Improving English skills for Employees

When the war on Ukraine broke out, many refugees headed to central Europe under very difficult conditions to reach safety. As the news spread across the world, people opened up their houses to help and refugee centers were quickly established to support the Ukrainian people fleeing their homes and workplaces. 
 
In many cases, once domiciled in their new housing, employment was a top priority for the Ukrainian people fleeing their country. Re-establishing their livelihood to support their families and communities was an important step towards the independence they experienced prior to leaving the Ukraine. 
 
People from all walks of life, suddenly had no home, had left family behind and no source of income. In the Netherlands, Crane Worldwide Logistics was on a significant growth curve and with a newly awarded warehouse contract in Amsterdam, the company had many roles to fulfil. 
 
Considering the Ukrainian situation, the Human Resources team at Crane Worldwide Logistics visited a local support center that was housing Ukrainian individuals and families. It was apparent there was a great appetite for employment and many interviews were scheduled with successful candidates brought on board as new employees at Crane Worldwide. 
 
Throughout the process, it was clear that one obstacle was still in place, sufficient language skills that enabled the new employees to follow guidelines, standard operating procedures and processes in the English language. Crane Worldwide Logistics therefore invested in an English language course designed specifically for warehousing terminology to support the learning and growth of their new team members. 
 
Feedback from Crane Worldwide’s new employees has been extremely positive, and it is evident that this programme has made a real difference to support integration into their new community and workplace. 
 
“This course has not only helped us in our day-to-day work tasks in the warehouse but also in our day to day lives”.

“With this course, we are also teaching our friends who do not work with Crane Worldwide”.

“We are hoping to progress to the next level of English so that we can progress with additional opportunities at Crane Worldwide”.

“Crane Cares for us, we are so grateful for all that they do and have done to support us since we arrived in the Netherlands “.
 
“Key to supporting the Ukrainian people to adapt to their current environment is employment”, comments Eleanor Flynn, Human Resources Director EMEA at Crane Worldwide Logistics. “Being able to provide employment to Ukrainian nationals and deliver the additional English language skills enabled us to support our employees transition into our workforce and Crane community in Amsterdam”. 

You can learn more about Crane Worldwide Logistics in the Netherlands here