<Global Views Monthly> (Global Views Monthly is a well-known professional financial magazine in Taiwan, founded in 1986.) In view of the "2030 Bilingual National Policy", it provides a comprehensive view of Taiwan from the aspects of characteristic schools, international trends, AI technology and corporate needs. Future directions of bilingual education in higher education.  At the same time, in order to gain a deeper understanding of the company's practical results in promoting bilingual education, Y.S., General Manager of Fullchamp, was specially invited to accept an exclusive interview with the magazine.

<Vision Magazine> said: Fullchamp’s general manager led the team to improve their English ability and successfully increased the company’s average TOEIC score by 41%, fully demonstrating the company’s determination and effectiveness in promoting bilingualism, integrating English into the corporate culture, and integrating it into the corporate culture.  Transformed into the core competitiveness of the enterprise. Fullchamp's successful experience will provide valuable reference for other Taiwanese small and medium-sized enterprises.  It will not only set an example for Taiwanese enterprises, but also prove that even traditional industries can successfully transform through comprehensive English proficiency improvement plans.

Business Direct >> A local manufacturing company suddenly became a foreign company, and the operators gained a salary increase by relying on their English proficiency

Cultivating “Bilingual” Employees Fullchamp pgrades its International Capabilities

Global supply chains have been reorganized under the influence of geopolitics, and now even small and medium-sized enterprises need bilingual talents. Fullchamp, located in Zhushan, Nantou, has transformed from a small traditional factory making wheel rims into an international company with the help of its employees' English proficiency improvement program.

Global Views Monthly 2024/11  Article/Li Jiaqi

"I have never been to the airport, only to the chicken farm, and I was asked to go to the Swiss headquarters by myself for a meeting!" Hui Fang (anonymous), a financial director of Fullchamp, said in surprise.  9 years ago, Huifang's first trip abroad was to go to the Swiss headquarters for a meeting alone.  When she thought about having to use English along the business trip, she was so anxious that tears came to her eyes because her English was not good.

Huifang's anxiety had its origin. "Fullchamp" located in Zhushan, Nantou, is a local production company whose main business is wheel manufacturing.  In 2012, when Fullchamp was ten years old, due to its excellent forged aluminum wheel production technology, it was acquired by the Ronal Group, Europe's largest wheel manufacturer.  Overnight, it transformed from a traditional manufacturer into an international enterprise.  Becoming a "foreign" company posed a major challenge to Fullchamp's operations and talent transformation.  This was why Fullchamp's general manager Y.S. was poached.

In addition to Technical Expertise, Strong English Communication Skills are Required

Y.S. never forget what he saw when he first joined the company.  At that time, the factory chimneys were emitting polluting waste gas, and the factory area was filled with local employees who spoke a mixture of Chinese and Taiwanese.  When he first arrived, he did not recruit a group of elites as "airborne troops".  Instead, he went into battle alone to lead the transformation and upgrading of these old employees.

Y.S. recalled that in the early days of the company's transformation, although the employees had professional skills in forged aluminum wheel designs and manufacturing, they were unable to express themselves in English and suffered a lot.  He had repeatedly emphasized that production technology alone was not enough.  “We have to speak it out, otherwise Europeans will think we are unprofessional.”  In order to communicate with the head office and international suppliers and customers, he promoted a company-wide English proficiency improvement plan from the factory to the office.

At the beginning, many employees questioned: "Why should we spend so much time learning English when we can just hire a translator?" Y.S. responded calmly, saying that professional knowledge and business conditions cannot be relied on translators and must still be expressed by internal employees themselves.

At that time, the company was in the throes of transformation and upgrading its English skills, and various tasks were often stuck due to language barriers. "An email often had to be revised back and forth three or four times before it was smooth."  In the process, Y.S. Tsai spent a lot of time and effort.  At that time, he couldn't help but wonder: "Am I here to manage the company, or am I here to teach English?"

Even with all the difficulties, Y.S. still insisted on taking this bilingual path.  In the face of employees' fear and resistance to English, Y.S. encourages everyone to view English learning from the perspective of "personal life" in a positive way.

"English will stay with you for a lifetime.  It is an ability that you can take with you," said Y.S..  It was not just to meet Fullchamp's requirements.  A colleague listened to his encouragement and later worked hard to study on his own.  He actually got a 550 on the TOEIC, which was beyond everyone's imagination.  Not only did he successfully receive a high bonus, it also increased his international competitiveness.

