As a result of globalization, many companies are starting to deal with foreign countries. Depending on the person in charge, there may be an increasing number of situations where they realize the necessity of English ability. How much English is required to do overseas business?
目次
What English Language Proficiency Is Necessary to Establish a Company Overseas?
It is well known that Japanese are not good at English, not only by themselves but also by the world. Even among those who have the opportunity to learn English at work, there may be many people who don’t aim to improve their English ability, thinking that it would be better if they could learn at least.
There will be no problem if there is an interpreter. Some people think that language ability can be supplemented by the development of AI in the future. However, at this point in time, I think it would be safer to have English proficiency in order to do business smoothly, such as negotiating directly with the other party.
Even if you are a manager or a manager, there are cases where you don’t have English ability. In that case, the management control of the local staff may become inconsistent in the country where we are expanding overseas.
There are many cases of failure in overseas expansion that are thought to be caused by communication inconsistencies due to a lack of language skills or a lack of human resources capable of communicating. For example, when Japanese employees are stationed in overseas locations, there are cases where there are only a few Japanese employees for many local staff. In such cases, the expatriate staff may not be able to form a team due to poor communication with the local staff. As a result, communication with the head office sometimes fails.
In addition, when a manager is assigned to a local employee, the meetings with the head office are mainly teleconferences. If there is no staff who can speak English in the management of the head office in Japan, it is often difficult to deal with.
What is the required ability along with English ability?
When I work overseas, I sometimes encounter situations where English is absolutely necessary. When measuring English ability, TOEIC scores can be mentioned. Specifically, a TOEIC score of 700 ~ 795 is said to be the minimum level of business English. It is said that it is at a level where you can read and understand the information of meetings, notifications, internal documents, and so on, and exchange daily work.
It is said that a TOEIC score of 800 ~ 895 is necessary to have a serious discussion abroad. Even in a general company, if you want to be assigned to an overseas department, there are many companies that use this score as a guideline.
If you start a business from scratch overseas, you will need a TOEIC score of 900 or higher to be able to communicate as well as a native speaker. However, if you work overseas as a representative, you may not need to have such a high level of English ability. Even if the TOEIC score is the same, there is a difference in the fluency of conversation.
In order to master English on the spot, you need not only simple English skills but also conversational and negotiating skills. In jobs where interpersonal relationships are important, such as local negotiations, marketing, and sales, you need to be good at English. On the other hand, if you focus on desk work or reporting, you may not need to have a high level of English. For engineers, they may not use English except for meetings and reports.
The required English ability differs depending on the work you are engaged in. Even if you can talk, it is difficult to read technical documents and understand the contents of the contract, and the areas you are good at differ from person to person. Try to find someone who has the right English skills for the job.
To improve the English ability of employees
It is important to secure personnel who will be engaged in overseas business when conducting overseas business. Also, if you plan to start an overseas business in the future, you will need people who are proficient in languages in advance. Therefore, many companies are asking their employees to improve their language skills.
In order to improve employees’ English ability, many companies have introduced English training. There are a variety of training programs, from simple beginner level English conversation to advanced level business English conversation. Of course, there is also a way to hire people who already have English ability. However, even if you check your language ability through interviews or resumes, it is unclear whether you have the ability to perform your job.
It may be quicker and cheaper to have someone who is already proficient learn English than to hire someone to go abroad. English language training is used by many companies to change the mindset of employees when starting an overseas business.
If you’re looking for English proficiency, don’t judge just by a simple score, but try to narrow down your goals in what direction English proficiency is required. Depending on what you do in English, the learning plan will change.
Summary
When you do business overseas, you need to make decisions quickly. There is a case that it develops into a trouble because of slow response to emails from overseas and international calls. When considering expanding overseas, let’s start training considering securing human resources for that purpose.
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X-HUB TOKYO
Webマガジン編集部
企業の海外進出に関する
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