内容提要：
国际化公司的老总们，频发指令要求其雇员学习英文。然而问题出现了：助理教授特斯都·尼利认为，这些员工会出现失落感并认为使用英文工作不如他们使用母语来的效率高。
关键概念：
*非美国公司在全球竞争当中最具有竞争力的方式之一就是要求全员说英文。
*学习英文的员工普遍感觉到效率的降低，认为用英文不如自己使用母语表达来的缜密精细、更富影响力、更加清晰易懂。
*雇主可以通过向母语非英语员工强调并不存在问题来缓解员工情绪。全体员工需要齐心协力，一起使用英文。
*管理者应该考虑一些缓解员工焦虑的方法，例如提供语言测试和设立语言应用的水平基准等。
2012年3月,乐天集团CEO三木谷谷浩史（哈佛商学院的MBA '93）在网上零售巨头乐天东京总部，面对着他的员工撂下了令人震惊的言语：公司7100名全部雇员需要在两年时间内，熟练精通地使用英文——这门“企业用语”；否则，将面临降级危险。
“我完全震惊了，”会议公布后接受采访的一名工程师说。“许多乐天员工并不习惯使用英文。”
“如果高层并没有语言计划策略的话，他们会后悔的”——公司中，只有10％的雇员时刻使用英文，三木谷谷的这一举动十分激进、并将引发分歧。他甚至为这种转变杜撰了一个新词：“Englishnization”。
研究语言与全球“英语化”案例的助理教授Tsedal尼利，追踪着乐天市场的发展，她认为“这是极具冲击性的问题。“学生们对乐天公司的这项举动有着强烈反应。有些人坚持认为，这是公司为了迈向国际，而必须忍受的痛苦；也有人认为：这项举措是不可能完成的，公司CEO简直是疯子，怎么能够这样做？”
尼利认为，如果全球化公司想要继续拓展国际市场、扩大全球影响力的话，那么这些公司的首席执行官将别无选择地面对语言问题。
“如果他们没有相对应的语言策略，最终将会后悔的，”她说。“即使美国本土公司的海外业务都需要语言策略。如今，让公司整体采用英文，是增强公司全球竞争力最有效的方法之一。然而，这需要数年时间才能予以实现。”
但是，问题却随之而来。教授母语非英文人员一门新的语言，会导致生产力降低、引发一些员工降级，并可能使员工产生一种想法——即他们使用英文的工作效率低于过去使用母语。雇主必须克服所有这些重大障碍，才能使语言计划能够顺利推展。
尼利研究语言与全球“英语化”这项过去未曾深究过的主题已将近10年了，她紧密关注着被某些人称为日本比尔·盖茨的三木谷谷浩史。
三木谷谷预计公司初步英文为王的语言转换将会很困难。“这将需要大家长期的努力，”他说。“从这个月开始，我的发言也将只使用英文。”
所有雇员都将参加规定的时长为2小时、内容200问的英文测试，用来评估他们商务英语的阅读和听力水平。如果没能顺利通过考试，考试将一直进行下去。英文语言转换的第二阶段，加入了英文讲师，他们主要负责与员工讨论如何学习、安排语言的学习。最后阶段，是鼓励员工在公司会议中使用英文。
与自主自助文化相一致，乐天面临的早期问题，是乐天自身为员工所提供的最初培训支持很少，员工需要为自己的英文课程付账、并且需要在自己的业余休闲时间学习英语。
为公司起草最佳语言教学实践方案的尼利称，乐天集团将迅速采取行动作出重大变革，在这系列变革之中，语言培训课是公司必须付出的代价。
通常在40岁及以上的员工比起20来岁的员工来说，更具与代表性的反对这项强硬指令。但尼利称，乐天市场的老员工自身也拥有着一些优势：他们往往教育经历更加丰富，并且拥有更多的金钱来支付额外的私人或小班课程。“高等教育经历往往拥有更强的语言水平”她说。“如果本身已拥有第二语言的底子，那么事情就更加简单了。40多岁的人是能够有所作为的。”
尽管一切从零开始对于员工来说是一种挑战，但这件事“确实可行”，她认为。一家法国企业的英文化是个单独的案例。在一篇即将出版的“语言问题：全球组织机构中地位的缺失与获得”组织科学期刊，尼利就公司硬性指定两年后只使用英文这件事，采访了一家坐拥250亿资产的法国高科技公司的员工。（在这个案例中她为该公司取的化名为Frenchco。）
Frenchco公司的21万员工中约40％在法国境外，全部仅使用英文的计划面临着很大压力。该公司的客户，合作伙伴，供应商和竞争对手也只使用英语；其业务日益全球化，最近该公司在波兰与英国实施了自己的收购计划，并在中国开设了自己的分支机构。
“当我说英语时，我感觉这种状态并不是我自己，我的个性在这种语境下体现的更少。”尼利说。她会说五种语言，在使用英语、法语对Frenchco公司各个层级的员工进行深入访谈时，她特别研究员工在学习一门新语言时出现的失落状态感。她在与这些员工的访谈当中搜寻着关键词，如“消减”，“贬值”，“减少，”“取消资格”和“缺乏精确缜密性”。
尼利发现，所有母语非英语的员工，都在此公司指令都有着一种失落感，不管他们曾经的英语流利水平如何。
“当人们拿新的语言与过去自己的母语/曾经正式培训过的语言进行对比时，人们的这种失落状态是普遍的现象”尼利说。“所以，人们英语水平有多好，他们总认为，使用英语永远没有使用母语能够传递复杂精细、有影响力、更加清晰的传递信息。”
有趣的是，尼利发现，法语-英语转换对于拥有中级英语流利程度的员工来说，是最困难的。他们显现了他们对于语言能力水平不上不下的焦虑。
一位英语交流水平较低的员工痛苦地总结自己的经验称：“如果因为缺乏语言表达能力而不能表达自己的想法，团队协作会成为一个恶梦。你会失去继续下去的兴趣，并觉得自身存在的价值在降低。”
Frenchco公司中大部分的语言焦虑问题并没有彰显在外，尼利说。这些员工常常面对沉默；忧虑自己语言的纰漏而错失晋升的机会；担心自己无法听懂会议交谈内容而被隔离在外；或仅仅是担忧自己无法像过去法语言谈中那样展露幽默、真实地抒发自己。
尼利与帕梅拉·海德、凯瑟琳·克拉姆协作，即在将发表的一篇组织动态学文章“全球性组织中暗藏的语言危机”中，强调了隐秘的语言斗争本质。
