Are you an HR professional in an international business? If so, chances are you’ve been tasked with recruiting new employees, rolling out internal communications or creating training content across multiple countries in various languages. These projects often involve numerous steps and approval stages, including specialist translation.
With over 30 years of experience providing expert HR translation services for global business, here are our top suggestions to ensure that when you go global, your content is clear, unambiguous and works on every platform, in every language.
- Include translation in the planning process
Don’t wait until your content is finalised to think about translation. By building it into your planning process, you allow plenty of time, ultimately leading to a smoother rollout.
- Keep it simple
Concise descriptions of processes and procedures translate more easily than editorialised content. Your source writers may consider this approach a bit dull or even boring, but favouring clarity over flair is key to conveying your message accurately to future and current employees.
- Avoid colloquial expressions
At The language Factory, we understand the meaning of the phrase ‘hit the ground running’, but it can be a difficult phrase to translate. Where possible, we recommend avoiding using idioms or culturally-specific references.
- Consider platform space and character count
Many languages take up more space than English. For example, written German might need 30% more characters, while Chinese and Japanese may take up less space but need larger character size for improved readability. This can impact the screen layout of an e-learning platform or page setting for an online training module.
- Share your tone of voice with your translators
Tone is arguably the trickiest element to convey in translation. Your company and employees are familiar with ‘how’ you say things, but your translator may not be. Sharing previous translations, style guides and other company documents with your translation team ensures a consistent tone of voice across all HR content.
- Establish clear contact points
The best HR translations happen when there’s an ongoing dialogue between your business and your translators. Best practice is to designate the documents’ author or someone familiar with the source material as the main point of contact for queries or when confirmation is required. This can expedite the project and increase the likelihood of getting it right first time.
Trust TLF’s expert HR translation services
At TLF, we combine a team of mother-tongue human translators with expert Project Managers to deliver high-quality translations that align with clients’ global HR objectives. All our linguists have at least five years of professional experience in their chosen field, hold a Diploma, BA or MA in translation and are members of a recognised translation body.
Talk to the TLF team to find out how we can help you with your next HR translation project.
