4 Ways in Which Human Resources Translations Can Help International Businesses
Once you have decided to expand your business overseas, you will find that the international scenario can be quite different. Thus, you may need to reconsider your communications strategy to give your company more opportunities for success. Now, including human resources translations as part of your strategy can have very positive results.
Communication is a core value in any business: It must flow, be accurate, clear, and timely. This implies a real need to translate messages to ensure a genuine understanding among the company’s staff.
For departments such as human resources (or HR) that are in charge of human capital management and process analysis, the choice of words is not random. It responds to a meticulously orchestrated plan to achieve specific results. Thus, HR messages must be localised to reach every collaborator—and potential candidates to be recruited—with the same connotation as the original message without missing its purpose.
How Can Translations Support the HR Department?
Within the human resources department, there are multiple roles with distinct objectives. However, they all have one common goal: to organise and boost employees’ efficiency for best performance and productivity.
The following are the main tasks of this department. Additionally, we have included a few reasons why it is important to localise your human resources communication to achieve a strong international presence.
1. HR Translations Support the Recruitment Process
One of the most-known HR responsibilities is to find the right employees in the job market. In global companies, this may involve staffing their subsidiaries or hiring them to work remotely as part of an expanding team.
Talent acquisition involves several stages that may include interviews, tests, and analysis of the candidates’ results, attitudes, and skills. However, to reach the desired candidate, you should translate your communication appropriately, with due consideration of cultural differences. This saves time and costs: It makes the recruitment process less time-consuming and more accurate. Also, it reduces the risks of hiring unqualified candidates, which might compromise the later onboarding stage.
#OptimationalTip: Playing a game does not imply knowing the rules. It is essential that, to reduce time and budget wastage, you address the HR content localisation early in the strategy planning.
2. Human Resources Translations Help Increase Staff Retention
It is not enough to attract new candidates with engaging propositions and provide them with worthwhile onboarding. Companies need their employees to stay with them. Hence, it is crucial to analyse why people decide to leave and address these concerns.
For an international business, it is imperative to understand the cultural reasons that may influence employee decisions. Thus, localising the strategy correctly, ensuring no details are lost in communication, is key.
In some cases, it is necessary to re-evaluate payment proposals. However, on other occasions, it is not the earned income that motivates employees to stay, but factors such as development opportunities or a healthy job environment.
How can we identify their expectations if we do not comprehend the context in which they live? Working in a company’s subsidiary does not ensure that experiences are the same everywhere.
#OptimationalTip: The only way to ensure the consistency of human resources communication is to translate the information in a faithful way to its original purpose.
3. HR Translations Create a Better Job Environment
Besides having employees who are fit for the job, it is important that they are satisfied with the working conditions. HR messages play a key role here: keeping staff motivated, taking action to generate engagement, or paving the way for effective two-way communication. In other words, preventing burnout, early turnover, or low productivity.
Some HR strategies that enhance loyalty, promote business culture, and employee participation are: Corporate social responsibility, contests, games, and trivia. They keep staff motivated and active, demonstrating that the company is more than just a brand.
When analysing the work environment, there are multiple methods to obtain reliable results. They include surveys, interviews, etc. This data helps to prevent unfortunate events and to work towards improvement.
Making HR content available in different languages shows your employees that your care about them. Additionally, it shows respect towards people from different backgrounds and origins.
#OptimationalTip: Consider these questions to understand the relevance of translating human resources communication: How effective would planning be if messages do not account for international staff? How accurate would the analysis be if there is uncertainty about the effectiveness of the communication?
4. Human Resources Translations Increase Procedures and Regulations Compliance
Last but not least. The HR department ensures compliance with internal policies that any business requires for good performance and organisation. Processes establish how to do things, when, by which means, and with whom its responsibility resides. Also, it specifies how things should be done and safeguards the rights of employees.
These documents are the ones that need less creativity but need more precision when translated. Any error can be detrimental to the company or its human capital.
#OptimationalTip: As much as the phrase “use common sense” has spread as if it were universal, common sense is regional. The message that seems clear in one context may have different or multiple interpretations elsewhere. Make sure you work with professional translators skilled in localisation. This will ensure the effectiveness of human resources communication.
Final Thoughts: What Do Human Resources Communication Say About Your Company?
From the start, all companies know their identity, values, and which are their cornerstones. The concepts of mission and vision of a business are consolidated through time and trajectory.
Whether these concepts will be visible wherever the company has a presence will depend on the localisation of the HR messages.
Ensure that all your staff are on the same page and their values align with those of your company. It is a matter of choosing the right words to convey the right message.
At Optimational, we are ready to help you localise your HR content to achieve success. Contact us today to see how we can help.
