FLUENT
English as a Business Communication Tool
Business Case English lessons by telephone and eLearning deployed across Eli Lilly Europe Eli Lilly has been bringing innovation and excellence to the pharmaceutical industry for almost 150 years. Eli Lilly now has over 38,000 employees and is the 10th largest pharmaceutical corporation in the world, making almost $24 billion in 2010.
Eli Lilly is an American pharmaceutical company that was founded in 1876. As a result of corporate growth and globalization, many of Eli Lilly’s 38,000 employees do not speak English as their native lan-
Key Figures
guage. Not only does English remain the international language for business, the global need for it is greater than ever before. Thus, Eli Lilly is requiring heightened levels of English proficiency of new and current employees alike.
In the past, Eli Lilly used several different English training providers for its European employees; sometimes even having several different providers within one country. This made learner progress assessment and monitoring almost impossible, as the employees were not recei-
10th largest pharmaceutical company in the world Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA US $23.076 billion (in 2010) Ranked 115 of the International Fortune 500 (2011) 38,000+ employees worldwide Corporate presence in 45 countries Products sold in 170 countries Founded in 1876
ving a uniformed quality of training. As such, Eli Lilly’s Learning and Development team began to look for a company that could correspond to Eli Lilly’s English training needs, which would also be able to implement a program in several countries and for learners of varying levels.
“
We were looking for a high quality provider and tools; we also needed to save money compared to what we had previously been spending on English training. And
at the same time, we needed to see a return on this important investment.” Carla Costa, Global Learning and Development, Eli Lilly Italy and Latin America.
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FLUENT
English as a Business Communication Tool
goFLUENT’s Solution: Personalized English Training In 2008, Eli Lilly partnered with goFLUENT to meet their corporate English training needs. The Eli Lilly employees were able to choose between English lessons by telephone or Writing Practice, goFLUENT’s solution for typed correspondence, both with a live trainer. Learners could also opt for a combination of the two services. goFLUENT’s phone lessons and writing practice are accessible, efficient and effective, and the number of employees participating in goFLUENT’s program has reached almost 700 and is still growing.
Countries where goFLUENT Lessons are provided:
Average time
spent per learner per
month on Writing Practice:
2hours +
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Level description Level 6 | Fluent TOEIC 905-990 | CEF level C2 You can speak fluently and accurately in English.
Level 5 | Higher-intermediate TOEIC level 785-900 | CEF level C1
goFLUENT is a very good solution for them. It’s motivating our employees, it’s easy to use, and it’s very easy to get in touch with the different teachers. It’s exactly
what we were looking for.” Carla Costa, Global Learning and Development, Eli Lilly Italy and Latin America
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Carla Costa Global Learning and Development for Eli Lilly Italy and Latin America
I really appreciate the flexibility of the lessons. Plus, I could take telephone lessons or writing lessons, or both, so there was a wide range of options available with go-
FLUENT.” Antonello Paliotta, Treasury and Credit Manager, Eli Lilly Italy
Providing English training for Eli Lilly’s employees seems like a challenge being that their employees are spread across more than 20 countries and all have different levels. However, thanks to goFLUENT’s personalized approach of English courses by phone and Writing Practice, along with goFLUENT’s vast collection of eLearning resources, all
You can speak with very minimal hesitation and few mistakes.
Level 4 | Intermediate TOEIC level 605-780 | CEF level B2 Your English communication can comfortably go beyond concrete situations and include more hypothetical, abstract matters.
Level 3 | Lower-intermediate TOEIC level 405-600 | CEF level B1 Your English vocabulary and understanding of English grammar allow you to talk about a variety of subjects.
Level 2 | Elementary TOEIC level 255-400 | CEF level A2 You can construct simple sentences in English and talk about your family, routines, interests and surroundings.
Level 1 | Beginner TOEIC level 10-250 | CEF level A1 You are familiar with most of the English phrases used for greetings and other ways of showing courtesy.
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FLUENT
English as a Business Communication Tool
Level distribution on Dec. 2010
of the learners receive instruction that is tailor-made to their individual needs. The efficiency and effectiveness of goFLUENT’s training method is evidenced in the level improvement of Eli Lilly’s learners. Some of Eli Lilly’s employees are located in countries where English is widely spoken (for example, Demark, Sweden, and Switzerland), which accounts in a large part for the existing Higher Intermediate English level at Eli Lilly in December of 2010.
