Language proficiency and succession planning: Developing future leaders

Berenice Lopez
business people in a board room with a graph on the wall behind
Reading time: 7 minutes

In today’s fast-paced business landscape, proactive succession planning is essential for HR professionals. Preparing the next generation of leaders is a business-critical initiative, to ensure organizational continuity, agility and long-term success.

Succession planning is often high up on the HR agenda, as it also promotes progression, reduces business disruption, and attracts top talent. There are many components to effective succession planning, including skills development, but one skill that’s often overlooked in this process is communication. One often overlooked yet highly influential component of effective succession planning is language proficiency.

At app ELL, we believe strongly in the power of language and have designed our succession planning strategy with this in mind. The focus is on creating multilingual leaders who are not only proficient in their respective fields but also have a deep understanding of global culture and market dynamics.

In this blog post, we explore how communication skills and specifically language proficiency plays a pivotal role in succession planning and the development of future leaders. We’ll also provide actionable insights for HR professionals and managers on integrating language development into their succession strategies. As well as some insights from our very own ELL HR team.

Integrating languages into succession planning
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What is succession planning?

Succession planning is a strategic process that organizations employ to identify and develop internal personnel with the potential to fill key leadership positions in the future. The succession planning process involves steps such as identifying key roles, assessing potential candidates, developing talent through training and mentoring, and regularly reviewing and updating the plan. This systematic approach ensures that businesses have a pipeline of qualified and capable leaders ready to step up when current leaders vacate their roles due to retirement, career progression, or unforeseen circumstances.

Effective succession planning goes beyond merely filling vacancies; it focuses on growing leaders who are aligned with the organization’s culture, values and business strategies. A well-developed succession planning strategy is crucial for identifying and preparing successors for senior leadership roles, emphasizing long-term talent development and leadership training. It involves a comprehensive assessment of potential leaders’ skills, performance and development needs, coupled with targeted training and mentoring programs. By investing in succession planning, organizations can mitigate risks, sustain their competitive edge, and ensure business continuity in an ever-evolving marketplace.

Implementing a succession plan

Successful succession planning involves:

  • Step 1: Identify roles: Recognizing the positions that are critical to the business and the individuals who have the potential to fill these roles in the future. This ensures business continuity and reduces the impact of turnover.
  • Step 2: Identify candidates: Strategically identifying and nurturing potential employees within the company to fill key organizational roles in the future.
  • Step 3: Prepare employees: Offering training and experiences that prepare these individuals for future leadership positions within the company.
  • Step 4: Transition: Implementing strategies that allow for a seamless shift of responsibilities when the time comes.

For internal candidates,we utilize a combination of performance evaluations, language proficiency assessments by the leader, and leadership potential indicators to identify candidates for key roles.

Contact us to find out how we can help your organization

Additional benefits of succession planning

In addition to ensuring business continuity and minimizing the impact of turnover, succession planning can also support your wider HR initiatives, including:

  • Attracting top talent: An organization that has a well-developed succession plan in place signals to potential candidates that it values employee development and career progression. This can be a significant draw for top talent.
  • Fostering employees’ motivation and engagement: When employees see opportunities for growth and advancement within the organization, they are more likely to be motivated and engaged in their work.
  • Promoting diversity and inclusivity: By identifying and developing a diverse pool of leaders, succession planning helps organizations foster a culture of diversity and inclusivity.
  • Saving time and costs: Succession planning enables organizations to proactively prepare candidates for leadership positions, saving time and resources that would otherwise be spent on external recruitment. With external hiring costing, on average, than internally.

Integrating language proficiency into succession planning

Effective communication is fundamental to strong leadership, particularly when working with international teams. Mastery of English, the global business language, is essential. Enhancing English proficiency can significantly improve a leader's ability to communicate clearly and effectively with diverse audiences, making them more adaptable and confident in their roles.

Incorporating language training into leadership development programs is vital for identifying and nurturing future leaders. These programs should include personalized development plans, talent assessments, and considerations for diversity to better adapt to global and remote work environments.

1. Assessment and identification of key positions

Start by assessing the current language skills within your organization and identifying key positions that are critical to your business operations and future goals. Recognize the importance of these roles and ensure that you have effective succession planning in place. Evaluate potential leaders not only on their existing competencies but also on their ability to learn new languages.

