If you’re an HR Director, L&D professional, or Training Manager in a company operating in Thailand, there is a good chance that employee English training will eventually land on your desk.
And choosing the right provider isn’t always so easy.
English ability varies enormously between employees. So do their jobs, communication responsibilities, confidence levels, and professional development needs.
So before comparing quotations and training hours, HR should answer a more important question:
What do we actually need our employees to become better at doing in English?
Here are five factors I would consider.
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1. Does the Provider Understand Your Business Needs?
A good corporate English training provider should begin by understanding the business requirement.
- Why does the company want training?
- Which employees need it?
- Who do they communicate with?
- What situations cause difficulty?
- And what would better communication enable them to do?
Perhaps your sales team needs to handle objections from international customers more effectively. Or, your managers may need greater confidence contributing to regional meetings.
Maybe your engineers may need to explain technical problems more clearly. Or, your senior executives may already speak excellent English but need to become more concise and authoritative when communicating with international stakeholders.
These are very different requirements. So, the training should begin with the business need, not the textbook.
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2. Is the Training Relevant to Employees' Actual Jobs?
Generic Business English has its limitations.
At ECSC Thailand, we believe employees develop useful communication capability when they practice situations that resemble the situations they actually encounter at work.
Ask potential providers whether their training can incorporate real professional tasks such as:
- Leading and participating in meetings
- Giving presentations and updates
- Negotiating with customers or suppliers
- Explaining technical or financial information
- Handling objections
- Networking with international colleagues
- Managing teams in English
- Writing and responding to professional messages
The language should be relevant too. A Finance Manager, Sales Director, HR Business Partner, and Operations Manager don’t use exactly the same English.
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3. Does the Methodology Focus on Communication?
Grammar has a place in English development, particularly for employees who are still building foundational ability.
But for many working professionals, knowing more grammar rules is not the primary challenge.
Using English effectively is.
They may already possess substantial vocabulary and grammatical knowledge but struggle to activate it quickly and confidently during a meeting, presentation, negotiation, or spontaneous conversation.
Professional performance in English involves language ability, but it also involves communication skills such as questioning, explaining, persuading, presenting, listening, clarifying, influencing, and building relationships.
The two should be developed together when the employee’s needs require it.
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4. Does the Training Format Fit the Employee?
There is no single training format that works best for everybody.
A company might need several. For example:
- Group Classes can help beginner and elementary-level employees develop foundational workplace English and speaking confidence.
- English Labs can provide small groups with targeted practice in specific communication situations such as meetings, presentations, sales, or networking.
- Workshops can develop particular communication capabilities intensively across a team or department.
- English for Managers can provide personalized 1-on-1 development around a manager’s actual communication responsibilities.
- Executive Coaching can help senior leaders develop more sophisticated aspects of international communication, including clarity, influence, delivery, leadership communication, and Executive Presence.
The question isn’t simply whether a provider offers online classes, onsite classes, or workshops.
It is whether they can recommend the right development format for the people involved.
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5. Can the Provider Demonstrate Professional Credibility?
Finally, HR is buying a professional service. Treat the decision accordingly.
Look beyond the course brochure and ask:
- Who will actually deliver the training?
- What experience do the trainers have with professionals?
- How will employee needs be assessed?
- How will the program be customized?
- What will participants actually do during sessions?
- How will progress be observed and communicated?
- Can the provider explain why they are recommending a particular approach?
This becomes especially important as employee seniority increases.
Training an elementary-level employee in foundational English and coaching a C-suite executive on international communication are not the same professional discipline.
The provider should be able to demonstrate that they understand the difference.
Further Reading:
Learn about one innovative kind of ECSC’s training in our article Onsite English Advisory in Bangkok.
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