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Adaptive Globalization recently announced the winners of the 2018 Best Employers in Localization Awards.What did the selection process reveal about building a successful corporate culture in language services?Last week Adaptive was delighted to reveal the winning Language Service Providers across a range of employment categories in the 2018 BELA awards:Best for Employee BenefitsBest for Employee RetentionBest for Training & Personal DevelopmentBest for Employee WellbeingBest for Career ProgressionBest for Recruitment & OnboardingThroughout the selection process, Adaptive’s panelists dug deep into the structures, processes and philosophies each participating LSP has adopted to build their corporate cultures and create positive work environments for their teams.By studying this year’s winners, we were able to identify some clear trends visible throughout the leading language agencies – factors which thriving corporate cultures have in common.Understanding how outstanding culture is built not only has value for owners and managers of LSPs but can be extremely useful for candidates looking to benchmark their current workplace and evaluate career options.From our work evaluating entrants and winners in this year’s awards, here are 7 lessons we learned about creating a successful culture.Having a voice mattersRegardless of where an employee sits in the corporate hierarchy, successful cultures have channels in place to ensure that the business is receiving feedback from all angles. If team members have no structured opportunity to provide thoughts and ideas to management – be it via surveys, meetings, reviews or workshops – they’re given a passive role in overall company development and often fail to invest themselves fully in their work.Additionally, employees who are delivering services and building products (plus dealing with customers on a daily basis) often have vital insights to share to improve business performance, and failure to create pathways for this feedback to flow can stifle innovation and agility.Teams thrive when they see the bigger pictureIn a people-drive business like language services, talented and motivated teams are core of any successful agency. Attempting to unify effort and energy for complex teams without a shared vision of success can be exceptionally difficult, if not altogether impossible.There are natural and much-needed limitations in business concerning how transparent a leadership team can responsibly afford to be with their entire organization, but owners and managers who are excessively opaque about the mid and long-term goals of the company lose a valuable opportunity to bring teams closer together and drive performance.If large sections of the team don’t know where the company’s heading or what it’s aiming to achieve, how can they drive towards that goal?A clear financial path is a mustEvery business has ups and downs, and it’s not always possible for a company to guarantee fixed raise amounts or annual percentage increases to everyone in the organization (as much as a leadership team may wish to do so).Despite this, leading agencies work to ensure that staff – as a minimum – have a guaranteed opportunity to discuss earnings and to develop a path to advance their careers financially, even if that means being patient, learning new skills or helping the company reach performance goals.  Employees in a role with no idea what it takes to get to the next level, what compensation will be if they get there or how long it will take can’t reasonably be expected to show the same patience and commitment as those operating within a more structured framework.It’s natural for even the most loyal team members to wish to progress in their earnings as their tenure and careers evolve, and working pro-actively to create formal dialogue on the topic can offer a vital platform for communication.Flexibility is keyThere’s a wide range of working arrangements across the language sector, with some agencies almost entirely made up of remote workers, some offering a hybrid in-office / home office structure and some firmly based around an office location.Regardless of the model, flexibility is on the rise as a major candidate driver when choosing new career homes.With so much investment by employers in recruitment, career development and staff benefits, it’s a major hole in the net for companies to lose well-trained and motivated team members to competitors simply because they make it easier for a candidate to do something as simple as supporting a spouse with a school run or keeping in touch with family overseas. Flexibility can take many forms, but adapting to build win-win relationships between employers and employees builds solid foundations.People notice if extra effort is rewardedThere can be some stressful times in LSP life – from sales teams busting a gut to make big deals happen to PM and engineering teams working around the clock to deliver against impossible client deadlines…When that extra push goes unremarked, it can be tough for employees to swallow.Within an agency lifecycle there are times when this dedication and sheer hard work directly adds to (or even rescues) the company bottom line, and if the fruits of that effort aren’t reaching those responsible it soon gets noticed.Solving this doesn’t mean management splashing out on huge bonuses - nods of appreciation as simple as pizza lunches, half-days of vacation and other basic tokens go a long way to letting people know that their commitment in high-pressure moments is noted and valued.Investment in onboarding pays offThe onboarding experiences for new hires across the translation and localization industry can vary drastically. At the less structured end of the spectrum, in some companies it takes people weeks (or even months) to fully understand who else works in the company and what everybody does.Particularly important with international companies that have multiple office locations, employees settle in faster and develop a stronger commitment when they feel oriented and integrated from the beginning.Agencies which take the time to prepare a program to help new arrivals understand who they’re working with, how they can excel in their role and what skills they should be learning to build (in addition to office basics, like where the fridge is!) see a clear reward in engagement, performance and retention.Corporate culture is a priceless investmentCorporate culture impacts performance across agency life in so many ways that it is impossible to quantify its influence.From the calibre of candidate attracted to join the company (based on reputation), their mindset as they start (first impressions), their performance, resilience, commitment, team spirit, willingness to go the extra mile for colleagues and clients, propensity to innovate (and, of course, longevity), it permeates every area of the business.Beyond the scope of standard ROI calculations, culture is nonetheless a vital investment which connects all facets of successful business operations.Adaptive is proud to be supporting so many clients around the globe who place corporate culture at the centre of their organization, and welcome our annual opportunity to celebrate industry leaders and pioneers in this important field.***Thanks again to everyone who participated in Adaptive Globalization’s 2018 BELA awards – you can read about the results and find a full list of winners here. ***Adaptive Globalization fills jobs in Sales, Account Management and Sales Leadership in the translation and localization industry around the world – browse our full list of vacancies here.