At app Languages, when it comes to identifying potential successors for key roles, we look beyond performance metrics. We consider language proficiency an essential skill set. Our Talent Management team works closely with the HR department and department heads to identify employees with strong language skills. These are individuals who not only excel in their current roles but also display the potential to take on bigger responsibilities.

We understand the risks and gaps that may arise in succession planning. To mitigate these, we conduct regular risk assessments and gap analyses, focusing especially on roles requiring specific language skills. For roles with specialized language requirements, we take a proactive approach by investing in targeted recruitment, promoting the use of our products for self-improvement, and providing immersive language experiences.

2. Training and development

Incorporate talent development programs into your leadership development programs to nurture high-potential employees through structured training. This can be done through formal classes, online courses, or immersive experiences such as international assignments or exchanges.

Encourage continuous learning and provide resources that make language acquisition accessible and engaging. When looking at language training you can use applications like Mondly by app Workplace English to make learning relevant, fun and easy for staff.

Here at app Languages, we believe in continuous learning and provide our employees with a plethora of opportunities to enhance their skills. This includes access to e-learning platforms, regular workshops and seminars.

3. Real-world application

Create opportunities for emerging leaders to use their language skills in real-world situations, emphasizing the importance of developing a competent leadership team that can fulfil both operational and strategic responsibilities. This could involve leading multinational projects, participating in global conferences, or managing international teams. Practical application solidifies language skills and builds confidence.

As for us here at app Languages. Our company provides ongoing opportunities for high-potential employees to enhance their skills. Through mentoring, coaching and buddy support opportunities. Regular events focusing on professional development and internal groups that encourage knowledge sharing and collaborative learning.

4. Cultural training

Combine language training with cultural education. Offer workshops and seminars that cover cultural norms, business etiquette, and effective communication strategies for different global or local regions. This approach ensures that key leaders are not only linguistically proficient but also culturally competent, which is crucial for developing employees who might perform well in top leadership roles.

To prepare employees for future leadership roles that require language proficiency, we believe in practical learning. Our initiatives include cross-cultural leadership interactions and various engagement initiatives aimed at promoting language skills and cultural competency.

5.Keeping plans up to date

Once you've implemented the plan, it's important to keep it regularly updated to avoid any issues. A systematic approach to monitoring and evaluating progress is crucial to ensuring the effectiveness of language integration in succession planning. Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) related to language proficiency and regularly assess how these are being met.

This involves tracking the progress of language development in emerging leaders through assessments, feedback sessions and performance reviews. Such continuous evaluation allows organizations to make necessary adjustments to their training programs and to address any emerging gaps swiftly.

As a dynamic business, we believe in keeping our succession plans current. They are reviewed and updated annually to ensure our readiness to manage unexpected changes and evolving business needs. The focus of these reviews includes reassessing the language requirements for all critical roles while aligning with our global strategy.

Our commitment to continuous improvement helps us refine and enhance our succession planning strategy. Through regular feedback loops, monitoring industry benchmarks, and staying updated with the latest best practices, we continue to focus on incorporating language skills into our planning.

Successful integration of language proficiency

Talent management is an invaluable asset in the toolkit of future leaders. By recognizing its importance and integrating it with succession planning and leadership development practices, HR professionals and managers can explore employees' career paths and skills development while focusing on filling critical roles within the company.

Being part of a leadership development program that integrates language proficiency is an amazing opportunity for employees to enrich their lives and careers with essential language skills. These skills are pivotal in propelling them through the ranks within the organization. For individuals aspiring to international leadership positions, highlighting the organization's commitment to supporting language acquisition can be a significant draw. This not only demonstrates the company's investment in its employees' growth but also underscores its dedication to fostering a pool of well-rounded, competent leaders.

By focusing on language skills, the organisation ensures its leaders thrive, are equipped with the tools necessary to navigate the complexities of a global marketplace, and are ready to elevate their careers alongside the organisation's success.

Read the blog post 'Local to global: How English skills unlock a career in leadership'.

Find out how app can support your team with language training and assessment for businesses.

Discover app Language Solutions for Work

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    Stories can make us laugh, cry or tremble with fear. They can teach us valuable life lessons and transport us to other worlds. They've been around since the beginning of language itself, but can they actually help us learn a language?