The Fullchamp team often needs to hold meetings with the Swiss head office, and online English meetings train employees’ professional English skills in the workplace.

The GM Led The Way in taking The TOEIC Test.  The Company's Average Score Boosted by 41% in 5 Years

In order to prevent employees from feeling confused because of the endless knowledge, Y.S. had formulated English proficiency standards for each position so that they had clear learning goals.  The general manager even took the lead in taking the TOEIC test.

Administrative staff must get at least a 350, each section chief supervisor must get a 450, each manager must get a 550, and sales representative must get a 750 at least.  If the standards are not met, Fullchamp will arrange English training courses and subsidize half of the training costs to improve employees' English proficiency.  Fullchamp has been implementing the TOEIC test since 2019.  In 5 years, the average TOEIC score of employees increased from 320 to 450, an increase of 41%, which was a remarkable achievement.

In addition to domestic courses, Fullchamp also subsidizes supervisors to attend short-term English courses in Cebu, Philippines.  After three months of intensive English training, the supervisor's English speaking ability had improved by leaps and bounds.  After returning to the factory, he can also encourage colleagues to speak English together and create a friendly English speaking environment.

After nearly 12 years of hard work, Fullchamp employees are now not afraid to speak English.  One employee will even gather the whole family in the living room to listen to his oral report the day before the English meeting, and the children in school will also give feedback and suggestions.

Not only does "TOEIC scores" serve as the only assessment criterion, Y.S. also expects employees to apply their English proficiency in their work professions.  He emphasized that language skills must be combined with majors to become a useful tool in the workplace.

To this end, Y.S. stipulates that form contents within "9 characters" in all departments must be written in English, providing employees with opportunities to "apply" English in their work processes.

Taking into account the limited professional English vocabulary of employees, Fullchamp even summoned the heads of various units to spend nearly two months to jointly compile an English learning manual, covering the professional vocabulary used by various departments.

The English study manual is like a "single-word notebook" for students.  The inner pages are classified according to departments.  The organized vocabulary list is easy to carry, and the colorful inner pages are also visually easy to read. "They (employees) are tired of swiping on their mobile phones.  Okay, just pick it up and take a look!" Y.S. joked.

Jane Lin, manager of Fucheng's manufacturing department, also agrees with the importance of professional English vocabulary.  "Many nouns can only be learned after entering the industry." She gave an example.  When she first heard about Upsetting, she also wanted to say: What is the situation in the factory that is "amazing"? "People are distressed"? It was later discovered that Upsetting is a step in the wheel manufacturing process called "flattening" (aluminum block). Another professional word Turning refers to "lathe", not "change".

Make Progress in Actual Combat and Understand The Undertones of Different Cultures

If you want to improve your English communication skills, you cannot just rely on memorizing words.  The Fullchamp team learns the diversity of English expressions through actual conversations with suppliers and customers.

Jane Lin mentioned that most Taiwanese people learn American English, so when European customers said Anticipate, they thought they were expecting something, but they didn’t expect early delivery.  “Fortunately, there was repeated confirmation, so there was no delay project.” Jane Lin still has lingering fears when she thinks about it.

In addition, not only the use of single words, but also the accent is a major challenge in English communication.  The procurement department has to contact suppliers in the Middle East, the R&D and design department regularly goes to Europe and the United States to visit exhibitions and conduct technical exchanges, and the business development department often contacts Japanese and Korean customers.  For most foreigners, English is also a foreign language, so accent recognition is required.

Jane Lin shared that Germans often reverse the pronunciations of the letters e and i, making phonetic identification a big problem.  However, Jane Lin also realized that it is not only about memorizing words and learning grammar, but also about improving judgment and discrimination skills from mistakes, and understanding the implicit meaning in the cultural context. Fullchamp allows employees to develop multi-faceted English communication skills through rich practical experience.

In addition to Chinese and English speakers, nearly one-third of Fullchamp’s employees are Thai migrant workers. Therefore, in recent years, Thai has also been added to promotional materials such as factory layout plans, restaurant menus, and escape routes, gradually moving towards a "multilingual enterprise." There were even Thai migrant workers who saw Fullchamp’s English introduction video on YouTube and decided to work at Fullchamp with a human resources agency. Later, they actually joined and became a part of Fullchamp.

In an era of shortage of workers and talent, Y.S. firmly believes that talent is the company's most important capital. Therefore, in the future, he will continue to lead Fucheng employees to increase their professional capabilities with English proficiency, travel around the world, and seize international orders.