有些时候这些问题会导致非英语母语者对于英语母语者的怨恨与不信任。尼利发现，对于Frenchco公司的雇员与来自波兰、荷兰或西班牙这些非英语国家的人员合作，比与来自英国或美洲这些英语国家的人员合作来的更加融洽。在采访一位Frenchco公司的员工时，他说道：“真正英语国家的人似乎更加优越强势，在与他们打交道的过程中，我觉得我需要更多地调整自己去适应他们。”
据尼利的访谈，雇员认为英语为母语的人也可能会主宰谈话的内容。“有时候很难让我们美国的同时安静下来，我们只能等”，访谈中移民发言流利员工的报告中说“如果你再不停下来的说，我们就说法语啦。”
虽然许多Frenchco员工对英文指令愤怒不已，尼利称一小部分能够流畅运用英文的员工却认为，能够想英文母语者交流、获得回馈，尽可能多地参加会议、复述英文关键词句、在工作团队里找寻英语母语者交流，是锻炼自己英文的好机会。
尼利称，公司有非常多的方法技巧来帮助员工消除忧虑，平安渡过这段语言转换期。首先，CEO与经理们必须肯定非应为母语的员工并没有任何问题。所有员工需要在工作中使用英语，大家一起说。
公司经理们也应该知道，员工往往会低估自己的语言能力。许多情况下，设定英语语言测试与确立运用水平基准能够帮助员工消除焦虑情绪，同时，对于认为自身英语水平不足的人员，可以让他们少参加英文会议，直到他们的语言水平技巧有所上升。
更加深入的研究，尼利称，内容包括探索公司从本土到国际化转型过程中，语言所扮演的角色、语言在相应机制当中所起到的支点作用。
在哈佛商学院教授乐天市场案例时，35%的学生是留学生，尼利称，学生热烈地参与进来。没有什么话题比语言更加的私人化。你只需要人类本身的经验去“获取”。
“我有个美国学生，他一直止不住地想着一位母语非英语的同学在课堂上的言论：‘当说英文的时候我并不是自己。在英文语境之下，我的个性只展现了一小部分。’很多人认为这个案例让他们更加深刻地认识了自己。”
这个案例除了能引发学生深切的个人感受，由于内容切合了学生对于全球化的兴趣，因此显得吸引力十足。“语言拥有象征意义”她说道。
In March 2010, CEO Hiroshi Mikitani (HBS MBA '93) stood in front of his employees at online retail giant Rakuten's Tokyo headquarters and dropped a bomb: all 7,100 workers would have two years to become proficient in English—the "language of business"—or risk demotion.
"I was simply astonished," said an engineer interviewed after the announcement. "Many Rakuten employees are allergic to English."
In a company where just 10 percent of all workers at the time spoke English, Mikitani's move was radical and divisive. He even coined a term for the conversion: "Englishnization."
"This issue is explosive," says Assistant Professor Tsedal Neeley, who tracks Rakuten's journey in her case Language and Global "Englishnization" at Rakuten. "Students have strong reactions to this. Some insist that this is a poison pill that you have to swallow—there's no other choice. Others say: 'This is impossible, the CEO is crazy. How can you do that?' "
Neeley argues that chief executives of global companies will have no choice but to confront the language issue as they extend their global reach.
"If they don't have a language strategy, they'll regret it," she says. "Even American-based companies with operations overseas need a language strategy. One of the most powerful ways to globally compete today is to make your company an English-speaking company. This takes years to achieve."
The problem is that teaching non-English speakers a new language risks drops in productivity, causes some employees to lose status, and can engender belief that they aren't as effective in their second tongue—all significant hurdles employers must overcome to make a program successful.