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    Very young learners may already be familiar with stories – they may hear them in daycare, school or at home with their parents. Therefore, incorporating these into their language classes may help them to feel more comfortable in their surroundings. And if children feel comfortable, they are more likely to be receptive to learning.

    Storytelling usually happens as part of a group in the classroom. This means that it becomes a bonding activity for children where they can communicate and subconsciously pick up the key language. While having fun listening and interacting with the story, theysoak up information without even realizing they’re learning.

    So, what storytelling activities can we use with younglearners? Let’s find out.

    Practical activities for storytelling with young learners

    Often, we think of storytelling simply as reading a book aloud to children. Yet, there are other activities you can do. These include:

    1. Choral repetition

    To get young children interacting with the story, first read out a sentence alone. Then, have the children repeat the line with you as a group. Repeat as many times as necessary, until the children feel confident with the language.

    2. Individual repetition

    If your learners are happy to, ask them individually to repeat the sentence after you. Make sure each one has a turn and praise them for being brave and trying to use the language.

    3. Play acting

    An activity that works well with children is to act out the story’s characters. For example, there may be animals, fairies, monsters or other exciting characters that they can each act.

    Ask them to make the noises of the animals, the wind, or the scenery to create an atmosphere while you read. This gets them interacting with the story and the rest of the group, which will help their communication and listening comprehension skills.

    4. Use puppets or dolls

    Young learners react particularly well to visual aids and realia. Why not use puppets or dolls to act out the characters, or even ask students to have a go with them? They will engage more with the story and the language.

    5. Dive into the pictures

    Children’s story books are usually quite visual with illustrations and pictures. Make the most of these while telling the story. Try asking students questions about the images to get them using the vocabulary.

    You could ask them, “what can you see?”, “what’s he wearing?” or “can you find an apple?”. This is another great way to reinforce the vocabulary they’re learning in class.

    Use these activities individually orincorporate a mix into your lessons. Either way, storytelling will help your learners with more than just developing their English language skills.

    Storytelling with adult language learners

    While we often think of storytelling as a pastime for children, it can also be a useful language learning activity for adults.

    Stories are part of our daily lives, from news to social media to books and movies. Therefore, they can be extremely beneficial tools for English language learning.

    Yet, the way we approach storytelling as a class activity for adults differs to that of young learners. While we typically read fairy tales to young children, we can bring in a much wider range of content for adults, such as:

    • News stories– There may be a current news story that learners are interested in. Ask them to bring in an article to retell in class.
    • Traditional folk stories–Ask learners what traditional folk tales or ghost stories they were told as children growing up in their hometowns. This can be really interesting for both language and cultural awareness.
    • Personal life stories – Our lives are a series of short stories that can make for very interesting reading. You can either ask students to share stories in class orally or have them write up a “chapter” from their lives to tell the class. It could be something funny that happened to them or an anecdote from their childhood, for example.
    • Movie plots– Ask students what their favorite movies are and have them either tell the group the summary of the plot or write it up to share at the end of the lesson.
    • Advertisements–There are some fantastic advertisements which tell mini stories in under three minutes. Have students choose one, show it to the class and discuss it as a group.

    Storytelling can be a wonderful language learning tool for both children and adults. If you’re looking for a new way to engage, inspire and motivate your learners, why not try it in your next class?

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    The future of remote learning and its role in preparing students for future careers

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    The future of remote learning still holds significant potential in preparing students for future careers by leveraging advanced technologies, fostering flexibility and accessibility, promoting lifelong learning, facilitating global collaboration, emphasizing soft skills, personalizing learning experiences, integrating industry partnerships, and ensuring ethical and responsible use of technology. A , and many institutions continue to expand their online offerings with many institutions at least offering some part of their learning online.

    By embracing these opportunities and addressing challenges proactively, remote learning can play a vital role in equipping students with the knowledge, skills and mindset needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving job market. With jobs moving away from the bricks-and-mortar workplace, tomorrow's job opportunities will have fewer physical and geographical restrictions, so if you you can also learn anywhere in the world.

    Here's how remote learning integrates into this evolution, by enforcing these things:

    Flexibility and accessibility

    Remote learning provides flexibility in scheduling and accessibility to educational resources, allowing students to balance learning with other commitments such as work or family responsibilities. This flexibility mirrors the dynamic nature of many future careers, where adaptability and time management are essential skills. It also allows people who may otherwise not be able to attend a traditional institution in person the same opportunity to learn.

