I just completed a presentation at the ASTD (American Society of Training & Development) on best practices in the globalization of L&D programs.  Brad Samargya, the CLO of CA and Peter Christensen, the Manager of Corporate Learning at Vestas, joined us - presenting their complete solutions for global technical and onboarding programs.

The session reminded me how important it is to go back to basics in the development and delivery of a training solution.  Our High Impact Learning Organization research shows that 56% of all companies (of all sizes) now consider globalization a "key to success" for most of their training programs.  The reason, of course, is that organizations of all sizes include employees, contractors, customers, partners, and often resellers in many countries.  So rather than consider globalization a "translation" problem or a "conversion" problem, we need to consider it a "design" issue up front.

The "Top 20 Strategies for Globalization" are included in our research library (for members).   But let me highlight a few key things which came up in our session at ASTD.

• Language translation is the most basic and simple part of globalizing a program.
• Most technical employees can read english, so it is not necessary to translate all documention into all languages.  Focus translation on soft-skills, marketing elements, and process-related training.
• For e-learning programs, to reduce costs of translation consider translating the scripts to audio and video rather than the actual content itself.  Many employees would rather read the scripts than listen to a translated version anyway.
• Characters, cities, landscapes, and images should be culturally globalized (Vestas created a "virtual world" which mimics China, Europe, Asia, and the US in a slightly neutral form).  When a foreign employee starts an online learning program that is clearly "built by corporate" they may discount the content before they start.  Examples, case studies, and interactivities should be tested in different cultures to validate that they make sense.
• If you do not have a lot of employees in a given country, consider appointing one staff member to translate materials for a workgroup there so they can utilize online programs without the need for expensive translation.
• Bandwidth is still not widely available in many areas of China and the far east, so do not assume that all online programs will work correctly without being downloaded to a DVD or CD.
• Local delivery and local support is critical to the success of any global program.
• Some countries (France was cited), may demand the content translated into their local language, even though they actually use the english version. 
• Implement a globalization checklist right into your standard design and development process to make sure you aren't reinventing the wheel for each program.
• Talk with local country managers about incentives and other related business processes.  In China, for example, employees at Vestas expect their training and HR programs to be very individually focused - helping them build their own personal skills.  In Denmark, by contrast, employees at Vestas are more interested in training because it's part of the "company culture" - so they appreciate broader incentives to learn.