Most large corporations and businesses deal with content in various formats like documents, videos, audio, images, graphics, user interface elements, PowerPoint presentations, and so much more. This content serves multiple purposes and is often used in e-learning materials that can be accessed online. The e-learning content is used, for instance, for employee onboarding, skill development, compliance training like safety protocols, product training like sales training, leadership training, remote learning, etc.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many global corporations began to prioritize the accessibility of their learning materials online. This shift was driven by the realization that effective communication through various media channels and formats was crucial to maintaining productivity and business operations while employees worked from home. This involved communication with clients, the global workforce, sales and customer support partners, as well as the successful onboarding of new hires remotely.

This reality or need led them to seek translation services so that all their content and learning materials could be made available to a broader audience or global talent from different parts of the world.

With this new development, businesses needed to decide how to manage their translation: whether to do it centrally from one location (centralized approach) or locally (regional approach). This realization drove curiosity and the need for answers to this question, which we will discuss in this article!

Why do you need E-Learning Translation?

Following the spike in the number of global corporations that went remote during COVID-19 and began making their e-learning materials accessible to their staff online, these companies realized the door of benefits that translating their e-learning materials and making them accessible to a global talent brought to them.

When we say “e-learning translation,” we mean that these companies sought translation services to convert their e-learning content or materials from one language to another. So, for instance, if they had an online training course, a video to be specific, that was in German and needed to make it available to their English-speaking staff, they would have to translate the course to English.

So, what benefits did these companies enjoy for the time being and even now? Let’s discuss some of them below.

Illustration showing some benefits of E-learning Translation
Illustration showing some benefits of E-learning Translation
Satisfying your Employees

When onboarding new hires in your international company, it’s essential to recognize their diverse cultural backgrounds. For instance, providing training in their native language is a key factor in the success of the onboarding process. This localization, which considers local culture and circumstances, not only shows the company’s respect for its workforce but also significantly enhances the training’s effectiveness.

Suppose your company is based in France, and you want to onboard new hires from countries where French is not the primary language. How can you ensure effective communication for a crucial training program in this scenario? The solution lies in translating and even localizing your e-learning program. This could involve using examples and relevant references to their culture and language.

Research carried out and documented in ResearchGate, quote on quote, says:

“Culture influences what social norms individuals recognize and what behaviors they believe they should or should not perform. Whereby cultural work values differences that Culture influences can affect individual performance and predict job satisfaction in the workplace (Matić, 2008; Shafiq & Qureshi, 2014; Zaman et al., 2011).”

Ensuring that all training courses are translated for your employees guarantees that they will deeply understand the material, leading to clear and effective communication. Moreover, it brings a sense of respect and value, ultimately winning their hearts.

Boosting Productivity

In any company with staff from different parts of the world with different cultures working remotely, productivity can be easily hampered. Why? Communication is critical and determines the speed at which information is understood enough to carry out a task successfully.

In such a global environment, a task in one department can depend on many other functions in other departments. So, if the team members across the various departments struggle to communicate or understand the information being passed, it can affect productivity.

According to research carried out and documented by the Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, 65% of companies have language barrier problems among employees and management at the top, and 40% acclaimed that work productivity decreased due to language barriers.

The importance of e-learning translation for multinational companies cannot be overstated. Providing translated training programs and content such as documents and PowerPoint presentations can significantly improve employee performance. With high-quality translation services like TextUnited, you can enhance productivity and empower your team in ways never thought possible.

Increasing Performance

Of course, when you have a boost in productivity. In that case, there will undoubtedly be an increase in performance across all the subsidiaries or departments in your global corporation, regardless of the differences in culture, languages, etc. Because the materials shared across the company are easily relatable and engaging, and your employees can learn new concepts or tools used within the company in their native language, you would naturally expect a boost in performance.

Contacting Global Talent

For an international company, it’s not enough to put out job posters; there are certain factors you need to consider in the job market to achieve your goals of hiring the right talent.

Among many things global talent looks at before choosing to join a company is “Does this company take cultural diversity into consideration?” or “Does this company have things in place that accommodate cultural diversity?”.

A study by Deloitte says:

“Deloitte found that the proportion of executives who cited inclusion as a top priority rose by 32% from 2014 to 2017. Sixty-nine percent of executives rated diversity and inclusion as an important issue.”. This research also noted, “Cultivating and showcasing an inclusive culture is an essential component in talent strategies, and can result in increased creativity, productivity, and innovation.”

You wouldn’t want to miss out on hiring global talent that will bring about global success because your company lacks things in place that accommodate cultural diversity, would you?

You may wonder why these global talents care about this; the reason is simple: they want to feel seen and heard. You can achieve that by simply speaking to them in their language, achievable by e-learning translation.

