Does your global training have a localization strategy? This is a critical question for multinational companies.
The effectiveness of customer training is central to their business – companies with trained customers are retained at a higher rate than companies with non-trained customers. Thus, the customer training that is developed and proven centrally must be deployed regionally, requiring a multifaceted adoption strategy - localization.
Developing an effective and scalable global training localization strategy requires experience, insight and foresight. We were fortunate to have Daniel Quick, Vice President of Learning Strategies at Thought Industries, help us understand the complexity of the situation and how to formulate the answer.
“Companies that train customers internationally need a scalable strategy to ensure that their training and customer success goals, their training content and delivery are aligned with the unique needs of each region. This begins with language translation and continues from there.”
It’s very important to note that while the learning experience, the content and delivery may change, the goals of the training don’t change. The values and mission are bedrock. Bottom line – the training must help customers achieve success using your product to do their jobs better, more efficiently, with greater quality.
Translation is the first step in localization and the immediate reaction of many training teams may be, well, we have to have everything translated. However, Daniel counsels, this is not effective, is expensive, time consuming and not scalable. Extending these learning opportunities means minimizing additional effort, developmental costs and time delays. “This is really, really hard.”
“The temptation to just translate all content doesn’t take into account the 20 / 80 rule: In most cases, there is the 20% of content that solves 80% of the goal. 20% is the core that gets learners 80% of the way. Concentrating on this core content allows you to save time and to do a much better job of adapting and meeting regional needs. You have less content to work with, can do a more thorough job of localizing and get to market faster.”
Training teams should also look at what they are translating. For instance, if it is a video, the two most important elements are the visual and the narration. The visuals should not need much adjustment (although it helps to show your product’s UI in the proper language). A native-speaking local partner can review the translated script for accuracy and nuance, and then provide the new narration.
Also, look to see if some training elements can be condensed. Could several elements be combined into a webinar, which is created first in English, and then reworked by the CSMs in the region.
“Culture is a significant factor in localization, and many times we’re not paying enough attention.”
A book could be written about the effects of culture on effective localization. For now, here are 2 examples:
This is why your training department will need a strong local, native speaking partner to review your translated content. You don’t want to lose your audience because of language nuances or inadvertent insensitivity.
“Think about how they best learn. They won’t adapt to you.”
There are 3 things to consider here:
Next-generation learning management systems, such as the Thought Industries Platform, provide advanced solutions:
It’s critically important that companies who train internationally choose their learning system partner carefully.
Both qualitative and quantitative measurement processes and actual metrics must remain in place, no matter what other changes take place through localization. Metrics and their evaluation must be consistent across all regions to understand how well you are training your customers and identify (and address) knowledge gaps. Some of these metrics include:
It is always a good idea to divide the audience in half – those who engage with training and those who don’t – to contrast results.
