HARTMANN
How HARTMANN France turned English from a daily friction point into a genuine business asset—with 4.8/5 learner satisfaction and employees voluntarily putting in extra hours each week.
As the French subsidiary of a German group active in 34 countries, the company runs on English—across cross-border contract negotiations, supplier coordination, and the international hospital and care-home accounts where deals are struck on a European scale.
But a shared working language doesn’t mean shared fluency. And when lockdowns moved every internal meeting onto video, that gap became impossible to ignore.
The challenge
Today, English is a hard skill, just like any other business skill.
— Sabine Diebold, Learning and Development Manager, HARTMANN France
That single sentence captures the reality HARTMANN France lives every day.
Some HARTMANN employees spoke English with ease. Others were hesitant to take the floor on international calls. As hybrid work settled in, that hesitation didn’t fade—it became a daily drag on collaboration, confidence, and commercial performance.
“Not all employees have the same ease or fluency when expressing themselves in English,” Sabine explains. “Some hesitate to take the plunge, others only have a linguistic background dating back to their studies, and still others don’t have regular speaking practice.”
The brief was clear: equip every employee—whatever their starting level—to operate confidently in English for the work they actually do.
The solution
HARTMANN’s parent company had already partnered with Learnlight at group level. Extending the rollout to the French subsidiary gave employees access, through a single portal, to a 20-hour personalised programme delivered by a dedicated Learnlight trainer—backed by unlimited platform access for self-study, live group sessions, and on-demand support for the moments that matter most: writing the email, preparing the client deck, opening the negotiation.
What set the engagement apart wasn’t the hour count. It was what filled them.
What made the difference
Communication, not grammar. Learnlight programmes are built around the situations learners actually face—negotiations, client presentations, cross-border emails—rather than abstract language drills. HARTMANN employees don’t just learn English; they learn to adapt their style to the moment.
A format that works for beginners—even remotely. Remote training is notoriously hard for lower-level learners, where hesitation can shut a session down before it starts. With pre-session preparation and individualised trainer support, beginners at HARTMANN France approached their sessions with an enthusiasm Sabine says simply didn’t exist before.
Live practice with real peers, every day. 30-minute open sessions of up to six learners on a daily-rotating topic—turned solo study into something social. HARTMANN employees practise English alongside peers from other countries, under lifelike conditions, on the everyday topics that build genuine fluency.
Variety that sustains engagement. Between the trainer, the platform, and Conversations, there’s no single rhythm for learners to fall out of. The mix is what keeps them coming back.
Traditional courses can feel detached from real life. Learnlight teaches everyday English—the kind that’s truly useful in personal and professional life.
— Sabine Diebold
The results
| Metric | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Learner satisfaction | 4.8/5 across trainer-led and platform-based learning |
| Voluntary platform time | 1 to 1.5 hours per week per learner, beyond required hours |
| Attendance | High and sustained across the cohort |
| Progress | Near-universal across participants |
| Behaviour change | New-found confidence in negotiation and client-facing English |
Almost all learners have made progress. We’re delighted when they feel much more confident and effective—including in negotiation situations, where it’s important to feel at ease in English. It allows them to be more productive, and it allows HARTMANN France to better serve our clients.
— Sabine Diebold
Local expertise within a global partnership
For a French subsidiary of a German parent, the partnership had to work on two levels: globally consistent, locally relevant. France’s Compte Personnel de Formation (CPF) doesn’t exist in Germany—but it’s central to how HARTMANN France co-finances skills development for transferable employee competencies under its company skills agreement.
Learnlight France stepped directly into that role: guiding employees through CPF enrolment, supporting co-financed pathways, and aligning delivery with the company’s broader skills strategy. A global framework, with all the local nuance the French market demands.
The bottom line
For HARTMANN France, English isn’t a soft skill anymore. It’s infrastructure. And with Learnlight as the partner, the company has turned what was once a source of hesitation into a source of confidence—across every conversation, every contract, and every country it does business in.
WHAT CUSTOMERS SAY
“Learnlight work with us to really understand our needs and create training solutions that are tailored to our business needs. They provide engaging teachers who have really helped to bring the realities of working internationally to life.”
“In Learnlight we found the perfect partner for the launch and implementation of an innovative and effective language program, we regard the English Program (general and managerial) our most valued training initiative.”
“We are highly satisfied with the Learnlight service as they understood how to adapt to our requirements. They have an excellent methodology and the satisfaction rates, and the development of our employees has been second to none”
”The quality of the teachers is one of the company’s best assets, along with the management of all the paperwork involved in the program. Additionally, the platform makes virtual classes a highly effective option.”
“Leonardo Marques is one of the best teachers I have ever had. I wish I had had someone in my school years who showed as much empathy and sensitivity as he does. I look forward to my training session every week, and the combination of daily business with English and personal experiences makes it the best English course I have ever attended.”
“Learnlight work with us to really understand our needs and create training solutions that are tailored to our business needs. They provide engaging teachers who have really helped to bring the realities of working internationally to life.”
“In Learnlight we found the perfect partner for the launch and implementation of an innovative and effective language program, we regard the English Program (general and managerial) our most valued training initiative.”
“We are highly satisfied with the Learnlight service as they understood how to adapt to our requirements. They have an excellent methodology and the satisfaction rates, and the development of our employees has been second to none”
“Leonardo Marques is one of the best teachers I have ever had. I wish I had had someone in my school years who showed as much empathy and sensitivity as he does. I look forward to my training session every week, and the combination of daily business with English and personal experiences makes it the best English course I have ever attended.”