Onboard a multilingual, dispersed workforce
When your workers speak different first languages and are spread across sites, states or countries, a single in-person induction in English doesn't reach everyone. Altora lets workers complete their induction online in the language they're most comfortable with, gives each region and site its own requirements, and keeps every record in one place.
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One induction, many languages and locations
In industries like agriculture, cleaning, logistics, manufacturing, construction and labour hire, it’s common for a large share of the workforce to speak English as a second language. Add workers spread across depots, farms, sites, states or even countries, and getting everyone the same safety message becomes much harder.
An induction that a worker can’t fully understand isn’t really an induction. Running it in person at every location doesn’t scale, and a printed manual in one language can’t be checked for understanding.
Altora’s Online Induction System and Check-in System help you deliver clear, consistent inductions to every worker, in a language they understand and with the right requirements for where they work.
Why multilingual, dispersed onboarding is hard
1. Let workers translate inductions in their browser
Workers complete Altora inductions in any web browser on their own phone, tablet or computer, with no app to download. That means they can use the translation built into their browser, such as Google Translate in Chrome, or the translate options in Edge and Safari, to display course content in their preferred language.
There’s nothing extra to set up and no translation fees per language. Workers choose the language they’re most comfortable with, and they can switch back to English at any time to check a term with their supervisor.
Add quizzes at the end of each section to confirm workers have understood the key safety points, not just clicked through them.
2. Import your PowerPoint slides as editable, translatable content
Most organisations already have induction material in PowerPoint. When you import a presentation into Altora’s course editor, the text, images and tables are brought in as content you can edit, not as a static picture of each slide.
Many other induction systems convert slides into images. It looks the same at first, but it creates problems for a multilingual workforce:
- Browser translation can’t read text inside an image, so workers only ever see the original language
- Fixing a typo or updating a procedure means editing the original deck and importing it again
- Screen readers can’t read the content, which makes the induction less accessible
Because Altora keeps your slide text as text, it can be translated in the browser, updated in seconds, and reused across courses. See how Altora compares.
3. Assign inductions by language or location
Group courses, forms, acknowledgements and document requirements into programs, then let workers select the programs that apply to them when they register. For example, you could set up:
- A language-specific version of critical safety content, professionally translated and reviewed, for workers who need it
- A regional induction for each state or country, covering local legislation, emergency numbers and procedures
- A site induction for each depot, farm or project, with its own hazards and evacuation maps
Shared content, like your code of conduct, is created once and added to every program that needs it, so an update reaches every language and location at the same time. Administrators can also assign programs to user groups or individual workers.
4. Check in workers at every site, in every region
With the Check-in System, each site has its own QR code or self-serve kiosk, and its own settings. Sites in different regions can each have their own:
- Compliance requirements for each worker or visitor type
- Site briefings, safety notices and acknowledgements
- Hosts and admins who are notified when someone arrives
- Branding and check-in flow
When a worker checks in, their induction status and documents are checked against that site’s requirements. If something’s missing, they can complete their induction on the spot from their own device, so remote and unstaffed sites don’t need someone to deliver it. Head office can see every site from one dashboard. Learn more about multi-site check-in.
5. Keep one record of everyone, wherever they work
Every worker’s inductions, quiz results, signed acknowledgements and uploaded documents are stored on their profile, whichever site or region they work in. Use real-time reporting to filter by site, program or group, and see at a glance who’s compliant and who isn’t.
Automatic reminders go out for anything outstanding or expiring, and you can bulk notify a whole group at once. A complete, time-stamped record helps you show that every worker completed the right induction, wherever and in whatever language they did it.
Tips for inducting a multilingual workforce
Pricing that suits a dispersed workforce
Adding workers, languages or locations shouldn't add complexity to your bill.
Unlimited users
Induct as many employees, contractors and casual workers as you need, with no per-user fees.
Priced by site for check-in
Check-ins are unlimited. Two sites are included and the cost per site reduces as you add more.
No lock-in contracts
Choose month-to-month, or pay annually and save 10%.
Dispersed workforces using Altora
AMC Commercial Cleaning
Manages 1,500 workers in Australia and New Zealand, across directly owned and franchised locations.
Case StudyOrigin Energy
Manages contractor inductions across nine power stations, so contractors are ready before they arrive on site.
Case StudyClough
Averages around 1,500 course completions a month across multiple worksites, with real-time audit reports across every site.
Built for diverse, distributed industries
Altora is used to onboard multilingual and dispersed workforces in agriculture, labour hire, transport and logistics, manufacturing, construction and hospitality and events.
If your workforce also changes with the seasons, see how to onboard seasonal and high-turnover workforces. Don’t have training content yet? Start with Altora’s course library.
Explore the Online Induction System