Options for Running Feedback Projects in Multiple Languages

One unique capability of the EchoSpan system is the ease with which you can administer employee feedback projects in multiple languages. Our platform supports an ever-growing list of languages and regional dialects, currently standing at more than 100. Many of our customers choose EchoSpan specifically for features such as this, as we are unrivaled in the industry in terms of flexibility and capability in internationalization.

What many clients might be less aware of are the options available for configuring projects in multiple languages. In this article, we explain the three main options for offering feedback projects in multiple languages. While some of these capabilities exist in the Professional version of the tool, all are available with any Enterprise-level subscription.

To start, it may be helpful to explain what portions of your project can be translated. In general there are two types of elements that can be translated into alternate languages: 1) Your review content, which includes questions, rating scales, competency names, report content and email template content and 2) User interface content, which includes all of the labels, button text and other structural elements that make up the appearance of the user's tool.

Now, on to the methods available for providing projects in multiple languages:

Fully-automated translations
The fastest and easiest way to publish employee feedback surveys in multiple languages is to let us translate everything for you. EchoSpan integrates with the Google Translate system to automatically translate your review content into one of more than 100 languages. Many of these languages are translated using neural machine translation, which increases the accuracy of resulting translations. Offering surveys using automated translation is simply a matter of turning on the "Automated Translations" advanced setting in any Professional or Enterprise feedback project. The system handles the rest. When your users log into the feedback tool, they are presented with a dropdown box that lets them select the language they most prefer. The content on the screen is then instantly translated to their language of choice, including all user interface elements and your review questions, rating scales, and other content. Even PDF feedback reports can be translated using this feature.

Custom translations
Professional and Enterprise-level subscriptions also allow you to define your own translations for review items, rating scales, email messages, and other review content you enter into the system. From the Setup dropdown, select Language Translations and you can enter translated content for each project element. This ensures that your users see exactly the translated content that you prefer and no reliance is placed on automated translation for your review content. Enterprise-level subscriptions take this concept further, and allow you to provide custom translations for the EchoSpan user interface as well. This means that everything your users see on the screen and in their reports is fully customizable by you and features your custom translations. What's more, translations are handled by Excel upload, so your translations can be edited offline by someone without any knowledge or training on the EchoSpan system. Just upload the finished translation spreadsheet and your projects are ready for international use.

Hybrid translations
For customers that want to define their own translations for review content, such as questions, competency names, rating scales, etc., but do not want to take time provide custom translations for the tool's user interface, we offer a hybrid translation option. Here, you enter your own translations for review content, but the translation of the user interface is handled automatically by the system. This solution works best for customers that want to set up internationalized projects quickly, but have specific requirements for the display of their review content. Typically, setup for this option takes less than 20 minutes.

Regardless of the multi-language approach you select, the tool is designed to provide your users a seamless experience in the language of their choice. From their initial log-in to the tool to their final reports, your feedback participants can operate the software in the language they are most comfortable in.

Our multi-language features don't stop here though. In future articles, we'll dive deeper into options for producing reports in different languages, automatically translating feedback comments into a single language, and automatically selecting report templates based on a participant's preferred language. In the meantime, if you have questions about how EchoSpan can meet your international employee feedback needs, please contact us at contact@echospan.com or reach out to your client manager.