Mitigating risks in manufacturing: How Busuu Language Learning Programs are empowering companies to bridge language barriers

In today's globalised economy, effective communication is crucial for businesses operating in diverse regions with varying languages. For manufacturing companies, managing risks and ensuring smooth operations often require bridging language barriers among stakeholders. To achieve this, organisations are increasingly turning to language learning programs that facilitate better communication, such as Busuu.

Busuu’s interactive language learning platform offers expertly-crafted lessons in 14 languages to help individuals build speaking confidence and fluency. This article shows you just a few examples of how manufacturing companies have leveraged Busuu language learning programs to improve professional communication, identify and mitigate risks more effectively, and successfully navigate the challenges of working in diverse, multilingual environments. 

The Importance of Language Barrier Mitigation in Manufacturing

In the manufacturing industry, effective communication is essential for smooth operations and safety. One of the challenges many manufacturing companies face is the language barrier among employees from different linguistic backgrounds. Overcoming language barriers can improve efficiency, safety, and foster a more inclusive work environment.

Language proficiency plays a vital role in ensuring a safer work environment, particularly in manufacturing, where operating machinery and being aware of potential hazards are substantial components of the job. Linguistic and cultural barriers can lead to miscommunications, increasing the likelihood of accidents and mistakes.

Risk mitigation is a crucial aspect of the manufacturing process, as it involves understanding and preparing for potential threats to the organisation's operations. By addressing language barriers, companies can better implement risk mitigation strategies and ensure clear communication of safety protocols and procedures. Effective risk mitigation reduces the impact of potential threats in the workplace.

The use of language learning programs, such as the one we offer at Busuu, can empower employees to develop their language skills and improve communication within the organisation. By offering such programs, employers can foster a culture of learning and inclusion.

“Busuu is helpful here in the store because it's really important to speak different languages. It’s super easy to use on your smartphone. You can do it for ten minutes and then put it away and continue later on when you’ve got free time, that's super good.” Jonas Bounouhi, Retail salesman, PUMA.

Busuu Language Learning Programs: An overview

Busuu is an award-winning online language-learning platform that offers various courses designed to help individuals and companies bridge language barriers. It provides an effective and engaging learning experience through its simplified courses, focused lessons, and engaging community of native speakers.

Key Features

Some of the key features include:

• Customised learning paths based on the user's goals and language proficiency
• The ability to practice with native speakers through the community feature
• Interactive exercises with instant feedback
• Conversational lessons to build speaking and listening skills
• Vocabulary and grammar learning tools
• Offline learning capabilities through downloaded lessons

These features ensure that users have a comprehensive and engaging experience while learning a new language.

Supported Languages

Busuu currently offers courses in 14 languages, including:

• Russian
• Spanish
• Portuguese
• Japanese
• English
• French
• German
• Italian
• Dutch
• Mandarin Chinese
• Arabic
• Turkish
• Polish
• Korean

This wide range of languages allows companies to effectively cater to their workforce's diverse language needs.

Integrating Busuu Language Learning Programs in companies

Companies can integrate Busuu’s language learning program into their organisation's training programs to help bridge employee language barriers. Some benefits of implementing Busuu language learning programs include:

• Facilitating effective communication among diverse teams
• Enhancing the overall productivity of the organisation
• Fostering a culture of continuous learning and development
• Empowering employees to participate in global business initiatives

“We had very fragmented language learning solutions at a local level. We were looking for a powerful learning offer that could help learners gain linguistic diversity. A platform that could help us scale-up our language learning, to make it easy, simplified and accessible anytime. With Busuu we could balance the boat. Centralisation when it comes to providing quality courses to all also employees, and decentralisation to give the power to local HR teams to manage their learners' needs.” Afia Tak, Head of Digital Learning, Alstom (a world-class multinational dedicated to mobility).

Through the use of Busuu's language learning programs, companies can effectively mitigate the risks associated with language barriers in the manufacturing industry and improve overall business efficiency.

We’ll leave the final word to Margo Hardy,  Digital Content Manager from People Development & Learning at cosmetics giant L'Oréal.

“At L’Oréal we have teams working in more than one hundred fifty countries, so we need them at some point to exchange to interact, to be able to work together all around the world. The main challenge we were facing was engagement, that's why we choose Busuu”.

If you’d like to see the difference it can make to your company, book a demo today.

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