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Executive in Australia
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With a business skills shortage in Australia, executive English training courses for overseas professionals are expected to be a growth area. We find out how the sector is developing and provide a listing to various courses available.
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There is a lot of demand for presentations, negotiations, telephone English and business emails,” says Ronda Dove, Principal at Language Studies International (LSI) in Brisbane, QLD. She highlights the typical language skills needed by the modern business executive; skills needed for face-to-face interaction with colleagues and partners as well as remote communication.
Kathryn Rogers, Business Development Manager at RMIT English Worldwide in Melbourne, VIC, adds to this list “proposal writing, pronunciation, and Australian business culture” as other areas of focus frequently requested by business clients.
Rogers, like many others with experience of the executive training sector, relates that the skills shortage in Australia has led to increased demand for executive English training from overseas professionals starting jobs in the country. It seems that it is Australian companies footing the bill rather than the professionals themselves trying to stand out among other job seekers.
Rogers says, “Changes in the growth of the economy will most likely impact how much businesses are willing to spend on education and training. With the rapid pace of globalisation, the Australian workforce is more mobile and culturally diverse than ever before. All indicators point to a continued skills shortage.”
There is a significant Asian intake on Australian executive programmes, according to many operators in this field, with Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Thai nationalities all singled out as important. However, other diverse countries such as Germany, Chile, Switzerland and those in the Gulf region are also highlighted as other source markets.
“Currently, we have a one-to-one class with an executive from South America working for an Australian-based multinational mining company,” says Foong Wong at Perth Institute of Business Technology (PIBT) in Perth, WA, outlining one typical executive booking. Like many other schools, PIBT employs teachers with experience of dealing with executives, and can source specialists if required. “We can find teachers with expertise in areas such as IT,” says Wong.
Liz Stoneman at OISE Sydney, NSW, reports a similar experience. The school employs “teachers with general experience of dealing with executives and specialists in management, finance and human resources”, she relates. Meanwhile, Charmaine Ryan at TafeWA in Perth, WA, explains, “We try to match the teacher’s experience with the business sector [focused on]. For example, with English for automotive, the English lecturer chosen had experience teaching English to mechanical engineering students.”
Most schools report a wide range of business areas requested, such as engineering, hospitality, IT, law, advertising, nursing, finance and environmental science. One-to-one lessons can be popular among this sector, because, as Dove says, “they offer flexibility and tailor-made solutions and they’re usually the most cost-effective”. Other schools report that clients opt for small group classes, or a combination of both.
David Hurford of Port Douglas English Language Centre, QLD, indicates a “mini group” size of three or four is usual at his school, which can be combined with one-to-one (and clients can also live with a teacher if required). At Academy of English in Sydney, NSW, Canan Barisik underlines their commitment to flexible programming: “We have always been ready to tailor programmes for executives to match their needs as well as the constraints they may face,” he explains. “For example, if required, we can offer the course after normal working hours or over the weekend.”
Barisik is highly confident about the prospects for the feature in this sector. While Hurford reports “steady growth” and agrees he is optimistic that the upward trend will continue, Barisik suggests, “We would be surprised if our growth in this area does not at least double in the next two years.”
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