In a recent interview with Adaptive Globalization, the President of TOPPAN Digital Language, Christophe Djaouani, explores what sets the company apart in the language services industry.
Adaptive Globalization is a market-leading organization recruiting exclusively within the language services and tech sector across Europe, the US, and APAC. The interview extended beyond business growth and strategy, touching on the fundamental aspects of the company’s culture, the challenges embraced, and the achievements that have shaped its path.
Here are some key excerpts from Christophe’s interview that capture the essence and strategy behind TOPPAN Digital Language’s growth and culture.
On Growth and Strategy
“We first focused on addressing the gap in our industry – many traditional Language Service Providers struggle to solve complex client needs for regulated, business-critical content. Then, we focused on attracting the best talent in the industry to create a tech-enabled, premium new entrant together.
We maintained an entrepreneurial mindset guided by hyperspecialism and hyperfocus.”
On Market Positioning and Agility
“Our main challenge was to establish ourselves quickly in the market as a competitive force against large incumbent suppliers. We had some growth pains as expected but we were able to anticipate many of these challenges (at least the ones under our control).
We now have a strong foundation, structure and infrastructure to be able to scale rapidly and to provide a superior service. Also, the most important with any strategy is to define what you do not want to do … and we have this pretty clear within our team!”
On Employee Engagement and Company Culture
“As our company grows and our staff base expands globally, a strong culture is crucial to keep our diverse team connected and united. With employees from many different countries, our shared goals and vision for the future are the cornerstones that bring us together and make us strong.
We all believe in and thrive within TDL’s innovative, agile and rewarding work environment. Even with a larger, more dispersed team, our powerful culture keeps us moving forward in sync. – It is not stagnant at the end of the day as they ‘own’ it.”
On Employee Well-being
“We continuously listen for feedback from our team and maintain an open-door policy. Through regular business updates, we promote transparent communication while actively encouraging each employee to share their views. We believe in ongoing dialogue.
Every team member contributes to shaping our culture – their feedback via surveys and revising our values is fundamental. We provide competitive pay and benefits plus an agile environment that enables work-life balance. This combines with growth opportunities as we invest in our people, our greatest asset.”
On Personal Growth and Opportunities
“It’s hard to say that anything is unique but our model of growth and investment probably creates one of the most dynamic environments for employees, whether they want to expand their experience into a new sector, work with new clients or even step into a completely new role.
And the sense that they are building something new and different in the market is certainly a big draw for many of our recruits.”
To discover more about our journey and how we’re shaping the future of language services, click here.