Who Should Manage E-Learning Translation in Your Company?

Now that we’ve discussed why you need e-learning translation, this begs the question: who should be in charge of this e-learning translation process? Let’s talk about this.

You can do this in two ways: Centralized management (HQ) and Regional Management by Subsidiaries. Choosing between these two is not as simple as it seems at first sight; we’ll discuss each of them, including their pros and cons.

Centralized Management (HQ)
Illustration showing some benefits of Centralized Management
Illustration showing some benefits of Centralized Management

When we say “centralized management”, we refer to a situation where the headquarters of your company controls and oversees all the translation projects so that all the translations meet the company’s standards while remaining consistent across all the regions that fall under the company. So, it’s as simple as it sounds.

Pros of Centralized Management (HQ)

This approach of managing translations at your company’s headquarters comes with its perks. Let’s look at some of them.

  1. Keeping Your Linguistic Assets Up to Date: If your company has specific industry key terms to be used across all regions, you can set up central glossaries and style guides. Centralizing these assets ensures they are current and consistently used across all translations, saving time and maintaining uniformity.
  2. Breaking Departmental Silos of Language Data: Using a centralized system, all translated phrases and terms are shared across appropriate departments through translation memories, preventing data isolation. This fosters collaboration and ensures all departments benefit from shared language resources.
  3. Better Control Over the Confidentiality of Data: Centralized management enforces strict data security measures to protect sensitive information, reducing the risk of data breaches and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.
  4. Better Control Over Overall Spending on Translation: Centralizing the budget for translation allows your company to monitor and manage costs more effectively, avoiding duplicated efforts and negotiating better rates with vendors.
Cons of Centralized Management (HQ)

Like with every approach, some disadvantages always come with it. So, let’s look at a few:

  1. Initial Effort Needed to Implement a Centralized Management System: Setting up centralized system requires significant planning, resources, and training, which are time-consuming and potentially costly.
  2. May Lack Local Expertise If Needed: Centralized teams might not have the same understanding of local languages and cultures as regional teams, leading to translations that may not fully resonate with local audiences.
  3. Challenges in Communication and Bottlenecks in Project Management: Coordinating between HQ project manager and various departments can lead to delays and miscommunications, slowing down the translation process.
  4. More Difficult to Maintain Quality: Ensuring consistent quality across multiple regions can be challenging, especially without local human resources dedicated to quality assurance tasks.

Regional Management by Subsidiaries

Illustration showing some benefits of Regional Management
Illustration showing some benefits of Regional Management

From the word “regional”, think about your regional offices or local subsidiaries handling your translation projects. So, it is an approach that involves leveraging regional expertise and know-how and local talent to meet localized needs. Like the centralized management approach, regional management also has perks and disadvantages. Let’s look at some below.

Pros of Regional Management by Subsidiaries
  1. Better Access to Expert Linguists at a Lower Cost: Regional offices can hire local translators who are experts in the specific local language and culture, often at a lower cost. This results in more accurate, culturally appropriate translations.
  2. Greater Flexibility: Managing translations regionally deals with a smaller scope compared to central management, allowing for more flexibility and faster decision-making. These translations are adaptable to local needs and lead to quicker turnaround times.
  3. Shorter Decision Chains: Regional managers can make decisions without waiting for approval from the headquarters (HQ). This results in more relevant and faster decision-making.
  4. Addressing Regulations and Cultural Content Better: Due to their smaller scope of responsibilities, regional teams have a better understanding of cultural nuances and local regulations, ensuring cultural appropriateness and compliance.
Cons of Regional Management by Subsidiaries

Now, let’s look at some disadvantages of this approach to managing your e-learning translations.

  1. Duplication of Efforts: Multiple regions working independently on similar translations can lead to duplicated work (work related to document layout and formatting, preparation of video subtitles, etc.) and higher costs. This is a potential challenge that needs to be managed effectively.
  2. Prone to Inconsistencies: Different regions might use different terminology (specific terms or vocabulary) and styles, leading to inconsistencies in brand messaging and quality.
  3. Loss of Linguistic Data: Language data might be stored locally and not shared with other regions or HQ, leading to missed opportunities for reuse and learning, including reuse by AI systems.
  4. Minimal Transparency: As the translation project progresses across various regions, it can become difficult for the headquarters to have enough visibility into the progress, increasing the risk of missed deadlines and project delays.

An Example of a Company That Uses TextUnited for E-Learning Translation

During the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the e-learning platform Articulate experienced a surge in demand as organizations increasingly turned to it for developing comprehensive workplace training programs. With the shift towards remote work and virtual learning, many companies searched for robust localization program to effectively deliver their online content and training courses to diverse audiences.

