How to run an English language proficiency audit in your team

So you invested in English training for your team, but not everyone is progressing as expected.

This can happen because ‘one-size-fits-all’ courses don’t work if teams have different levels and needs. When everyone is learning at the right level for them, they’ll improve faster.

But how do you know what level your team has to start with? Or what type of English they need.

A language skills audit reviews how your teams are learning English, their strengths and weaknesses and how those results align with your business goals.

Follow these steps for how to run an English language proficiency audit in your organisation.

How to run an English language proficiency audit

Here’s the process we recommend you follow when conducting an employee English assessment:

Step 1: Define business objectives for English language proficiency

To get started on your employee English assessment, clearly outline your business goals in relation to improving your teams’ English proficiency.

Consider your company’s direction. Are you expanding into English-speaking markets? Do you want to optimise communication across international teams? Are you looking to partner with vendors overseas?

Your objectives will influence the type of English training needs analysis you conduct. For example, if internal communication is your priority, your audit could concentrate on writing emails and presenting in English. If it’s business-growth-focused, cultural awareness in English and industry-specific vocabulary will guide the audit.

Make sure to write and share the objectives you choose, and give them to stakeholders as soon as possible.

Step 2: Identify the people/teams to audit

When conducting an employee English assessment, look at roles where English language proficiency directly impacts company performance and revenue generation. Customer-facing positions like sales teams, customer support and account managers are a good starting point for an audit because they require clear communication in English to secure deals and maintain client relationships. Other departments could be marketing teams creating content in English or project managers working with global partners.

Diverse technical teams may also be a necessary choice to prevent miscommunication that leads to costly mistakes and misunderstandings. For example, Engineering teams need strong technical English with a focus on writing and reading. This is because precise specifications are more important than conversational fluency. By contrast, logistics professionals will prioritise clear spoken communication, problem-solving and dispute-resolution skills. Specialised English also helps IT professionals get more done in asynchronous work, if they have good, clear writing.

Remember, not all teams need role-specific or advanced business English to operate effectively. For some, general English may be enough. For more on this, see Do you really need advanced business English in your job?

Whatever you decide, use data to support your decision. Client feedback, project errors and reports of internal communication breakdown should inform which people and teams you pick for the audit.

Step 3: Select your assessment method(s)

There are many ways to run an English training needs analysis. The method you choose must give the most accurate view of your teams’ English proficiency.

Language tests measure grammar, vocabulary, listening and speaking skills in a standardised way. These are useful for establishing individuals’ baseline English levels and comparing proficiency across teams.

Self-assessment tests can reveal people’s confidence and perceived weaknesses in English. These tests provide deeper insights into employee needs than formal language tests.

Also, leadership assessments provide a snapshot of teams’ daily interactions, client sentiment and collaboration dynamics in English.

Choose the method of English skills assessment that makes sense for your business. Generally speaking, a mix of approaches is best to get a more comprehensive picture of teams’ skills and confidence gaps. This lets you find the right English training to fill them.

Step 4: Communicate with staff

Before you launch the audit, it’s essential to let all staff know what you’re doing and how it will affect them.

Explain your business objectives, stressing how English language proficiency supports business growth and individual professional and personal development. Frame the audit as an investment in these factors, not a basis for disciplinary action.

Be specific about next steps. Tell the teams being audited which assessment methods you’re using, how long the audit will last and what will happen to the results. Mention any language assessment tools you will use during the process.

Create open spaces for people to share thoughts and concerns. Respond with honesty and positivity.

Step 5: Analyse your results

After you’ve completed the audit and have the results, it’s time to pull out the key takeaways.

Look beyond individual scores to detect important trends that most significantly affect your business objectives (from step 1). Group the results according to speaking, reading, listening and writing skills. Also, by workplace-specific competencies (e.g. writing reports and adapting tone for different audiences). Compare these results to the job requirements for the audited roles. This should reveal any critical gaps.

Pay attention to departmental patterns. Perhaps the sales team performed well in verbal communication, but their written English proficiency was low. Maybe the technical team was strong in reading comprehension but struggled with presenting in English.

By grouping results together, you can find opportunities for team-targeted training that leverages English for Specific Purposes. This type of English training for employees is a branch of workplace English, but tailored to specific fields or industries. The aim is to provide team members with the role-specific language and skills they need to do their job effectively. For example, healthcare professionals need to understand specialised medical terminology and be able to talk to patients, so an ESP approach prioritises these things. For more on this, see How Medical English can help patients trust you.

As you analyse the results, factor in the experience levels, educational background and native languages of the people in the audit. These characteristics may influence learning preferences that shape the English training you offer.

Step 6: Set English training priorities

Next, transform the results from your audit into a strategic training roadmap. This is your chance to apply the findings to targeted training for specific teams. For example, English for Specific Purposes for HR teams.

The first priorities are areas that impact revenue or customer satisfaction. For example, if your sales team has difficulties with client presentations, presentation training in English brings immediate business value.

Match the training intensity to the importance of the role. Customer-facing positions will likely need more intensive training to boost English language proficiency quickly and achieve business goals faster.

When you know the areas and individuals to prioritise, use the audit results to customise training around their needs. Some people may thrive in group settings while others advance better with one-on-one support.

Step 7: Create an action plan

The final step for your audit is to create an implementation plan with clear targets, milestones and accountability measures.

You might need one-on-one coaching or tailored classes. Maybe online courses give busy professionals the flexibility to improve their English comprehension skills when it suits them. Or group workshops may increase teams’ confidence and meeting skills in English.

Mentoring programmes are also valuable, where employees with good English proficiency help others with areas they struggle with.

Set realistic timelines for the training, noting achievements that should be met along the way. Schedule quarterly reviews to check in, adjust training if necessary and keep up momentum and motivation. And, don’t forget to have visible channels to celebrate wins.

English for Specific Purposes: Empower your team to do their best work

English training helps your teams do their job better. But it has to be right for them.

Like any business decision, you shouldn’t jump blindly into training for English language proficiency. With an audit, you’ll get deeper insights to structure and roll out training. Moreover, you can ensure that the process is cost-effective and that the training is popular, successful and valuable for all your teams.

Get better results with targeted English training. Book a demo or contact us to learn more.