Case Study: ArcelorMittal
The Challenge
Many Companies. One Language.
When you use mergers and acquisitions as a path to growth for creating the world's number one steel company, integrating the new people and new ideas is a significant challenge. This is exactly the situation faced by ArcelorMittal. With 320,000 employees in more than 60 countries, the company has led the consolidation of the world steel industry, with current production equivalent to around 10% of the world's steel output.
"Global management requires a shared language," said Alejandro Gardella, ArcelorMittal HR Manager Americas. "Without good communication skills, employees have a limited ability to contribute to the new global company. We had managers who had to travel with interpreters in order to participate in our global meetings."
In the steel industry, mobility of people and ideas is critical to success. "We need to be able to access the best people and knowledge from across the company in order to make our company the best," stated Gardella. "When Arcelor and Mittal merged in 2006, it was clear to me that in order to gain full advantage of the employees and expertise in the Americas, business English language skills would be essential."
The Approach
Previously, ArcelorMittal had provided classroom-based English language training, but it was widely varied and yielded inconsistent results. "Our production facilities are often located away from large metropolitan areas, so the result was a limited and inconsistent approach to English language training." In order to quickly and consistently provide employees with the business English communication skills they needed, a new approach was necessary.
"Prior to the merger we had conducted a very successful pilot with GlobalEnglish at Mittal Steel. The implementation was very collaborative. We worked with the GlobalEnglish team very closely getting feedback and updates and sharing ideas for promotion and recognition," said Gardella. The rollout was not just a test of online language training but represented the first ever e-learning initiative by the company. "We were very interested to see how it would be received as that would indicate to us how we could use e-learning in other areas moving forward," stated Gardella.
The GlobalEnglish pilot was very successful. Ninety-eight percent of the participants indicated they would recommend GlobalEnglish to a colleague, and 83 percent were able to apply what they were learning in GlobalEnglish on the job. "The product satisfied a specific need for our employees, one that they recognized. There was no lack of clarity. One of the keys to success was the native-language interface. Having the interface in an employee's native language is the perfect bridge to speaking English," said Gardella.
Following high satisfaction rates reported by users, ArcelorMittal has since rolled out the GlobalEnglish service to managers, engineers, specialists, and high-potential candidates around the world. Management targets those employees who need to use English in their current jobs or in preparation for future positions with the company. Additionally, the Corporate University conducts many leadership and high-potential courses only in English, so employees must meet a certain English level proficiency in order to attend these programs. This has been a factor in driving participation in the GlobalEnglish program.
"Supporting our employees as they developed their skills was important to the success we have seen. We provide regular encouragement and recognition to keep employees motivated. Employees who are making great progress are acknowledged in our newsletter as well as with emails from senior executives. We also planned for employees to have access to GlobalEnglish through computer labs so they can spend focused time on their learning. We are now looking at creative ways to build on the initial enthusiasm in countries where we have already had tremendous success."
Business Results
One Company. One Voice.
The GlobalEnglish Corporate Learning Service™ has been rolled out to over 3,000 people in the organization, including 1,600 employees in Latin America. “We are already seeing the benefits. People who before could not be considered for global projects can now be accessed for their knowledge and experience," says Gardella. "Employees in Brazil, for instance, have been working with Japanese production and quality techniques for decades, and now ArcelorMittal can bring that expertise to facilities all across the company. Understanding communication from the company headquarters is easier, and we are able to share learnings and best practices across all employees in the shared language of business—English. In the longer term, succession planning and high-potential development is also improved,” continued Gardella. "We can now include people from around the globe without the limits of a language barrier.
"When you are the leader in an industry, you must always be developing and improving your own best practices. At ArcelorMittal, we are committed to providing the leadership that will transform tomorrow's steel industry. Having a common language allows us to get the best out of everyone in our company. That contribution is what allows us to continue to make the company better and lead the industry."
In a world where companies are globalizing, GlobalEnglish is the ultimate tool to prevent you from being left behind.
– Alejandro Gardella, ArcelorMittal HR Manager Americas