Gary Keens, Managing Director of ASK Translation, part of the
ASK Group Limited
Every business needs good communication
for success, but how far does a business need to go to really
make the most of it? ASK Translation believes communication,
particularly communication technology, is a vital way of bridging
gaps between businesses, their employees and clients.
We have a vast number of immigrants with real talent and transferable
skills migrating to the UK, but many businesses are afraid
of employing this pool of talent because their broken English
or foreign language can be seen as a barrier when communicating
with external clients, or even within their own workplace environment.
While Ruth Kelly's opinion that they should
all learn English is not completely disagreeable, especially
as integration
into UK culture is important; we must also have a more open-minded
view when it comes to business.
The human resources department
of each and every office should consider translating valuable
and vital employment documents,
into several languages if need be, for the benefit of their
business so that every shred of information is fully
understood by their employees.
Misunderstandings could lead
businesses into a spiral of paper work if the employee wishes
not to sign a document
without
fully understanding the small print, or is less productive
because they are unclear of how the office is run on
a daily basis.
We have had an increasing demand from our
clients to translate documents into other languages for the
benefit
of their
businesses.
For businesses which work on the global
stage, our services have been key to helping each
and every employee
read
off the same page - and it's a great
way of showing good company work ethics - after
all, showing your employees you care is crucial for
a successful
and happy business.
We translate documents, using
mother tongue translators, and also rewrite and localise
copy for clients who
need this service.
Whenever it is required, we also use advanced software
to make this process run more smoothly.
We have worked
with Giles Food, one of the UK's leading
manufacturers of chilled and frozen foods, to translate
crucial health and safety documents into Tamil, a language
that is
spoken by roughly 200 million people in India and
around the world.
The translation of the Health and
Safety Policy was integral to the business to ensure staff
were fully aware of the health and safety issues, the company's
policies and their commitment to health and safety standards.
As
a food-orientated company, the smallest misunderstanding
could have been detrimental to their business.
Our Euro Business Unit, consisting of five project
managers,
organised
a team
of linguists to translate the documents, ensuring
all information was made accessible to Giles Food's employees.
It is vital to understand
that the translation process does not only focus
on the content but
also on the
style required
for every document. If we think about how the smallest
mistake in a document could offend or upset an
employee in English,
then we must also think about how an employee who
is reading a translated document could also find
the incorrect
interpretation
offensive. It is the duty of the translator to
ensure these mistakes do not happen and that's
why all our translators are professionals with
years of experience in the industry
who only work into their mother tongues.
With one
of the lowest employment rates in the western world,
without migrant workers our economy
would
suffer. If we are,
as a society, happy to bring migrant workers in
to help us, it is sensible to translate important
documents
into
a language
they understand so that they can work in a safe
environment. This also has the effect of strengthening
our economy
by consolidating best practices at work.
Within
our own company, we give our overseas staff as much support
as we can by offering constant
training via Skype
and a software package called Virtual Networking
Computing (VNC),
where we can see their computer screens and takeover
the mouse control to guide them where necessary.
It is
a form
of virtual
training that brings our UK offices closer to
our branches overseas in locations such as Germany,
New York, France
and Sweden.
The use of technology is at the very
heart and soul of what we do. We rely on communication
technology to drive
our business
and it has enabled us as a small UK company
to branch
out and become a global concern competing with
the largest players in our industry.
We have written our own database driven
software solution called Pandora, which manages all our projects,
quotes, invoicing, purchase orders etc. This has become an
invaluable resource for ASK and it is now being reported as
the best in the industry.
We have also installed a leased line to
give lightening access to the system. This means that all our
worldwide representative offices can login to a fast system
and can see all their orders, quotes, call backs, job progress
etc., in real time.
In London this is common,
but in a small provincial town, a 100Mb circuit-fixed
leased line is
very rare. It enables
me
to run my company from anywhere in the
world - all I need is a wireless connection
and
laptop!
We also use video conferencing
facilities to run our board meetings which not only
cuts
travel time
and
expense, but
also reduces our carbon footprint.
This is something that we strongly
urge all businesses to take on board.
This
all combined enables ASK to be more efficient and provides
great opportunities
for those
seeking a good
work / life
balance as employees can all login
and
manage their work from afar,
if need be.
It is undeniable that
communication technology has been a key factor
in doubling our
turnover in the
last 12
months and
we have ambitious plans to be 10
times larger in three to
five years' time, growing
organically and by acquisition.
I am confident that our technology
and systems are both robust and
in place;
so in the future,
they
will enable
my company
to be 100 times larger than we
are at the moment!
This may sound
like a costly and lengthy job for an HR department
but with the
right translation
services at
hand, the whole
business can benefit from investing
in an often dismissed pool of
talent and set an example
as a business
that really understands
their employees.
I for one see
nothing wrong in helping to bridge the gap between
cultures.
It doesn't need to be a one-sided
exercise i.e., they learn English
or we learn Tamil, but it can be
met
half-way and with good technological
advances there
are no boundaries.
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