A language strategy for internationalisation

What is a corporate language strategy?

A language strategy sets out how a company handles languages in order to reach its business goals. It answers questions such as: which language do we use internally? Which languages do we need for which markets? Do we build skills through recruiting or training, or buy them in through translation and interpreting? And how do we measure whether it works?

Many mid-sized companies in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg or Austria have no such strategy. It exists only implicitly: whoever speaks good English handles the foreign contacts, and when things get tight a translation agency helps out. That works as long as international business is small. As internationalisation grows, it becomes a risk.

My position is clear: language is not a soft-skills topic for the training catalogue but infrastructure, just like IT or logistics. And you plan infrastructure before you need it. The starting point is usually a language audit, which makes needs and existing skills visible.

Language strategy, language policy, training plan: what is what?

These terms are often mixed up. A clear distinction helps to assign responsibilities.

The strategy is the umbrella; the policy and training plan are building blocks underneath it. If you start with the training plan without having clarified the strategy, you may end up optimising the wrong thing.

Internationalisation and language skills: why things stall without a strategy

Without a language strategy, internationalisation stalls because language skills are distributed by chance: individuals become bottlenecks, proposals are translated at the last minute, international employees remain isolated, and language training follows employees’ requests rather than business priorities. As international business grows, for example with more English-speaking customers, this implicit model becomes a risk.

The markets of companies in German-speaking countries are shifting. According to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, in 2024 the USA was Germany’s most important trading partner for the first time since 2015, receiving 10.4 % of all German exports. For many firms this means more English-speaking customers, more negotiations and more video calls across time zones.

The language landscape within companies is also becoming more diverse. In Switzerland, according to an analysis by the Federal Statistical Office reported by SRF, around 23 % of employed people used English as a regular working language in 2023. In Germany, a survey of 200 decision-makers at SMEs published by HR WORKS found that 43 % would like to introduce English fully or partly as a working language but face resistance.

As early as 2012, Tsedal Neeley of Harvard Business School argued in the Harvard Business Review that global companies need a deliberate language strategy rather than relying on chance. Among the corporations with English as a common company language, she names Airbus, Nokia, Renault, Samsung and SAP. Mid-sized companies do not need a corporate-scale model straight away, but the basic question remains the same.

Symptoms of a missing language strategy

• individuals become bottlenecks because only they can communicate with certain markets
• proposals and presentations are translated at the last minute, often without quality control
• international employees remain isolated because meetings and documents are only in German
• language training is allocated according to employees’ requests rather than business priorities

Developing a language strategy: six steps for internationalisation

You develop a language strategy in six steps: clarify business goals, map the language landscape with a needs analysis, measure skills with a standardised placement test, choose your levers, set rules for meetings, documents and systems, and measure and adjust with KPIs. It need not be a hundred-page document; this approach works in practice.

1. Clarify business goals: which markets, customer groups and locations will be decisive in the next three to five years?
2. Map the language landscape: which languages are used today, where and by whom? This is done through a language needs analysis.
3. Measure skills: where do employees actually stand? The basis is a standardised placement test, for English ideally with a fine-grained scale such as the Global Scale of English.
4. Choose levers: recruiting, training, translation, technology or a common corporate language, usually a combination.
5. Set rules: which language applies in which meetings, documents and systems? This often leads to a corporate language policy.
6. Measure and adjust: define KPIs, report regularly and review annually.

Template: a market-language matrix for your language strategy

The market-language matrix is a simple but powerful tool. For each market it records the working language, the customer’s language, business importance, existing skills and the resulting action. It links markets to language requirements and shows where training is needed and where English plus an interpreter is enough. The example below shows a fictitious plant engineering firm from Franconia (example).

The matrix forces decisions. Not every market needs in-house language skills; sometimes English plus an interpreter for important meetings is enough. But that decision should be made deliberately, not by chance.

The levers of a language strategy: recruiting, training, translation, AI

Companies have five levers to meet language requirements: recruiting with a language profile, language training, translation and interpreting, AI tools and a common corporate language. Recruiting brings skills that are available immediately, training builds them within the existing team, translation secures critical texts and AI handles routine texts. The levers are not mutually exclusive; they complement each other.

My view on AI

AI translation has changed the rules of the game but not abolished them. For understanding a supplier’s email or drafting a routine reply, it is a great tool. In a negotiation, a client meeting on site or a difficult phone call, it helps little. Trust is built in direct conversation, and there it is people’s language skills that make the difference. A modern language strategy uses AI for routine work and invests the resources saved in the situations where people matter.