    Digital literacy and technological proficiency

    Remote learning requires students to navigate various digital platforms, tools and resources, fostering digital literacy and technological proficiency. These skills are increasingly vital in virtually every industry, as technology continues to transform the way we work and communicate.

    Self-directed learning and autonomy

    Remote learning often encourages self-directed learning, where students take greater responsibility for their education, set learning goals, and manage their progress independently. This cultivates autonomy and self-motivation, qualities highly valued in the modern workplace, where employees are expected to take initiative and drive their own professional development.

    Global perspective and cultural competence

    Remote learning platforms facilitate collaboration and interaction among students from diverse cultural backgrounds and geographical locations. Engaging with peers from around the world fosters a global perspective, cultural competence, and cross-cultural communication skills, essential for success in an increasingly interconnected and globalized workforce.

    Collaboration and teamwork skills

    While remote, students often participate in group projects, discussions and virtual teamwork exercises, honing their collaboration and communication skills in digital environments. These skills are invaluable in many careers, where collaboration across distributed teams and effective virtual communication are becoming increasingly common.

    Problem-solving and critical thinking

    Remote learning activities often emphasize problem-solving, critical thinking and analytical skills as students engage with complex challenges and real-world scenarios. These cognitive skills are essential for navigating uncertainty and innovation in future careers, where the ability to analyze information, think critically and propose creative solutions is highly prized.

    Adaptability to changing technologies and industries

    Remote learning exposes students to a variety of digital tools, software and online platforms, helping them adapt to rapidly changing technologies and industries. By staying abreast of emerging trends and mastering new tools, students develop a mindset of lifelong learning and adaptability, crucial for success in careers that continually evolve.

    Professional networking and career development

    Remote learning platforms often provide opportunities for students to connect with industry professionals, mentors and alumni networks, expanding their professional network and gaining insights into potential career paths. Building relationships with professionals in their field of interest can open doors to internships, job opportunities and career guidance, facilitating a smoother transition from education to employment.

    The future of remote learning is poised to undergo significant transformations driven by technological advancements, evolving educational paradigms and societal shifts. Here are just some key trends that may shape the future of remote learning…

    Hybrid learning models

    As we move forward, we're likely to see a blend of traditional classroom instruction and remote learning, known as hybrid learning. This model offers flexibility for both students and educators, allowing them to leverage the benefits of in-person interaction while also harnessing the advantages of remote technologies for convenience, accessibility and personalized learning experiences.

    Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)

    VR and AR technologies are expected to play a more prominent role in remote learning, offering immersive and interactive experiences that simulate real-world environments. These technologies can transport students to historical sites, enable hands-on experiments in science labs, and facilitate collaborative problem-solving activities, enhancing engagement and understanding.

    Artificial intelligence (AI) and adaptive learning

    AI-powered tools can analyze vast amounts of data to personalize learning experiences, identify individual strengths and weaknesses, and offer targeted interventions. Adaptive learning platforms can adjust the pace, content and instructional methods based on each student's learning preferences and performance, optimizing learning outcomes and promoting mastery of concepts.

    Microlearning and bite-sized content

    With attention spans decreasing and the demand for just-in-time learning increasing, microlearning—delivering content in small, digestible chunks—is gaining popularity. Microlearning modules, delivered through mobile devices and online platforms, enable learners to access relevant information quickly, retain knowledge more effectively, and apply it immediately in real-world contexts.

    Gamification and interactive content

    Gamification elements such as badges, leaderboards and rewards can enhance motivation, engagement and retention in remote learning environments. Interactive content, such as simulations, quizzes and branching scenarios, not only makes learning more enjoyable but also facilitates active participation, critical thinking and skill development.

    Social learning and collaboration tools

    Remote learning platforms will continue to integrate social learning features such as discussion forums, group projects and peer feedback mechanisms. Collaboration tools like video conferencing, instant messaging and shared document editing enable synchronous and asynchronous communication, fostering interaction, teamwork and community building among students and educators.

    Data-driven decision making

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    Continued emphasis on equity and inclusion

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    In summary, by leveraging the opportunities provided by remote learning, students, job seekers and career changers can develop the skills and competencies needed to thrive in a dynamic and rapidly changing job market.