Preparing for a career move in translation and localization sales?Here are five key steps to succeeding at interview.Sales professionals have a delicate balancing-act to perform at interview time.Often employers are hoping to see a range of skills and personality traits, several of which overlap and a few of which seem to flatly contradict.You need to be determined, focused and competitive when it comes to winning new business, but easy-going and collaborative as a colleague and member of the team.Employers want to see that you’re driven by financial incentive, but not just chasing dollars without a commitment to the company’s broader mission.Striking the right tone is no easy task.To help you showcase your experience in the best light, we’ve chosen our top five pieces of advice based on hundreds of language industry sales interviews. Understand the needTo excel in interview it’s vital to know exactly what the company is looking for – and that’s sometimes not as obvious as it sounds.Interviewers are, of course, always vetting for someone who can fundamentally be trusted to hit a sales goal, but there are lots of nuances and details beyond that which could be important clues as to how you should present or discuss your experience.Do they need someone who can upsell and expand existing accounts, or simply kick in new doors?Are they on the lookout for someone with management potential, or is it a solo role?Have there been issues with previous hires which have shaped the focus of this search?Often interviewees can be so eager to share their accomplishments that – although impressive – they may be missing the mark and talking about issues that don’t resonate with the company’s more important needs.Early on in the interview, try and establish what the hiring company is really trying to find. Not only will this help you understand if the role is truly a match for you, but it will enable you to shape the way you present your achievements and background.Show that you can evolveIn a fast-moving and competitive global market, translation companies are always changing – exploring new customer sectors, reacting to pricing pressure, implementing new technologies, hiring new personnel and adopting new marketing strategies.A recurrent concern among hiring managers is whether sales candidates will be able to adapt and succeed throughout the inevitable change ahead.Sales candidates who set out to demonstrate to an interviewer that they have a ‘tried and tested’ approach to sales risk inadvertently signalling to that interviewer that they are uncomfortable with change or may struggle in a new environment.While a company needs to know that you have a formula for success, it’s important to make clear that you’re able to adjust to evolving circumstances and have done so successfully in the past.It’s great to be focused, but avoid coming across as rigid.Focus on growthAbove all else, make sure that what shines through from your interview is your ability and drive to create top-line growth.“If we hire this person, are we going to see increased clients and client spend?”With so many other variables in play, it can be easy to get taken off track into a discussion about marketing, management, training or other areas of conversation – and while it’s fine to show a broad perspective and hold opinions on these topics, it mustn’t come at the cost of convincing the interviewer that the net effect of your hire will be customer growth.As a guiding principle, there are few better ways to formulate your answers to interview questions or to choose your own anecdotes to illustrate your experience.The interviewer may decide you’re smart, thoughtful, well informed or a thousand other things – but if they don’t decide you’ll create new revenue, it’s all been for nothing.  Give examples of being a team playerThe translation industry’s most successful salespeople go beyond the basics of a standard sales role – they are company ambassadors, with great relationships across the organization they represent and the ability to engineer ‘win-win’ scenarios for their agencies and their clients.Hiring managers want someone who is an asset to the business, and not just someone who can bring in their numbers (especially if that means disrupting morale, causing internal rifts or draining time from management).Showing your ability to collaborate with marketing colleagues, production teams and other areas of the organization goes a long way to helping set interviewers’ minds at ease. Analyze what YOU do wellStepping into the interviewer’s shoes, one of the most important things they’re trying to figure out is how much of your performance in previous positions was down to the environment, team or market you worked within, and how much was down to your contribution and skill set.This is critical – an employer isn’t buying your past, they’re hiring you for your future contribution.You can swing the interview in your favour by actively helping the interviewer to make this distinction.Go back over your previous roles and identify all areas where your impact influenced events, and analyze what you did well to achieve positive outcomes and hit goals.Have you been successful mostly because of high activity volumes? Determination? Deep subject-matter understanding of client markets?Rapport and relationship-building?Willingness to go the extra mile, take calls late at night or schedule meetings on weekends?This helps you understand exactly what you’re bringing to the table.Working out your personal strong suits and ensuring they are clearly communicated during your interview lets a prospective employer cut through the distractions in your CV and understand the core abilities you offer, regardless of environment. ***Adaptive Globalization fills jobs in Sales, Account Management and Sales Leadership in the translation and localization industry around the world – browse our full list of vacancies here.