English as a lingua franca: why it is not always enough

Many strategy discussions end with “We’ll do everything in English.” That often falls short for three reasons: the customer’s language beats the working language, German remains central for international employees in the DACH region, and “I get by” is a world away from “I can negotiate”. Unmeasured English simply moves problems into another language.

1. The customer’s language beats the working language

A buyer in Lyon or Milan will understand your English proposal. Whether they feel comfortable with it is another question. Meeting customers in their own language signals respect and a long-term commitment. It does not have to be perfect, but a few sentences in the local language noticeably change the atmosphere of a meeting. More on this in our article on intercultural communication at work.

2. German remains central in the DACH region

For international employees, German is the key to integration, safety at work and long-term retention. A language strategy that only promotes English often overlooks the biggest gap in the company. If you have moved to Germany, Austria or Switzerland yourself, you will know how much difference everyday German makes.

3. Not all English is the same

There is a world of difference between “I get by” and “I can negotiate”. Declaring English the working language without measuring skills and building them systematically simply moves communication problems into another language.

Measuring your language strategy: KPIs and governance

A strategy without measurement is a wish list. I recommend tracking a few indicators on two levels: skills development and business impact. I have described how this can work in detail in two articles for Pearson, on measuring with the GSE and KPIs and on translating language data into business value.

Governance is just as important: who owns the language strategy? In smaller companies this is usually HR in consultation with management; in larger ones, an L&D function with contacts in each department. An annual review ensures the strategy keeps pace with the markets. Our guide to reporting on language training helps with reporting.

Business case: presenting the language strategy to management

A language strategy costs time and money, so you need an argument in management’s language. Three elements convince: name the risk of revenue depending on one or two people with strong language skills, show hidden costs such as last-minute translations and rework, and propose a measurable six-month pilot with a baseline and final report.

1. Name the risk

Which revenues depend on markets where only one or two people can communicate confidently today? What happens if they are absent or leave the company? This dependency is an underestimated concentration risk, and the market-language matrix shows it very clearly.

2. Show the hidden costs

Last-minute external translations, rework after misunderstandings, queries in projects, longer proposal cycles: these costs do not appear in any “language” budget line, but they are real. Even a rough estimate changes the discussion.

3. Propose a measurable pilot

Instead of a large programme, I recommend a pilot with a clearly defined target group, such as the sales team for the US market, with a baseline, interim measurement and a final report after six months. How to turn this into a transparent calculation is shown in our sample ROI calculation for business English. A successful pilot is the best argument for the next stage, and it forces everyone involved to formulate concrete goals.

Roadmap: the first 90 days of your language strategy

In the first 90 days, prioritise goals and markets, create the market-language matrix and name owners (days 1 to 30), carry out a language audit of key roles (days 31 to 60), then decide on levers, first training groups, KPIs and a reporting cycle (days 61 to 90). This pragmatic start keeps the strategy off the shelf.

• Days 1 to 30: prioritise business goals and markets, create the market-language matrix, name those responsible.
• Days 31 to 60: carry out a language audit with a needs analysis and placement of key roles.
• Days 61 to 90: decide on levers, start the first training groups, define KPIs and a reporting cycle.

Three things decide success in this phase. First, visible support from management, for example a short message to all employees explaining why languages matter strategically. Second, learning time that is actually in the calendar rather than squeezed into the margins. Third, quick, visible wins: if after three months the first engineer handles a client conversation in the USA without support, that is worth more than any presentation. Share these stories internally.

For English as a corporate language, our article on English as a corporate language is also worth reading. If you would like support with the process, the choices® language audit is the first step; it is a paid service with no obligation to book a course afterwards, and we sign an NDA on request. Implementation follows in business English courses, German courses online and many other languages; you will find all options under language courses for companies.

Sources

1. destatis.de: PD25 147 51
2. srf.ch: englisch als arbeitssprache nicht landessprachen auf dem vormarsch
3. hrworks.de: sprachbarriere englisch deutscher mittelstand verliert den anschluss
4. hbr.org: global business speaks english
5. pearson.com: gse roi business english measurable advantage 11 25
6. pearson.com: gse roi pt 2 language data and business value 12 25

Frequently asked questions

Łukasz Pakuła

Head of Studies at choices®. Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus, lecturer at HM Business School Munich and Kempten University of Applied Sciences. Doctoral studies in applied linguistics, publications with Springer and Equinox, among others. More about us