In six months’ time, the number of learners with a level of “Intermediate/Higher Intermediate” increased from 28% of the learners to 34% of the learners. The two lower levels, Elementary and Lower Intermediate, decreased, and the three higher levels, Intermediate,
Level distribution on May. 2011
Higher Intermediate, and Advanced, increased.
This is especially impressive because once a learner reaches a certain advanced proficiency in English, improvements become more subtle and more difficult to quantify. goFLUENT’s training is so specialized and dynamic that all levels saw impressive improvement in a relatively short time.
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When I started traveling for my job, my English needs changed, so I asked the trainer to focus more on improving my fluency and improving my pronunciation. So I
was the one who was deciding, each time, what the goal of the lesson would be. The lessons were tailored to my needs 100%. At the start of my training, my level was Intermediate, and now thanks to goFLUENT’s training, especially since I had the chance to focus on different skills, my English level has increased to Upper Intermediate.” Antonello Paliotta, Treasury and Credit Manager, Eli Lilly Italy
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FLUENT
English as a Business Communication Tool
Satisfaction and Future Plans
“
The most positive thing about goFLUENT for me as a Learning and Development Director is the help and the support that I got from their side that helped me implement the training program smoothly and efficiently from the beginning. It was always easy for Eli Lilly’s employees to get started with the lessons, find the best teacher and best lesson plan. I can say that we definitely faced a great challenge in finding one language provider, and in the end goFLUENT turned out to be a great partner.” Carla Costa, Global Learning and Development, Eli Lilly Italy and Latin America
Eli Lilly’s managers and employees alike are satisfied with goFLUENT’s solution because of the combination of effective, efficient training with a substantial return on investment. Plans are being made to implement goFLUENT’s English lessons by telephone and Writing Practice to Eli Lilly’s locations throughout the rest of Europe, and then to those in emerging markets.
Learner’s satisfaction:
97%
Key features of English Lessons by Telephone and Writing Practice As the best way to learn a language is by communicating with a native speaker, all of goFLUENT’s trainers are native English speakers with university degrees, and have experience in the corporate world, the education field, or both. The English lessons by phone are easy to schedule and can be taken almost anywhere in the world. In speaking with native English speakers, learners are able to perfect English grammar, syntax, and pronunciation. Writing Practice allows learners to practice their written grammar and spelling. They submit short essays which are reviewed and corrected by trainers. By providing prompt, personalized feedback from a trainer, Writing Practice allows students to correct grammar and syntactic errors before they become bad habits, while at the same time maximizing learner motivation.
goFLUENT France 52, rue de la Chaussée d’Antin 75009 Paris Tel: +33 1 72 71 83 00 Email: france@gofluent.com
goFLUENT Switzerland Boulevard George Favon, 20 CH1204 Genève Tel. +41 (0)22 311 10 01 Email: switzerland@gofluent.com
goFLUENT Russia 109028, Москва Земляной Вал ул., 50а/8, стр. 2 Тел.: +7 495 937 40 20 Email: russia@gofluent.com
goFluent International Inc 101 Jefferson Avenue, Endicott, NY 13760 Tel: +1 607 821 2965 Email: international@gofluent.com
goFLUENT Spain Calle Fernández de la Hoz 33, 5° IZQDA 28010 Madrid Tel: +34 91 447 66 90 Email: spain@gofluent.com
goFLUENT Philippines 10/F IBM Plaza, Eastwood City, Libis 1110, Quezon City Tel: +63(2)900-2568 Email: philippines@gofluent.com
goFLUENT Germany Schadowplatz 12 D-40212 Düsseldorf Tel: +49 211 66 96 94 00 Email: germany@gofluent.com
goFLUENT Italy via Bolla, 12 20151 Milano Tel: +39 02 33 94 91 11 Email: italia@gofluent.com
goFLUENT KK Japan 3-chome Bldg., 3F 3-22-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku Tokyo 105-0001 Tel: +81(0) 3 6205 3043 Email: japan@gofluent.com
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