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Multilingualism Benefits at the staff member (or work unit) level (Better…
Multilingualism
Benefits at the staff member (or work unit) level
Increased impact
Ability to positively impact larger, more diverse, audiences
Increased productivity
Less time needed to complete certain tasks (increased individual and collective performance)
Less time needed to complete certain processes (fewer procedural layers)
Enhanced workplace efficiencies
increased capacity of staff to understand job requirements and procedures
Roles, responsibilities and reporting lines are clearer to each staff member
Increased ability to work independently (resorting to translation becomes more sporadic for instance)
Enhanced learning capacity, including increased ability to retain, organize, store and retrieve information, and ability to learn new languages
Increased interest in learning from staff from various backgrounds
Increased ability to apply on the job knowledge and skills developed in other settings
Improved capacity to support creativity in other staff / rapports
Improved planning and organizing
Improved ability to develop and convey clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies
Increased ability to foresee risks originating from various language areas
Increased ability to identify strategic issues, opportunities and risks
Increased ability to identify the key issues in a complex situation, and come to the heart of the problem quickly
Increased competitiveness
Increased capacity to achieve organizational goals and adapt to organizational / technological changes
Increased quality standards and ability to control quality
Improved client-orientation leading to better relationship with clients including field missions / country teams host countries, Member States, and other stakeholders
Increased sense of ownership in clients / stakeholders’
Improved capacity to deal with wider audiences / handle various audience (or market) segments
Widened outreach capacities
Reduced dependence on language professionals’ mediation
Better team performance
Capacity to understand organizational goals and personal contribution to such goals
Common understanding of concepts across languages
Improved internal communication between staff and management, including senior officials
Increased mutual understanding and cohesion
Increased collaboration among colleagues from various backgrounds
Improved decision-making in multilingual/multicultural offices
Increased capacity to value all staff members' input and expertise
Increased ability to work effectively as a team
Enhanced interpersonal communication awareness and skills
Increased contextual sensitivity
Increased ability to relate with people from a different background
Increased ability to foster a positive work environment built on mutual trust
Enhanced soft inter-personal skills
Ability to empower others
Improved ability to instill deeper intercultural awareness and respect for other cultures amongst colleagues
Improved capacity to support creativity in other staff / rapports
Inclusive approach allows all stakeholders to participate in various processes
Increased capacity to empower client such as migrants, persons in need of humanitarian assistance and/or victims of conflicts
Increased capacity to spur interest in language learning in others
More vibrant, engaged and committed workforce
Sense of ownership / belonging of all staff, including national staff
Improved cohesion of all staff
Development of an inclusive organizational culture
Increased ability to generate staff support for change initiatives
Improved self-esteem, self-confidence, self-reliance and morale
More engaged field missions staff, improving field-HQ relationships.
Increased opportunities for career development
Increased job security
Improved ability to communicate links between the Organization’s strategy and the work unit’s goals
Capacity to generates and communicate broad and compelling organizational direction, inspiring others to pursue that same direction
Enhanced capacity to actively support the development and career aspirations of staff, including language learning
Increased sense of equality / fairness among staff members
Nimbler workforce
More flexible / adaptable workforce
More mobile workforce (across functions and duty stations)
Reduced silos thanks to more adaptable / mobile workforce
Workforce better able to communicate with various audiences and through various technologies
Workforce is a driver for change and improvements (does not accept the status quo)
Increased ability to apply on the job knowledge and skills developed in other settings
Better health and safety
Increased ability to gather relevant information to support decision-making particularly in field settings
Capacity to seek and understand safety-related information and follow safety instructions
Ability to retain and apply information from training sessions
Reduced age-related mental diminishment
Improved access for clients to services (including health services)
Increased accountability
Capacity to understand all applicable regulations and their implications
Roles, responsibilities and reporting lines are clear to each staff member
Improved ability to operate in compliance with organizational regulations and rules
Ability to apply regulations in the workplace
Ability to report violations, where relevant
Ability to take ownership of all responsibilities
Improved client-orientation
Increased capacity to identify clients’ needs and to match them to appropriate solutions
Increased capacity to show respect for client’s cultural differences
Improved ability to establish and maintain productive relationships / partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect
Increased ability to monitor developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep them informed and anticipate problems
Improved capacity to tailor communication to match clients’ needs (as opposed to expecting clients to adapt to one’s communication)
Increased capacity to receive and process queries/feedback from clients and address concerns, where applicable
Allows clients to access services (including health services)
Improved acceptability of the Organization in local settings
Improved capacity to reach out to affected communities in disaster/conflict-torn zones
Increased capacity to receive inputs / feedback from clients and address them as needed
Increased capacity to meet clients’ needs
Increased transparency
Increased ability to communicate organizational goals and strategies to various internal and external stakeholders
Increased capacity to report to wider group of stakeholders
Increased capacity to build understanding from various stakeholders
Increased ability to generate support from various stakeholders
Increased access to information / knowledge
Broadened access to information and news, as well as scientific and technical knowledge
Faster information flows
Enhanced capacity to listen to and interpret colleagues, clients, partners and stakeholders’ words and behaviors
Increased ability to monitor developments and gather relevant information originating in different linguistic areas without third-party interference
Enhanced knowledge sharing across languages
Enhanced comprehension and creativity thanks to alternation between languages
Access to more nuanced, complex, precise information
More creative workforce
Uses alternative systems of thought and alternative perceptions of reality in the workplace
Increased potential for creative thought
Alternative ways of organizing thought and perceiving the world
Enhanced cognitive ability
Increase capacity to look at issues from different perspectives
Capacity to widen one’s perspectives
Offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs
Increased openness to and interest in new ideas and new ways of doing things
Improved ability to promote and persuade others to consider new ideas
Improved capacity to support creativity in other staff and direct reports
More dynamic debate spurring innovation
Increased problem-solving capability
Increased analytical skills
Increased ability to identify the key issues in a complex situation, and come to the heart of the problem quickly
Enhanced capacity to think critically
Increased capacity to multi-task and focus
Increased capacity to think "outside the box" to resolve problems
Multilingual practices provide multiple keys to concepts and original ways of handling them
Enhanced conflict-management skills
Increased ability to interpret messages and behaviours that may trigger conflict
Increased capacity to anticipate and resolve conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions
Increased capacity to avoid cultural misunderstandings and reduce conflict
Increased capacity to manage agreement and disagreement
Creative ways of negotiating, reaching decisions, solving problems or supervising action
Increased communication skills
Enriched use of each language known
Increased capacity to overcome cultural and linguistic barriers to communication
Capacity to listen to others in a wide range of languages
Increased ability to interpret messages and behaviours
Increased capacity to avoid cultural misunderstandings in professional settings
Improved and enriched intercultural communication
Increased capacity to engage in two-way communication
Improved capacity to tailor communication to match the audience
Increased credibility in the eyes of clients
Better judgment and decision-making skills
Improved understanding of the job environment
Increased ability to monitor developments and gather relevant information to support decision-making
Reduced reliance on third parties to form judgment
Proposes a course of action or makes recommendations based on all available information
Increased awareness of cultural biases
This map was developed based on findings from academia and practitioners
Short bibliography
Study on the Contribution of Multilingualism to Creativity
(European Commission, Directorate General Education and Culture, 2009)
The Dylan project booklet
(European commission, 2011)
Contribution de la traduction à la société multilingue dans l’Union européenne
(European Commission, Directorate-General for Translation, 2010)
Essential Skills in the Workplace: What’s in it for you?
(Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, 2011)
UN Competencies for the future
(UN Secretariat, 2000)