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CASE STUDY

Business English in action with the InCorporate Trainer

Schmack Biogas

Multiethnic group of happy business people working together in office
 

The client's challenge

Part of the Viessmann group, Schmack Biogas has been a leading global provider of biogas plants since 1995. The company provides comprehensive solutions from one single source and has installed more than 500 plants worldwide. Being able to work in English has always been important at Schmack. However the German parliament’s decision in 2014 to substantially reduce biogas subsidies made the need to sell and deliver globally a business-critical challenge. Being able to work confidently in English was now a must.

The previous “weekly classes” approach to business English training just wasn’t enough. As Schmack’s Head of HR, Carola Bayer-Lange put it “the training was really isolated from what we were doing, and what we were working on.” Ensuring that Schmack’s employees can operate effectively and with confidence in English became a priority for Carola and her HR team. A new solution was needed where training was directly related to the staff’s business needs and quickly impacted on-the-job performance.

Our solution
English on the job - for the job
 
 

Together, we developed a blended approach based around the core strengths of the InCorporate Trainer solution – flexibility, tailored training and on-the-job support. Business English training became job-specific and practical. When Schmack’s staff needed to write documents and mails, join meetings, or make calls, our trainer proactively provided on-the-job support. This then led to feedback, which in turn was used to further customize the focus and content of scheduled training (seminars, 1-to-1 training, groups and online). Finally, regular updating and reporting meant that Schmack had transparency and control over their training investment.

 

 

"The most important point about the training is that it’s very close to the job. It’s really very close to our specific needs at Schmack. And the concept is very flexible - whenever we have a special need or request, it can be catered for.”

Carola Bayer-Lang, Head of HR

"The implementation of the training concept was very easy. Because of the structure we were able to set up a schedule in a very short time, organize assessments, assess language skills and directly start with the training."

Carola Bayer-Lange, Head of HR
Multiethnic group of young people sitting in conference room and brainstorming on business meeting
 

The result

“Now it is easier for us to communicate with international markets. What has definitely changed is that people have lost their fear of using English. They are much more professional in terms of answering the telephone, writing emails, and communicating with foreign customers. And our people are having fun learning - they really like to speak English now. That was our goal!  We would definitely recommend this approach to any other HR manager - because it works. We are all very satisfied from the employees to their managers and the senior leadership team. And we've worked together at all stages. We are not customers – well of course we are customers – but we are sort of partners in learning and that’s what is really, really recommendable...”

Carola Bayer-Lange, Head of HR
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