Case study

Doosan Corporation I&C

Doosan Corporation Information & Communications Uses the TOEIC Speaking Test for Employee Evaluation and Recruiting Purposes

Doosan Corporation Information & Communications (Doosan I&C) is the information technology business services unit of Doosan Corporation. Any employees working on international projects must have a high English proficiency level so Doosan Corporation I&C must actively support its employees as they work to improve their English proficiency.

One of the ways in which Doosan I&C helps its employees is by offering online and offline English training programmes. At the end of these courses, all students are required to take the TOEIC® Speaking test to measure whether their English-language proficiency has improved. Because of the success of Doosan’s English training courses, the company now uses the TOEIC Speaking test as an evaluation tool in recruiting and selecting employees for overseas posts.

Company Snapshot:

Doosan Corporation I&C Doosan Corporation Information & Communications, established in 1975, is a South Korean company providing IT services, including IT and system integration, application system services, and IT infrastructure services to Doosan’s affiliates worldwide.

Quick Facts

  • Key Categories: IT Consulting
  • Corporate Headquarters: Seoul, South Korea
  • Overseas Subsidiaries: China, United States, United Kingdom
  • Number of Employees: 750+
  • Head of Doosan I&C: Sungjin Choi

Source: Doosan Corporation I&C website

Challenge

Doosan Corporation Information & Communications (Doosan Corporation I&C) is a South Korean company that provides IT services, including IT and system integration, application system services, and IT infrastructure services to Doosan’s affiliates worldwide. Doosan Corporation I&C currently has 750+ employees and has subsidiaries in the United States, China and the United Kingdom.

In addition to these subsidiaries, Doosan I&C also has branch offices in Germany, Belgium, India and Vietnam. Employees working in subsidiary or branch offices are required to have a high level of English proficiency. According to Oh Kihwan, manager of Doosan Corporation I&C’s HR team, “Employees in departments working on international projects need to have a high English proficiency level to communicate with their international counterparts without a problem.

In a global working environment, Doosan Corporation I&C’s HR team must actively support its employees as they work to improve their English proficiency.

Solution

One of the ways in which Doosan Corporation I&C helps its employees improve their English proficiency is by offering online and offline English training programmes. These English training programmes, which utilise phone and video networks, are offered to employees so that they can study English on their own whenever they have time available.

The company’s offline language training programme typically consists of an in-company language learning class, during which instructors are invited to teach employees in groups of 6 to 8 organised by language proficiency. The most popular course in the programme is Doosan’s speaking intensive course. According to Oh Kihwan, “The goal of the speaking intensive course is to take the English ability of employees who already have a high English proficiency to the next level. The employees in the course actively encourage each other to study harder.”

At the end of the course, all students are required to take the TOEIC® Speaking test to measure whether their English-language proficiency has improved. All expenses for the language training course are paid for by the company as long as employees attend classes regularly. To date, over 90 percent of employees have faithfully completed their courses.

Results

According to Doosan Corporation I&C, most employees’ TOEIC Speaking scores showed improvement through the duration of the course, and one employee improved his score from 90 to 140. This improvement is equivalent to going from A2 to B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference.

Because of the success of Doosan’s speaking intensive course, Doosan Corporation I&C now uses the TOEIC Speaking test as an evaluation tool in recruiting, and for selecting employees for overseas posts. Doosan’s HR leadership realises that English-language assessment plays a valuable role in the learning process when it is coupled with proper English training courses. The HR team at Doosan Corporation I&C continues to support its employees as they work on the goal of improving their English proficiency.

About the TOEIC Tests

For more than 30 years the TOEIC tests have been the global standard for measuring workplace English-language communication skills. The TOEIC tests are used by nearly 14,000 businesses, organisations, and government agencies in 150 countries.