirement for Arabic speakers with private client trust experience. It"s currently extremely challenging to fill that position because there simply aren"t the people here with the relevant skills, yet it"s a key market the island is looking at.”

Breaking the language barrier

Kate Clouston, Guernsey Finance"s recently appointed Director of International Business Development, is one of those looking at new markets for the  island"s finance industry. She"s fluent in six languages, including Arabic and Mandarin, as well as French, Italian and Spanish, and believes the value of learning foreign languages is obvious.

“I started learning languages from a very young age as my grandparents were Canadian,” she says. “In 2011 I changed career and decided the most important thing I could do was learn Chinese, as I felt that was absolutely crucial for my future employability.”

John Shouler has recently opened the head office of his global translating business, Tongue Tied, in Jersey, and believes there is plenty of demand in the islands for his services. He agrees that  knowledge of other languages is crucial in a modern economy.

“I just don"t think you can get away with expecting that the rest of the world speaks English any longer. EU rules, for example, say that if you send products to an EU country, the documentation has to be in the language of that country. There are so many benefits to having language skills, and employers should recognise that.”

But if firms do accept the value of foreign-language speakers, which languages should they be learning? A recent UK report named Spanish as the most important, with French, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese and Russian also making the list.

Anna Lisa Detassis, Director at Accent Language School in Guernsey, believes this reflects the demand she"s seeing. “French and Spanish are always popular with people who come to us to learn languages, though we"re also seeing trends towards Chinese and Russian.

“We have employers sending their employees to us for a whole range of reasons. It"s not unusual to have requests from accountancy firms and banks to teach new staff who have just arrived in the island how to write more businesslike English. At the same time, we often see directors and others at a high level wanting to learn languages conversationally so they can speak with a certain fluency to their business contacts.”

Cultural exchange

For those who have dealt with clients in other countries, it"s clear that the benefits to business of speaking a foreign language stretch far beyond basic communication. Clouston emphasises  the importance  of the cultural education that naturally follows from learning a language. “The key thing for business is that it"s about the culture as much as the language,”  she says. “If you look at a language such as Chinese, you will learn so much about the culture by learning the language as they are totally intertwined. By being educated about the culture, you"ll understand far better how the people you"re dealing with approach problems and the way they think about business. And clearly, if you understand how somebody is thinking, you"re far better placed to meet their needs.”