One of the biggest challenges facing any company in global expansion mode is how to maintain swift and sure communication. The more countries you enter, the more languages you encounter, and soon enough, your once lean, streamlined enterprise is slowed by translation issues.
What do you do?
Hire interpreters? That sounds easy, but the bigger you get, the harder that is to manage. My company, Rakuten, Inc., operates in 13 countries, spanning a dozen languages. I’d need a standing army of translators to manage now, and my plan involves adding many more countries. That’s not a cost-effective strategy.
Translation software? That’s fine for short bursts of communication, but would you trust a more complex discussion to the software? Would you launch a new product with software delivering orders to everyone from development to marketing? Would you communicate with your compliance department that way? As anyone who has ever chuckled over the hilarious mistakes of AutoCorrect knows, software is most certainly fallible.
At Rakuten we faced this challenge and have embraced a solution that not only improved our communication as a company, but it propelled us into the ranks of global expansion leadership. I call it Englishnization. It is the commitment to English as the company’s official language.
I made no cultural judgment when I picked English. I don’t think English is “better” than any other language. It was purely a practical choice, drawn from my own experiences in the global marketplace. The most talented individuals in industries such as technology and finance spoke English, either as a first or second language. Many had been educated in English-speaking institutions. Try thinking about this in terms of your own global business efforts. Imagine a conference room of individuals drawn from the far corners of the globe to work in your company or to do business with you. What language are they most likely to have in common? Now picture this group engaged in brainstorming, negotiations, or expansion planning. What promotes the best and most effective free flow of ideas — a common language or the latest translation software?
I began Englishnization in 2010. I made the announcement in English. I held that day’s board meeting in English. Within 24 hours of my announcement, all the signs in headquarters from the elevators to the cafeteria had been switched over from Japanese to English. Word rippled from headquarters in Tokyo across our global offices. I was 100% serious. Englishnization was happening.
Englishnization has three phases: All workers are required to take a two-hour 200-question test (TOEIC) to assess their reading and listening comprehension of business English, and continue to take the test until they’ve passed. Those who fail to meet the standard risk demotion. A second phase involves bringing in outside help to coach employees on how to study and manage learning English. The last phase makes English the language of meetings — in Tokyo and all over our global flow chart.
Our results so far: Since we started looking at TOEIC scores, the company-wide average has moved from 526.2 points in October 2010 to 737.3 out of a possible 990 in February 2013. In just over two years, the average employee has improved his or her TOEIC score by 211.1 points. Some have improved their scores by over 400 points. Beyond the scores, virtually all of our internal meetings are now conducted in English. Also, today, 30% of new hires are non-Japanese, and 50% of new engineers are non-Japanese. The vast majority do not speak Japanese, but they do speak English. These employees are communicating in English regularly with the employees in our Tokyo headquarters as well as our overseas subsidiaries and partner companies. English is also helping us to attract and hire the best and the brightest talent all over the world.
I will not say it has been easy. The pressure on my employees to learn English and integrate it into daily business life has been intense. I have had to reflect on and refine my process in order to take into account the human impact of this effort. But it is clear to me that Englishnization moves us forward in the global marketplace in away that translators and translation software could never manage. When I give a weekly address to all employees — in English — everyone worldwide can receive and act on that information instantly. There’s no waiting around for the translation. When I post using social media, whether it is through Twitter or our internal social media tools, I can engage and connect immediately. When employees need to collaborate, they can do so across national borders. Our global company is unified not just by ownership and corporate purpose, but by language.
I have been called many things since I launched Englishnization. Some Japanese executives called me stupid. Some of my colleagues told me I was crazy. I’m sure my employees muttered many more colorful phrases about me in a variety of languages.
But the one thing I am not called is wrong. As difficult, stressful, and crazy as Englishnization has been, it has been the right move for Rakuten. We communicate as one. We manage and innovate with speed and precision, and that will only increase with our English skills. We are fully and truly global. Meanwhile, plenty of globally expanding competitors are still lost in translation.
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