Neeley, who has studied this unmined subject for nearly 10 years, worked closely on the case with Mikitani, described by some as Japan's Bill Gates.
Mikitani expected that the initial global English-only conversion would be difficult for his company. "This is going to be a long-term effort for us," he said. "Starting this month, my own speech will simply be in English."
All workers were required to take a two-hour 200-question test to assess their reading and listening comprehension of business English, and continue to take the test until they passed. A second phase involved bringing in lecturers to discuss with employees how to study and manage learning the language. The last phase was encouraging workers to use English in meetings.
In line with a do-it-yourself culture, one early problem was that Rakuten offered little initial training or support to workers, who were expected to pay for their own English classes and learn during off-hours.
Neeley, who drafted some best practices that the company began to implement, says Rakuten has quickly moved to make substantial changes, including paying for language classes.
While workers in their 40s and older typically resist language mandates more than do 20-somethings, Neeley says the older workers at Rakuten also shared advantages: they often had more education and money to pay for additional private or small-group classes. "Higher education is correlated with stronger language education," she says. "If you have a second language already it is so much easier, and people in their 40s can make inroads."
While it's challenging for workers to start from scratch it is "absolutely doable," she says.
English in a French firm
In a separate, forthcoming Organization Science article titled "Language Matters: Status Lost and Achieved Status Distinctions in Global Organizations," Neeley interviewed workers at a $25 billion Paris-based high-tech company about its two-year-old English-only language mandate. (She uses the pseudonym Frenchco for the company in the case.)
With about 40 percent of Frenchco's 210,000 employees based outside France, pressure had mounted to change to English-only. The company's customers, partners, suppliers, and competitors were using English exclusively; its operations were becoming increasingly global; and it had made recent acquisitions in Poland and the UK and opened a subsidiary in China.
Neeley, who speaks five languages, conducted in-depth interviews in English and French with workers at all levels of Frenchco, in particular studying status loss among workers learning a new language. She searched for key words in her interviews with workers such as "diminished," "devalued," "reduced," disqualified," and "less sophisticated."
All employees whose native language was not English experienced a status loss under the mandate, she found, regardless of their level of English fluency.
"There's this universal experience of status diminution when people compare their native/formally trained language to this new language," Neeley says. "So no matter how fluent some people are in English, they believe they'll never be as sophisticated, as influential, or as articulate as they are in their native language."
Interestingly, Neeley found the French-to-English-only transition was most difficult for workers with midlevel fluency. They shared the most anxiety about their language abilities, which were neither stellar nor poor.
One low-fluency worker painfully summarized his experience: "If you cannot express your ideas because you lack language skills, the collaboration becomes a nightmare. You lose interest to continue, and you feel you are being devalued."
Most of these language-anxiety issues remained under the surface at Frenchco, Neeley says. These workers often suffered silently, worrying about disclosing a deficit, being passed over for promotions, being left out of conversations that they couldn't understand, or simply not being able to show their true selves through humor and discussions in English at the same level they were able to in French.
Neeley's forthcoming Organizational Dynamics article, "The (Un)Hidden Turmoil of Language in Global Organizations," written with Pamela J. Hinds and Catherine D. Cramton, addresses the hidden nature of language struggles.
These problems created an "us and them" class of native and nonnative English speakers, which sometimes led to resentment and distrust among nonnative speakers toward the native speakers.
Working with English speakers from the UK or America was more difficult for the Frenchco workers than working with English-speaking colleagues in Poland, the Netherlands, or Spain, Neeley found. In one interview a Frenchco worker said: "A real English person is in a stronger position, and I find myself justifying myself much more in those interactions."
Native speakers can also dominate conversations, workers said in Neeley's interviews. "Sometimes it's hard to get our American colleagues to be quiet but we manage," a high-fluency speaker reported in an interview. "I say, 'If you don't stop we're going to talk in French.' "
While many Frenchco workers were angry about the English-language mandate, Neeley says a small number of highly fluent workers viewed the change as a chance to perfect their English by asking for feedback from native speakers, participating in meetings as often as possible, repeating key phrases, and seeking out English speakers in their groups.
Helping employees learn
There's a number of techniques companies can employ to reassure and help workers with this transition. First, it's crucial for CEOs and managers to be firm that nonnative speakers don't have a problem. All workers have to be invested in working and speaking together, Neeley says.
Managers should also be aware that workers often underestimate their language capabilities. In many cases, testing and offering benchmarks helps calm anxieties, as can limiting meetings for low-confidence English speakers until their language skills improve.
Future research, Neeley says, includes exploring the role of language as the mechanism by which companies transform from a domestic to a global player-the fulcrum of language.
When teaching the Rakuten case at HBS, where 35 percent of her students are international, Neeley says, students were passionately engaged. There is no topic that is more personal than language. You just need human experience to "get it."
"I had an American student who couldn't stop thinking about what a nonnative classmate said in class: 'In English I am not myself. My personality is much smaller in this context.' So many people have said the case taught them about themselves."
Aside from the deep personal connection, the case is also powerful for students because they have such an intense interest in globalization. "Language is emblematic of that," she says.
