Turn language learning into a strategic investment for your organisation.
They slow down knowledge transfer, create friction between teams, and drive up turnover. The problem is real, but it’s tricky to prove without data.
This tool helps you calculate the cost of inaction and build a business case your leadership team will listen to. Enter your organisation's goals, team size, and current costs to get a clear picture of what language barriers are costing you
Build the business case
Start with what matters most to your business. We'll walk you through the numbers and produce a CFO-ready business case you can take into your next budget conversation.
Which business outcome are you building the case around?
Pick an outcome to start · takes ~5 minutes · no login required
Step 2 · Context
Every input comes with a sensible default, so you've got a realistic starting point. You can change any number to match your programme.
Step 3 · Analysis
Four short questions to size the opportunity: the metric that matters, where it sits today, where you want it, and what language training can shift.
Voluntary turnover — the share of people who leave by choice each year, not through redundancy or restructuring.
Source: SHRM 2025 CHRO Benchmarking · Work Institute 2025 Retention Report
Industry average sits around 18%. Retail, frontline, and BPO contexts often run higher.
A 5-point improvement is a typical year-one target for a focused learning and development (L&D) programme. LinkedIn's research reports strong learning cultures achieve up to 57% higher retention over time.
Language is one factor among many. Pick the confidence level that fits — most teams leave this on Balanced.
We apply it as a range and use the midpoint for the headline. A higher band credits more of the gain to language training.
Language friction — the time your team loses each week to clarifications, rework, slow threads, and meetings that need a translator in the room.
Source: McKinsey Global Institute · Microsoft Work Trend Index 2024
A rule of thumb: pick ≈0.5 hrs if language friction is occasional, ≈1.5 hrs if it happens most days, 2+ hrs if your team works across languages constantly. Busuu's model assumes 1–2 hrs/week is recoverable per learner once they reach prerequisite proficiency.
We work this out from the average salary you entered (salary × 1.4 for benefits & overhead, over your working weeks at 37.5 hrs). Adjust if you know your real loaded rate.
Language is one factor among many. Pick the confidence level that fits — most teams leave this on Balanced.
We apply it as a range and use the midpoint for the headline. A higher band credits more of the gain to language training.
Revenue at risk — the annual value of sales that customer-facing staff struggle to close because of language friction.
Source: Busuu Calculating Business Value deck, sales revenue uplift scenario
Start at 25% and adjust to your team's language mix and customer base. If language is a key barrier in your sales environment, this may be higher.
How much of that at-risk revenue stronger language skills could win back. Adjust it to how much language matters for your team.
Language is one factor among many. Pick the confidence level that fits — most teams leave this on Balanced.
We apply it as a range and use the midpoint for the headline. A higher band credits more of the gain to language training.
Production waste — errors, rework, and scrapped output that trace back to communication breakdowns.
Source: Busuu Calculating Business Value deck (internal) · Vesselinov et al. 2025 (language-skill ROI, Duolingo/Harvard)
Poor-quality work usually costs from a few percent up to the mid-teens. Default is 7.5% — adjust it to your operation.
Set this from what you see on the ground — you know your operation best. Default 35%.
Default 30%. Your estimate of how much language-linked waste better communication could remove.
Language is one factor among many. Pick the confidence level that fits — most teams leave this on Balanced.
We apply it as a range and use the midpoint for the headline. A higher band credits more of the gain to language training.
Revenue at risk — when customer-facing teams don't share a language with customers, deals slip and customers feel unheard.
Source: Busuu buyer research, customer-facing roles
Start at 15% and adjust to your language mix and customer base.
Default 30%. Your estimate of how many language-friction issues stronger skills could fix.
Language is one factor among many. Pick the confidence level that fits — most teams leave this on Balanced.
We apply it as a range and use the midpoint for the headline. A higher band credits more of the gain to language training.
Calculating your ROI…
Step 4 · Results
Based on your inputs — adjust anything and the numbers update live. Full methodology, formulas, and citations are on the page below.
Projected annual value with Busuu
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After your programme attribution, before programme budget
Return on investment
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Payback
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Ready to turn this into your business case?
Talk to the team that has done this for 600+ organisations — we'll help you build a board-ready plan.
Total exposure is the whole problem if nothing changes. The ROI above compares only the part language training can realistically move — across your programme attribution — against your budget.
Your value statement appears here.
This is the business case you will need to make to your CFO in 12 months. The sooner the programme starts, the stronger that case becomes.
Defaults are starting estimates — adjust them to your figures. Full methodology, formulas, and citations are on the page below.
Shown separately — not included in the headline ROI above.
The most successful L&D leaders don't pitch language training as a perk. They tie it directly to business metrics like retention, productivity, risk reduction, and revenue.
This shift in framing shows C-Level colleagues that language training solves real operational problems. When employees communicate clearly, they’ll see projects move faster, mistakes drop, and their best people stick around.
Proving the cost of inaction with data can be tricky, as it depends on your organisation’s goals, current and future team sizes, average salaries, and many other factors. That's why the strongest business cases focus on outcomes your leadership already cares about, using numbers they recognise.
ROI depends on what matters most to your organisation. For some, it's reduced turnover. For others, it's faster onboarding, fewer safety incidents, or improved customer satisfaction. The key is to identify your goal first, then track the metrics where language skills make a difference.
A strong business case links training to outcomes your leadership cares about, with metrics they recognise. Common figures include employee retention rates, average salaries, and the cost per learner. Try our calculator to understand which metrics matter to you, and get a good idea of the value language training could bring to your team.
Employees who feel supported in their development are more likely to stay. Language training also removes daily friction, leading to fewer misunderstandings, faster collaboration, and smoother knowledge transfer. When people can communicate clearly, they work more efficiently and feel more connected to their team.
The cost of inaction is what you're already paying by not addressing language gaps. In other words, it’s the cost of slower projects, repeated mistakes, lost customers, and higher turnover. This tool helps you estimate that hidden cost so you can make a clear case for investment.
