Business Cases

ACV Voeding & Diensten

Brief
The Belgian Christian Trade Union is structured federally/nationally. Consequently, it is of paramount importance that employees, at all levels, are bilingual (Dutch and French). The need to have a strong command of the other national language is twofold: the administrative support staff must be bilingual to facilitate internal communication, whilst higher-profile positions within the organization need to focus on negotiations with employers and government representatives.

Our Approach
Preliminary individual face-to-face screenings were conducted by the Dutch and French language coaches at the client’s site. This was followed by a personalised needs analysis carried out by the management of Semantics to better understand the nature of the activities and the profiles of the students.

The levels ranged from beginner to advanced. Homogeneous groups were formed, and specific work-related needs were taken into account. For instance, a clear distinction was made between the training provided for the administrative support staff -focused on general language needs and the four language skills through intensive group training- and the training for senior secretaries, which focused on improving fluency during negotiations through immersion programmes.

Implementation
The content of the program was divided between practical grammar activities and exercises, and "in context" role plays and debates.

The training for the administrative support staff followed a more traditional coaching format. The course addressed the needs of the administrative team and internal communication within the trade union, both in writing and speaking.

Our immersion programme with its intensive, and tailor-made approach perfectly meet the needs of these busy representatives. The content of this course required intricate customisation: the focus being on negotiations, specific terminology related to employment conditions, and workers' rights in Belgium.

2012 - Present day

SAP Benelux

Brief
With its headquarters in Walldorf, Germany, and offices in over 130 countries, SAP is the global leader in software and software solutions.

In the past, SAP had frequently provided language training to its employees but struggled with finding a provider that shared their vision of training that met their very specific requirements. The requested languages were Dutch, French, English, and German.

The mission was, and still is, to achieve the following:

• Improve internal communication with the headquarters in Germany.
• Enhance internal communication among employees at the Belgian branch in Brussels.
• Strengthen structures and vocabulary (specific to the IT sector) for smoother negotiations with international clients.
• Improve communication with customers during project execution by SAP consultants.

Our Approach
Individual screenings were conducted with all candidates at the SAP office in Brussels. Where possible, small groups (maximum of 5 participants) were formed. Several individual training sessions were prioritised at the request of students who required customised solutions. Additionally, some students who needed a short but impactful "boost" in the target language were enrolled in a short 4 day immersion course.

Following our learning trajectory to maximise progress and our policy of continuous monitoring of needs allowed us to track efficiency across the different programmes and make adjustments as needed when student requirements changed.

Implementation

By fostering a true partnership with the company and in combination with the language solutions we provided, our collaboration has been a resounding success since its inception in 2011.

Semantics’ flexibility—our willingness to to react to new demands has been much appreciated by SAP.

A wide variety of teaching materials and audiovisual tools were used for all languages and levels. However, ultimately, it has been the skill and experience of our motivational and highly skilled language coaches that has kept SAP looking to us as their sole provider of language learning solutions for almost 15 years.

2011 - Present day

AXA BELGIUM

BRIEF

AXA is a global organisation, with a presence in 54 countries, 120, 000 employees and a staggering 105 million clients across the world. Due to the nature of their work and the unique linguistic diversity in Belgium, it is essential that relevant personal hone their language skills in order to provide the best possible service to their customers, both internal and external.

OUR APPROACH

The collaboration began in 2018 when we were asked to provide a a wide variety of language programmes for senior & middle management, business unit heads and administrative staff. Languages required were Dutch, French, English and German.

Preliminary individual face-to-face language level screenings were conducted at AXA's site in Brussels and a needs analysis of each individual in relation to their professional remit was conducted. Levels ranged from beginner to Upper Intermediate and 5 different programmes were devised to address not only level but need.

Implementation

For beginners, the approach was a blended programme, combining E-Learning and traditional teaching with a language coach, this strategy encourages student commitment and willingness to include self study. Homogenous small groups were formed for those with some existing knowledge of the target language as well as private one to one courses. For Senior Managers who were time poor, Immersion programmes were chosen for speed and efficiency. In addition, and as from a certain level, conversation tables were organised for personnel looking to keep their active skills reflexive whilst adding to their vocabulary.

Our ability to provide a wide range of flexible solutions for AXA addressing the needs of their employees across the board, instilled confidence and they remain a client of ours to this day.

2018 - Present day