BA Tobacco Norway
In July 2008 the Norwegian company Tiedemanns Tobak, a leading producer of tobacco related products, was bought and taken over by British American Tobacco. Much of the internal communication was changed into English, which presented a challange for many of their employees.
The Project
- To offer lessons to all employees spread throughout Norway often in distance locations
- To improve knowledge and confidence in using English at work
- To optimise the available budget through group lessons (4 students per group)
Concerns
- Attendance for sales representatives traveling 2-3 days a week
- Would it work with a majority of students at low levels?
First Step
- Meeting with BAT representative to introduce Berlitz Virtual Classroom
- Presentation of recommendation
Results
- Acceptation of 15 groups of 3-5 students
- Frame agreement for 2 years signed
Organisation
- A presentation was held for about 40 of the participants introducing the program
- All students took a Berlitz online proficiency test to evaluate their level
- All students were given the option of a schedule of lessons once or twice a week
- Berlitz Norway created the groups based on the test results and the preferred schedule
- Final scheduling managed by Berlitz Virtual Classroom
Results
- Enthusiastic and positive feedback from the vast majority of students:
- Excellent instructors
- Confidence grew
- Enjoyed high focus on speaking
- Group was well balanced
- No travel time made it easier to follow the course
I chose the BVC program for convenience and timeliness. I took the lessons for both personal and work related reasons. I am the Vice President of Sales & Marketing for a music company that does a lot of International business. A very attractive market to us is Italy due to its excellent radio stations. I have always loved the Italian language and enjoy traveling in Italy. Both of these reasons prompted me to study Italian.
My lessons were very easy to follow and I found the reinforcement of visuals to be extremely helpful. My instructor was such a professional. My teacher had ways of teaching me that were ingenious. She took the time to have conversations with me about things I was interested in. She challenged me at just the right level and even found ways to fit in a bit of humor. What a gem! I did have a few semesters of college Italian that I had struggled through. It was an excellent experience I would recommend.
Eve Orsburn