Planning corporate language training the right way: a guide for HR and managers

Why corporate language training needs careful planning

Language training needs careful planning because it costs working time, the scarcest resource in small and medium-sized companies. Without planning, people with very different levels end up in a course that suits nobody, and attendance falls. Beforehand, it should be clear which business problem is to be solved, who exactly needs to learn and how progress will be recognised.

In my work with HR departments, I see the same pattern again and again. A sales director complains that the team sounds unsure in customer conversations in English. Shortly afterwards, a request goes to a language provider, and four weeks later twelve people with very different levels are sitting in a course that does not really suit any of them. After three months, attendance has halved, and internally the topic is filed under “tried it, doesn’t work”.

The problem is rarely the quality of the teaching. The problem is a lack of planning. Language training is an investment of working time, and working time is the scarcest resource in a medium-sized company. Before you commit it, you should know which business problem is to be solved, who exactly needs to learn and how you will recognise progress.

Good language courses for companies therefore start not with a timetable but with an analysis. The following steps have proven themselves in projects in manufacturing, logistics, IT and services, whether the focus is Business English, German for international employees or another language.

The three basic questions of any plan

• Why? Which specific problem should language training solve: lost quotations, misunderstandings in projects, long onboarding for new colleagues?
• Who? Which roles have which language needs, and how big is the gap between current and target level?
• How do we measure success? Which indicators will show after three, six and twelve months whether the investment is paying off?

How does a needs analysis for employee language courses work?

A needs analysis sounds like hard work, but most companies finish it in two to three weeks. It has three building blocks: conversations with line managers, a short survey of employees and an objective placement test. At choices®, every company course starts with exactly this step, because without it you can neither form sensible groups nor set goals.

Building block 1: interviews with line managers

Do not ask “Do your people need English?” but ask about situations: which conversations, emails, meetings or documents take place in the foreign language? Where did something go wrong recently? Which tasks are currently delegated to a few people with strong language skills, even though they should be shared across the team?

Building block 2: a survey of learners

A short online survey covers self-assessment, available time slots, preferred formats and motivation. In our experience, self-assessment is imprecise, but it gives valuable clues about insecurities, for example on the phone or when presenting.

Building block 3: objective placement

A standardised placement test plus a short conversation shows the actual level according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). What levels A1 to C2 mean in practice is explained in our article on CEFR levels A1 to C2. For larger organisations, a structured language audit that compares current and target profiles for each role is recommended. You will find a detailed template in our language needs analysis checklist.

Example: needs matrix for a medium-sized engineering company

Here is what such an evaluation might look like, using a typical, simplified example from mechanical engineering with around 150 employees and a growing share of exports:

Even this overview changes the discussion. Instead of “English for everyone”, it becomes clear that sales and project management come first, that service engineering needs its own very practical programme and that administration has no urgent need at the moment.

So the result of the analysis is a simple matrix: roles, target level, current level, priority. Only on this basis can you decide which company language courses make sense and in what form.

Setting learning goals and KPIs for corporate language training

“Better English” is not a learning goal. A learning goal describes what a person can do in a specific work situation after the training. Set goals on three levels: language level (B1 to B2 in speaking within nine months), ability to act (chairing status meetings with the British partner) and business impact (fewer escalations to the export department).

How to translate these levels into robust indicators is shown in our article on measuring language training success. I have published a more detailed account of how the Global Scale of English can be used to demonstrate progress and return on investment in two parts for Pearson: Part 1 on KPIs and Part 2 on business value. If you read Polish, there is also a practical article on KPIs for corporate language courses (in Polish).

A rule of thumb for realistic goals

Do not plan level jumps too tightly. Depending on the starting point, study time outside lessons and course intensity, the step from B1 to B2 takes considerably more than a few weeks. Serious planning works with interim goals for each quarter rather than a single final goal.

Which course format fits: one-to-one, small group or online company course?

One-to-one training suits managers, key roles and very specific needs; small groups of ideally four and at most six people suit teams with a similar level and shared tasks. Large groups of eight or more are cheap per head but offer little speaking time. Small groups and one-to-one training deliver more per hour, because everyone speaks more.

Online or face to face?

For companies with several sites, shift work and hybrid teams, online lessons are usually the more realistic choice. They save travel, allow short lessons at the workplace and make it possible to work with teachers who have relevant industry experience, wherever they are based. A team in Nuremberg can learn together with colleagues in Vienna, for example. What matters most for distributed teams is covered in our article on language training for remote teams.

The content of each programme depends on the language: for international communication, Business English courses are the obvious choice, available from level A1. For new colleagues from abroad, online German courses are often the most important building block.

