How to Evaluate Your Company’s Spanish Training Needs

By Joaquin Calvo

Reading time: 0 minute

November 07, 2025

Contents

Introduction

Why You Need to Assess Spanish Training Needs

Step 1: Conduct a Workforce Language Audit

Step 2: Use the Results to Build Your Training Plan

Step 3: Get Leadership Buy-In

Step 4: Launch the Program

Step 5: Track Progress and Adjust

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Conclusion

Introduction

In today’s business world, being able to speak more than one language is a huge advantage. Spanish is one of the most important languages for business in the United States and across the world. Many companies are now seeing the value of Spanish for the workplace for customer service, team communication, and market growth.

But before you start any Spanish classes at work, it’s important to understand your company’s language needs. This process is called a workforce language audit.

In this blog, we’ll guide you step-by-step on how to assess Spanish training needs. We’ll cover how to perform a language skill gap analysis and plan an effective training program. Whether you’re in HR or part of the Learning & Development team, this guide will help you succeed in your Spanish training needs assessment.

Why You Need to Assess Spanish Training Needs

Jumping straight into training without a plan can lead to wasted time and money. That’s why the first step should always be to determine Spanish training needs. Here's why it's important:

1. Market Expansion

If your company is expanding into Spanish-speaking markets, your team needs to speak Spanish. Sales, marketing, and customer support teams especially need strong language skills to succeed.

2. Customer Service

Do your employees talk to Spanish-speaking customers? Ignoring them could hurt your business. Helping your staff learn Spanish will improve customer satisfaction and service quality.

3. Internal Communication

In a diverse workforce, some employees may speak Spanish as their first language. Training others in Spanish improves teamwork, breaks down barriers, and makes everyone feel included.

4. Career Growth

Many employees want to learn Spanish to grow in their careers. Providing training helps with employee engagement, motivation, and loyalty.

Doing a language training needs assessment ensures your Spanish program supports real business goals and helps the right people in the right way.

Step 1: Conduct a Workforce Language Audit

A workforce language audit is like a health check for your team’s language skills. It helps you see who needs help, where the biggest gaps are, and how to fix them.

A. Survey Employees

Start by surveying employees. Ask them questions about their Spanish skills and interest in learning:

Do you speak any Spanish?
How comfortable are you using Spanish at work?
Would you like to improve your Spanish?
Do you work with Spanish-speaking clients or coworkers?

This survey is the first part of your language audit and gives you a big-picture view of interest and current skills.

B. Skills Assessment

Next, test your employees’ Spanish abilities with a formal skills assessment. There are many tools available to test proficiency levels, like CEFR levels, DELE, or SIELE. You can also create simple in-house tests focused on the kind of Spanish they’ll use at work.

This step helps you assess Spanish training needs more accurately and place employees in the right training levels.

C. Language Skill Gap Analysis

Now it’s time to do a language skill gap analysis. Compare what your employees can currently do with what they need to do. The difference is the gap and that’s what your training program should target.

This gap analysis shows:

Which teams need training the most
What topics (speaking, writing, listening) are most important
Which departments will benefit most from Spanish training

A solid language skill gap analysis helps build a training plan. This plan is focused, efficient, and matches company goals.

Step 2: Use the Results to Build Your Training Plan

After the employee language skill audit, use the results to shape your training strategy.

1. Set Clear Goals

Make your goals SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

For example:

"Improve 10 employees from beginner to intermediate Spanish in 6 months."
"Help customer service team handle 50% more Spanish-language calls."

Clear goals will guide your decisions and help measure success later.

2. Choose a Training Format

Now choose how the training will happen. Some companies use in-person classes; others prefer online. There are also blended learning options that combine both.

You might:

Use a partner like Comligo for corporate training
Hire a freelance Spanish teacher
Buy access to an online course platform

What matters most is choosing a format that fits your team’s schedule, learning styles, and needs.

Step 3: Get Leadership Buy-In

If you want your Spanish program to last, you’ll need support from company leaders. Here’s how to get their approval:

Show the results of your needs assessment
Share examples of customer complaints or sales lost due to language issues
Explain how this supports business goals like expansion, employee satisfaction, or improved client service

Highlight the long-term value: stronger team communication, higher revenue, and a happier workforce.

Step 4: Launch the Program

Once everything is in place, it’s time to start! Begin by:

Scheduling regular classes or practice times
Letting employees know what to expect
Explaining how training connects to job growth
Sharing the benefits of learning Spanish for personal and professional development

Don’t forget to include new hires too! Add Spanish learning options to employee onboarding so that every new team member has access.

Step 5: Track Progress and Adjust

You need to know if your Spanish program is working. Here’s how:

Re-assess proficiency levels after a few months
Get feedback from employees about what’s working and what’s not
Ask managers if communication with Spanish-speaking customers has improved
Look for signs of higher employee engagement, better service, or more efficient teamwork

Use this data to make changes. Training programs work best when they grow and evolve with your company.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Watch out for these common problems:

Skipping the needs assessment: If you don’t understand the gaps, you might waste money on training that doesn’t help.
Ignoring different skill levels: Not everyone learns the same way or starts at the same level.
Not following up: Without follow-up testing or feedback, you won’t know if the training worked.

Conclusion

Assessing your company’s Spanish language needs is the first step to building a powerful training program. Start by doing a workforce language audit, then move on to a clear needs assessment and skills assessment. Use surveys, proficiency levels, and a gap analysis to figure out what your team needs.

Once you know your goals and gaps, create a plan. Get leadership support, pick the right training format, and include Spanish training in your employee onboarding process.

This guide helps HR, team leaders, and operations assess your company's Spanish training needs. It shows how to make language learning a key part of your business strategy, and how to use KPIs for language training to measure your success.

Joaquin Calvo

Management Team

Joaquín Calvo is the Executive Vice President at Comligo, leading corporate strategy initiatives. With a PhD in Finance, he has extensive experience in building online learning companies and has worked as a Strategy Advisor for top-tier multinational organizations. He has also lectured at universities across Europe and Asia.