In response to this need, these organizations came across TextUnited. This advanced AI translation platform provides instant automated translations and allows human refinement to guarantee the highest quality and speed for the training program content created in Articulate. This innovative solution offered the flexibility and efficiency required to swiftly adapt training materials to various languages while maintaining accuracy and relevance.

Translating Articulate content with TextUnited begins by exporting the content from Articulate in XLIFF or XML formats. These formats allow for easy extraction of the text for translation. Once the content is exported, it is uploaded to TextUnited for translation. TextUnited’s professional translators work on the automatically translated content, ensuring accurate and high-quality translations.

After the translation is complete, the translated files are imported back into Articulate. This seamless integration allows the translated content to be directly utilized within the Articulate platform. Additionally, all translated content is securely stored in the client’s TextUnited account, making it easily accessible for future translations or updates.

By utilizing TextUnited for the translation process, clients can benefit from efficient, accurate, and consistent translations for their Articulate training program content while maintaining a centralized repository of translated materials for future use.

Now, Articulate, through TextUnited’s system and translation services, can provide its clients with faster turnaround times that improve the translation quality and also help them adapt the content culturally, which will invariably boost the impact of their e-learning programs.

Other organizations like Plexus entrust TextUnited with translating their e-learning training programs material. Typically, Plexus’ subject matter experts initiate the translation projects, which TextUnited then oversees through its managed service offering. The translation involves various content types, including text, video, and audio, and providing voice-over translations when necessary.

How Can TextUnited Help Your Company with Translation?

TextUnited has a proven track record of delivering high-quality translation services. They are backed by successful projects and positive testimonials from satisfied clients. Dive into our case studies to see for yourself what companies and organizations have to say about their experience with us: Rosenbauer, ALN Africa, CATS, University of Lincoln, e-learning for kids, COSA, European Resuscitation Council, and Schrack Technik.

A Screenshot of TextUnited’s Website
A Screenshot of TextUnited’s Website

Our team can handle your diverse content, including text, video, and audio, ensuring your e-learning materials are accurately translated and culturally adapted. We can help you achieve a smoother localization workflow, just as we assist the Articulate system in translating content exported in formats such as XLIFF and XML and generating translated files that can be easily re-imported. Whether you need translation or multimedia content localization, TextUnited is ready to provide a reliable solution that adapts to your company’s needs.

How to engage professional translation services for your company?

Now that you’ve gotten to this point, you might have enough information on why translation and localization of your e-learning materials is essential and the approaches you can choose from for managing your e-learning translations, either centralized or regional management. Now is the time to consider how to implement translation and localization strategies in your organization. If you’re seeking expert guidance and the best solutions, check out translation platforms like TextUnited. Click this link to book a demo with an expert today!

Get Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

E-learning is known as electronic learning, and it is the use of digital resources and technology to deliver training programs and educational content. It can be in various formats like online courses, virtual classrooms, multimedia presentations, webinars, etc.

In the context of translation management, “regional” refers to delegating translation tasks to local subsidiaries or teams within specific regions. This approach allows for better compliance with local regulations and cultural adaptation.

E-learning applications are commonly designed to be accessible on multiple devices, including tablets, smartphones, and computers. Because of this flexibility, learners can access content anywhere and anytime.

A translation management system (TMS) is a software platform that can help you manage, automate, simplify, and optimize the translation and localization process. It provides tools for workflow automation, project management, terminology management, and translation memory.

Consider a localization strategy when expanding into new markets or regions and launching services or products globally or adapting content to meet your target audience’s cultural and regulatory requirements and linguistics.

Translation and localization are the process of adapting your content, services, or products to meet a particular region or market’s specific regional, cultural and linguistic needs. It ensures that your content is relevant and resonates with your local audiences.

A disadvantage of the localization strategy is the potential for increased costs and complexity. Managing multiple localized versions of content can lead to inconsistencies and require more resources to maintain quality and coherence across all regions.

The cost or rate of translation services can vary widely depending on factors like the content’s complexity, the level of expertise required, the translator’s experience, the deadline or the language pair. On average, translation service rates usually range from $0.05 to $0.20 per word.

Interpreting services involve orally translating spoken language in real-time, while translation services involve converting written text from one language to another. Both services are helpful for successful communication in multilingual settings.

When deciding how much to charge for translation work, consider several factors, including your experience as a translator, the source and target language, the complexity and subject matter of the content, and the project’s urgency. Usually, rates range from $0.30 to $0.12 per word, but you may adjust your pricing based on the specific requirements and value you provide.

Translation work is commonly charged based on the word count of the source text. Alternatively, some translators may charge by the hour, per page, or offer project-based pricing. It’s essential to consider the complexity and specialization required when setting rates.

Additional Resources

Here are some resources you may find helpful: