Medical Translation Insight

At ForeignExchange, we have some pretty lofty aspirations. Our company vision statement pushes us to, among other things, provide clients with:

• Zero defects in project deliverables
• A 50% reduction in project turnaround time and costs
• Project teams comprised of the very best medical translation professionals

These items tend to raise questions from outsiders: "How do you expect to accomplish this?"

The ForeignExchange team puts tremendous efforts into all of these areas. Yesterday I was reminded yet again of this effort and of the tremendous progress we are making to make our "postcard from the future" become reality. The reminder came in the form of a status update from Maria Hopfgarten, who is overseeing our onboarding program for new hires.

Here is what Maria said in her quarterly update:

Quick summary:

• We trained 13 new employees (some actually started in December, but training happened in January) in Q1.
• We executed 129 training sessions.
• Our new hires "strongly agree" and "somewhat agree" that the training leaders were knowledgeable about the topic, offered helpful tips for their new jobs, and felt that the training offered them tools to better understand FXT and the business they are working in. 100% Strongly Agree that the training leaders were knowledgeable about their topic!
• 71% rated the overall on-boarding training program as Very Valuable, 29% as Valuable.
• Our managers "strongly agree" and "somewhat agree" that their hires got up to speed and started to be productive within the expected time frame and acquired the necessary skill set to perform in their job.
• Our new hires get up to speed on average after 2-3 months on the job. If they have previously been a long-term contractor with us, it only takes them 1-2 weeks to be fully up-to-speed.

Areas for improvements:

• Coordinate all job-specific training in addition to the general on-boarding training. I started doing that in February, but didn't do it for all Ops hires in January.
• Try to do training on-site in Colorado where possible.
• Space out training sessions that might be less important to the job.
• Stress the importance of reading process documents in DMS rather than "only" relying on the information in the training sessions.

Pretty great stuff. But the proof is in the pudding, and it is the feedback from trainees that confirms that we're on the right track. Here are two representative comments from new team members after the training:

Best training I have had--at any company. Bar none.

This was one of the most thorough onboardings I have experienced with a company. Even though I had L10N background, getting to learn about ForeignExchange from the ground up was very much appreciated and insightful.

So, how does ForeignExchange build "teams comprised of the very best medical translation professionals"?

By continually staying focused on hiring the right people, training them well, providing a flexible and challenging environment, and giving team members opportunities for advancement - professionally, financially, and personally.


ForeignExchange is growing! If you would like to make a difference in your work, take a look at our career opportunities and send us a note.