Zoho's Vembu says fluency in English not necessary but is it practical in multilingual workspaces?

While promoting regional languages at the workplace may seem like a way to bring in diversity, HR leaders say it may not be the most effective approach.

Advertisements claiming to teach how to speak English in just a week are plastered across walls and electricity poles in small cities in India. The popularity of such crash courses shows the significance of English in Indian businesses and society in general, which consider the language to be a staircase to success.

However, there is an odd one out. Software maker Zoho’s co-founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu claims his company employees do not need to be fluent in English for “most jobs”.

Changing paradigm

HR experts have called the policy impractical, especially in multinational firms which require at least one common language. They say English provides opportunities to employees in internal talent mobility thereby enabling a high career growth trajectory. English is considered a lingua franca by India Inc which employs people speaking diverse regional languages.

But here's the catch. Recruiters say India Inc is becoming less obsessed with English language proficiency, especially for the roles focused on interacting with shop floor workers based in non-Hindi speaking states such as Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Telangana.

RP Yadav, CMD of staffing firm Genius Consultants, said that certain departments and job roles like ground-level client interaction at factories or back-office executives dealing with the local market clientele are now required to have fluency in the regional language as well.

For example, in e-commerce, if the back-office operations team is working with a particular target group, like Tamil Nadu, West Bengal or any such state where the mother tongue is not Hindi, the team has to have fluency in Tamil, Bengali or respective language of that state to avoid language barrier complications, he said.

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Aditya Narayan Mishra - MD and CEO of CIEL HR Services, said by allowing workers to communicate in their native language, companies can better utilise their abilities and expertise.

Is it practical for all?

In the corporate world though, English has always been given precedence over regional languages so far but recently, a change is being observed in the market.

For some roles such as operating on computers, a candidate may not need fluent English as the role is limited. For instance, at business process outsourcing and applications services firm Access Healthcare, candidates working in transaction processing need not be fluent in the language.

However, there are various functions in companies that solely depend on English fluency, not because of its “elite tag” but the target audience. Vardhman Jain, Founder and VC of Access Healthcare said team leads and managers need spoken and written English fluency.

“The current education system does not churn out a lot of people with such traits and therefore, we train,” he said, adding that in general, the urge to learn and grow comes from within to embrace high-quality English skills and put careers on an accelerated growth path.

In a nutshell, the question of practicality revolves around two aspects: The target audience of the company and job roles. Still, since the workplace is an assimilation of people with different backgrounds, a commonality of language can’t be ignored.

While promoting regional languages at the workplace may seem like a way to bring in diversity, HR leaders say it may not be the most effective approach. Rajiv Naithani, Chief People Officer of multinational IT firm Infogain said diversity is not just about language but also includes gender, culture, region and various other factors.

However, he said language is a critical aspect of effective communication in a diverse team and work environment, and having one common language can facilitate better collaboration and understanding.

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At the real estate firm Homesfy, the weightage of skills and language proficiency is determined based on the job's specific needs. For client-facing roles, fluency in English is prioritised but for technical roles, it is given less weightage.

But the overall objective is to create a centralised language for the team while keeping English and Hindi as its backbone. Homesfy, which works with people across the country, strikes a balance by promoting regional languages while providing team members with opportunities to improve their English language skills.

“Regional languages can improve communication, enhance customer relationships, and lead to talent retention and attraction at the workplace. Yet, it's important to note that fostering regional languages at the workplace should not exclude or diminish the importance of English,” said Neha Mishra, VP of HR at Homesfy and Mymagnet.

However, Mishra of CIEL HR Services warned that it may be difficult for employees from diverse backgrounds who do not speak a common language to connect and communicate effectively.

“It could result in the division along linguistic lines, undermining the value of diversity in the workplace,” he said.