Context for Talent Management

Localization is a constantly evolving industry and what works right now may not work five years from now. Given this landscape, how Language Service Providers (LSP) are able to adapt to the potential changes will largely depend on the talent at their disposal. LSPs that continue to rely on the same talent for all projects will be less prepared to handle a more responsive localization process. Furthermore, there’s no guarantee that the same talent pool is capable of adapting to the developments in the industry.  The flip side to this is that there are several costs to on boarding new talent, so there may be a tendency to adhere to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset.  From the perspective of an LSP that has a smaller budget and not intent on expanding, this makes sense. However, LSPs aiming to change their culture, reduce talent mismanagement, and diversify their talent pool,  should consider creating a Talent Management Office (TMO).

In order to get this process started I recommend answering the following questions found within the book titled “Vendor Management” written by Agostino Carrideo:

• What are the current challenges with vendor relationships?
• Who performs vendor risk and performance reviews?
• Who sets up vendors in the company’s database or servicing?
• How does each line of business handle vendors?

Succinctly answering these questions will shed light on whether or not establishing a TMO is a worthy investment.

Core Function of the Talent Management Office

One of the most crucial parts of any new project taken on by an LSP is the deadline, so it only makes sense that when a project manager (PM) receives a new project, he or she aims to start it ASAP.  How does the PM manage this? Most likely they give a new project to a preferred vendor, as they know their working style and can trust them.  On the one hand this allows projects to begin promptly, however, on the other, the growth of the LSP’s client pool will stagnate. This could prove to have significant consequences if the LSP tries to take on projects that are bigger or require greater specialization.

Having a talent manager would allow the PM to focus solely on projects while also creating a position dedicated to fulfilling the demand of increasing language needs. The person who takes up this position also needs to qualified; they will be navigating the risks inherent in recruiting in an online environment, including translator scammers and inexperienced providers misrepresenting their capabilities.  The essential duties of the talent manager may include the following: 

• Recruit in new and existing language pairs as necessary through translator directories, including the ATA directory, Proz, and regional translation association directories, identifying partners that meet minimum talent requirements
• Collect documentation to verify that translators meet minimum talent requirements, and verify translator contact information
• Maintain LSP’s master rolodex of global translation partners with up-to-date information on translation providers, their location, experience, rates, technology, etc. as collected in required documentation; record continuing education efforts
• Pass translators who meet minimum talent requirements through testing, including internal and native-language reviews
• Review translation test deliverables for completeness, accuracy, consistency and stylistics, and put steps in place to correct any non-conforming product
• Maintain LSP’s talent testing tracker and the list of approved translation talent with up-to-date information on testing status of partners; maintain LSP’s approved providers chart with up-to-date information on approved translators
• Negotiate on rates, payment terms, etc.
• Train new providers in LSP processes and technology, and transition providers to new processes/technology as necessary

As made apparent by this list, in order to create long-lasting relationships with a global network of highly-qualified translators, talent managers need excellent communication and negotiation skills.

To Build or Not to Build

Is building a TMO necessary? Answering this question depends on the type of LSP you’re aiming to become. There’s no doubt that implementing a TMO will help in the five following areas:

1. Safeguard your company’s reputation
2. Lower risks
3. Increase efficiency
4. Reduce future costs as company grow
5. Create and strengthen talent-company relationship

Talent is essential to any LSPs success and managing the talent efficiently requires strategic planning. If establishing and running a TMO wasn’t such a complex process involving various moving parts, it would be standard practice. Ultimately, there may be a strong case for devoting specific resources to a TMO as the volume of talent, contracts, projects, languages and potentially geographical coverage expand.

The image above represents the workflow of the Localization Project Management Office that I and four other colleagues built together over 15 weeks.  At first glance, one may ask how we needed 15 weeks to compile what looks like a basic workflow checklist, but in reality this workflow will determine the type of LPM office we want to be.

There are three reasons why this is true:

1. Our project managers (PMs) will be managing multiple projects simultaneously and they need really good checklists and documented work structures to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.
2. An effective workflow will help reduce our PMs stress and assist them in learning their job faster.
3. A clear workflow will aid the client in learning to speak our language. This is crucial to establishing and maintaining a healthy client relationship. 

As my team was new to Localization Project Management (LPM), it took 15 weeks of confusion, frustration, success, and collaboration for us to obtain and understand the insights mentioned above.

This process was complicated by two things. The first, our course syllabus stated the following:

“Obviously not all translation and localization projects are alike, so students will be asked to think outside the box for novel solutions to potentially complex project requirements.”

Being a first-year student, my understanding to what extent and how projects would differentiate was non-existent.

Second,  this is an image of a basic localization production workflow that was shown in our second week of class.

I remember thinking to myself: “This is a basic workflow???” Being able to visualize the different stages in this image was nearly impossible.

At the same time,  seeing this image I knew my team would have to create an LPM Office capable of maintaining consistent high quality standards that would be carried out through all stages of the localization workflow.

In order to shed light on how my team executed this, I will focus on the following areas:

• Establishing team identity
• Managing expectations
• Strategies for project planning and monitoring

Establishing Team Identity

In one of our first meetings, I remember thinking it’s imperative our group avoid dividing up the work without any proper discussion as to what is being divided. For example, in the Translation, Editing, and Proofreading phase (TEP), we would want to avoid designating someone to write out our Translation checklist without discussing as a group what were the goals for said checklist.  I realize that there may be times where ample discussion must be curtailed for the sake of delivering the project on time. However, given that this was a project, I found it imperative that everyone not only understand what we were doing, but why we were doing it.  For one, this would help build accountability, not in the sense of blame, but rather that every team member would be accountable for finding ways to improve our workflow. Secondly, understanding why we’re doing what we do, allows us to adjust our actual thought process vis-a-vis our workflow.

Lastly, I wanted to create an environment in which every phase of building our workflow was a new opportunity to learn about how to think.

Managing Expectations

In one of our earlier class discussions, our professor brought up the term “critical path,” or the “path of least resistance.” That is, having a workflow where everything is moving forward. This proved to be difficult, primarily because it was hard reconciling identifying what is critical to a successful localization workflow with weeding out what was unimportant. There was no reference experience any of us could turn to to save us from getting bogged down in over analyzing every nitty-gritty detail. We determined that meeting once a week and outlining the goals of each week’s assignment would allows us to focus on achieving the right results.

Strategies for Project Planning and Monitoring

One piece of advice I would give my team if starting this project again, would be implementing consistent naming standardization for files from the very onset of the project.  In hindsight having standardization is quite obvious, but I cannot stress this enough. Proper naming of files saves time, keeps the deliverables moving forward, and reflects well on the professionalism of our LMP office.

Final Thoughts

After finishing this project, I can now visualize the various steps that make up basic localization production workflow image above. However, this is merely the beginning of my journey in localization, the next step is to take the lessons I’ve learned during this project and link them to future actions.