HR has done everything right. There is budget, there is a provider, there are eight sign-ups for the Dutch course. Six weeks in, four people are still attending, and two of those have not done their homework.
Sound familiar? The problem is rarely the training itself. It is what has been organised around it. This article explains why making language training compulsory backfires, what motivation research says does work, and how to translate that into a programme people actually finish.
Why do employees drop out of language training?
Almost never because they do not want to learn the language. More often because the programme clashes with the working week, because progress stays invisible, or because the first time someone tries out their Dutch at the office, the colleague immediately switches to English.
There is an expectation problem on top of that. Cambridge English works with a rule of thumb of roughly 200 guided learning hours to move from one level of the Common European Framework to the next. If you expect someone to run a meeting in Dutch after a twelve-week course, you have set a target that cannot be met. It then looks as though the employee has failed, when in fact the planning was wrong.
Does making language training compulsory work?
In the short term you get attendance. In the longer term it works against you.
This is one of the most thoroughly researched effects in motivation psychology. In 1999, Deci, Koestner and Ryan analysed the results of 128 experiments on how rewards and pressure affect motivation. The finding was consistent: as soon as someone does something because they have to, or because a reward is attached, the reason shifts from inside to outside. Remove the pressure and the behaviour disappears with it.
With language this shows up even more clearly, because learning continues outside the classroom. Someone who only turns up because it is in their annual plan does not practise in the canteen. And that is where most of the learning time actually sits.
So what does work?
The same field of research offers a usable answer. Ryan and Deci describe three conditions under which people keep going of their own accord: autonomy, a sense of competence, and connection with the people around them. Translated to a language programme at work:
- Autonomy. Let the employee have a say in the timing, the pace and the content. Someone who picks their own lesson slot is far less likely to cancel it.
- Competence. Make progress visible in steps that are achievable within weeks, not in a level that takes a year.
- Connection. Get the team involved. One agreement, for example that colleagues do not switch straight to English, does more than an extra lesson hour.
How do you make progress visible?
Not with a certificate at the end, but with moments along the way. Do not ask “do you speak Dutch yet”. Record what someone can do now that they could not do six weeks ago.
- Following the first fifteen minutes of the team meeting without translation.
- Reading an internal email without a translation tool.
- Ordering their own lunch.
- Asking a question to a colleague from another department.
These are not soft targets. They are exactly the moments where someone notices it is working, and that feeling keeps a programme going on the days when it is hard.
Is your language programme stalling on motivation?
In an advisory conversation we look at the set-up: the rhythm, the goals, and what has been arranged around it in the organisation. No obligation, even if the conclusion is that the training itself is fine.
What can the line manager do?
More than HR, to be honest. Three things make the difference:
- Put the lesson in the calendar and protect it. Anyone who has to move their lesson three times for a client meeting learns that the training matters less than everything else.
- Answer in Dutch. Slower, patiently, but in Dutch. It is the cheapest practice time available.
- