Translating HR material helps to reduce staff turnover
Read more about how the quality of your translated HR materials can affect staff turnover and team spirit, and how employees identify with a company.
Many companies have a multilingual workforce and recruiting internationally has become increasingly common. By providing your employees with important corporate documents in their native language, you are creating benefits that, according to research, in turn lead to reduced staff turnover:
- Employees who feel that their employer cares about them are less likely to resign.
- Identifying with an organisation results in happier employees, which in turn reduces the desire to resign.
- A sense of belonging in the workplace leads to lower staff turnover, better performance levels and fewer sick days.
By getting HR documents translated into the native language of your employees, you are signalling that you care, you are helping them to identify with your organisation and you are increasing their sense of belonging. In this article we take a closer look at how translating HR documents contributes to these three workplace psychological constructs and how they in turn promote your company.
Perceived support from employers contributes to lower staff turnover
A study in Australia investigated the effect that perceived support from employers (Perceived Organisational Support, POS) can have on the organisational commitment of employees and their plans to resign. POS is defined as the extent to which employees perceive that their employer values their contributions and cares about their wellbeing and socioemotional needs. These needs include feeling understood, appreciated and competent. The study showed that employees who reported a high level of POS had significantly less intention of resigning – even if they showed lower levels of organisational commitment.
When you provide your multilingual workforce with important information, policies and training material in their native language, you are sending out a clear signal that as an employer you care about them and you are willing to invest in them. Translated HR documents make it easier for employees to take information on board as well as making them feel confident that they have understood everything correctly, which can lead to an increased feeling of competence.
Strong identification with an organisation leads to happier employees
A Germany study published in the British Journal of Management investigated the effects that identifying with an organisation had on employees in more detail. It showed that strong identification with employers had a very positive influence on how happy employees were, and a statistical analysis showed that this in turn was linked to a lower level of intention to resign.
To enable employees to understand and internalise a company’s values and culture – which lay the basis for strong identification – it is crucial that these are communicated clearly. By having policies, codes of conduct, core values documents and business aims translated into the native language of your employees, you are making sure that you are communicating information efficiently and eliminating the risk of any misunderstandings. Our translators are not just specialists in the field of HR – they also have a thorough understanding of cultural nuances which means they can translate a company’s values in a culturally appropriate way.
A strong sense of belonging brings many benefits
Consultancy firm BetterUp conducted a study to investigate what effect a sense of belonging has on the workplace. Their results showed that employees who felt a strong sense of belonging were 50% less likely to resign, performed better and took 75% fewer sick days compared to colleagues who reported not feeling a strong sense of belonging. The study also found that when employees felt excluded, they had less motivation to cooperate – even if it involved a financial loss for the individual.
By providing material in the native language of employees starting with the recruitment process, you are creating the right conditions to foster a strong sense of belonging from the get-go. This sends a clear signal that you care about making sure everyone feels included and welcome. At the same time you are ensuring that employees are more easily able to understand the information you are giving them along with your values and thereby gain a better understanding of your corporate culture. This results in a stronger feeling of belonging and community.
Novoterm has many years of experience in translating HR documents
Even though this is just a small selection of studies, it speaks volumes: companies that get their HR material translated into the native language of their employees gain many benefits. Our specialist translators and proofreaders have extensive HR experience. Novoterm can translate your documents into more than 40 languages so that you too can enjoy these advantages.
Novoterm is a highly regarded translation agency that was established in1996. We offer language services in more than 40 languages provided by translators and proofreaders who understand your industry – we listen, we understand, we translate.