Calculating time and budget for corporate language courses

Many people think only of course fees, but the bigger cost is participants’ working time. According to the IW continuing training survey, companies in Germany invested more than €1,200 per employee in training in 2019, at over 18 hours per employee a year. A language programme needs more: one or two lessons a week for several months.

The figures come from the German Economic Institute (Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft) (in German). Eighteen hours a year is not enough for a language programme that is meant to change how people work.

A simple calculation

1. Set the number of learners per format (one-to-one, small group).
2. Decide on the number of lessons per week and the duration.
3. Apply the course fee per lesson. At choices®, company courses cost from €40 net plus VAT per 45-minute lesson.
4. Add participants’ working time as an indirect cost.
5. Allow a buffer for placement, interim tests and reporting.

You will find a detailed calculation aid with sample scenarios in our article on planning your language training budget.

Rolling out language training: communication, time off and motivation

You roll out language training successfully when the internal announcement openly names the business reason, sets out the rules on working time and missed lessons, describes the line manager’s role in protecting learning time and explains the process from placement to the first progress review. Fixed time slots and visible interest from managers then keep attendance up.

A well-planned programme can still fail if the roll-out is poorly communicated. Employees need to understand why they are learning, how much time is set aside for it and what will change for them.

What belongs in the internal announcement

• The business reason, stated openly (for example new customers in Scandinavia, project meetings held in English).
• The rules: do lessons take place during working hours? How are missed lessons handled?
• The line manager’s role: protecting learning time from clashing appointments.
• The process: placement, forming groups, start, progress review.

Template for the announcement

“Dear colleagues, from October we will be working directly with our partners in the UK and the Netherlands on three projects. To help you feel confident in meetings and emails, we are starting English training in small groups. Lessons will take place online once a week during working hours. Beforehand, a short test will establish your current level so that each group suits its participants. If you have any questions, please contact the people development team.”

Keeping attendance up

The most common reason for falling attendance is not lack of interest but competing appointments. If the customer meeting always takes priority over the course, the team quickly learns that language training is optional. Fixed time slots, short lessons and visible interest from managers work better than any bonus scheme. I describe further strategies in motivating employees to learn languages. The role that educational leave (Bildungsurlaub) for language courses can play is explained in a separate article.

Common mistakes when planning language training

The most common planning mistakes are forming groups by department rather than by level, not defining a target profile for each role, teaching general language instead of work language, measuring only at the end, choosing the cheapest option with large groups and changing teachers, and not involving line managers. Knowing these mistakes saves money and frustration.

1. Forming groups by department rather than by level. An A2 learner and a C1 learner in the same course hold each other back.
2. Not defining a target profile. Without a clear target level for each role, it remains unclear when the training is “finished”. Precise language requirements in job profiles help here.
3. General language instead of work language. Textbook dialogues at a hotel reception will not motivate a buyer who has to negotiate with suppliers.
4. Measuring only at the end. If you only check after twelve months, it is too late to change course.
5. Choosing the cheapest option. Large groups and frequently changing teachers save money on paper but cost impact. At choices®, course continuity is a priority, and if a teacher does change, there is always a structured handover.
6. Not involving line managers. Without their support, the programme loses priority within a few weeks.

My experience: programmes almost never fail because of the teaching, but because of goals nobody set and learning time nobody protected.

Checklist: setting up corporate language training in 90 days

You can set up language training in 90 days in three phases: on days 1 to 30 you analyse needs and levels, on days 31 to 60 you set priorities, formats, learning goals and budget, and from day 61 you start with the announcement and kick-off. This roadmap suits companies with 20 to 500 employees; larger organisations extend the phases.

Days 1 to 30: analysis

• Appoint a project lead in HR
• Interview three to five line managers
• Survey potential learners
• Organise placement tests
• Create a matrix of roles, target levels and current levels

Days 31 to 60: concept

• Set priorities (which roles first?)
• Choose formats and form groups
• Put learning goals and KPIs in writing
• Get the budget, including working time, approved
• Check providers for methodology, teacher selection and reporting

Days 61 to 90: launch

• Internal announcement by senior management or the head of department
• Block fixed dates in the calendar
• Kick-off with all learners
• Agree on the first report after four to six weeks

If you would rather not set up this process on your own, the choices® methodology team can support you. Get in touch via our contact page or find out more about our language training for companies.

Sources

1. iwkoeln.de: susanne seyda beate placke betriebliche weiterbildung erreicht rekor…
2. pearson.com: gse roi business english measurable advantage 11 25
3. pearson.com: gse roi pt 2 language data and business value 12 25
4. choices.com.pl: jak wyznaczac kpi dla kursow jezykowych w firmie

Frequently asked questions

Łukasz Pakuła

Head of Studies at choices®. Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus, lecturer at HM Business School Munich and Kempten University of Applied Sciences. Doctoral studies in applied linguistics, publications with Springer and Equinox, among others. More about us