Advanced Business Language Coaching

Situation

An American woman was sent to Singapore for a long-term international assignment. She had no foreign language skills, and although English was the official language used at the office, she was committed to learning Mandarin to make social inroads with her colleagues as well as to help her be perceived as striving to integrate more into the community.  She was particularly concerned about her own Chinese ethnicity, as there may be an expectation that she have a command of the language.

IOR Solution

To accommodate her work and 50% travel schedule while maximizing her commitment to learn Mandarin, IOR proposed several half-day training sessions during the first few months of her on-boarding. IOR worked with her to schedule training sessions during the day rather than try to squeeze a 2-hour lesson in a few times a week.

Results

Training became part of her formal orientation process, and a more formalized development program was wrapped into the expatriate policy.