No stranger to controversy the security giant G4S is in trouble again for trying to recruit a bilingual English/Polish speaker for a job at Harrogate Magistrates Court and at the same time discount supermarket Lidl is insisting its Polish staff only speak English.
These two stories that are circulating in the traditional and social media are actually about exactly the same issue – ensuring that your staff speak the right language for their position at sufficiently high enough standard to perform.
Assuming that G4S’s advertising – and the associated controversy – attracts applicants that say they are bilingual, how will they know? And over at Lidl it is all very well demanding Polish staff only speak English, but how good is that English? Is it good enough for effective communication between managers and staff and how about staff and customer?
Here at VICI Language Dynamics we are familiar with this dilemma which is why we offer a range of services to ensure companies like G4S and Lidl get the staff they truly want.
The G4S advert says it prefers Polish speakers – however how could they be sure the person speaks Polish as well as they say? Presumably if the applicant is from Poland it is a safe bet – and checking their English should be straightforward for both G4S and Lidl.
To be certain though any promise of foreign language skills should be properly checked for truthfulness by a native speaker, which is why we offer a Test and Assess service in which questions set for candidates in their professed language are thoroughly checked by one of our native speakers.
Furthermore we can add an Interview to Test and Assess so our native speaker joins the interview panel or a separate interview stage to actually engage with the candidate in the language they say they can speak. It can really offer an insight to how a candidate will perform when they are interviewed in both their bilingual languages.
So please don’t court controversy to sort your foreign language recruitment requirements and instead ask VICI Language Dynamics to help. Get in touch today to discuss your needs and find out how our native speakers can help your business find the right candidates.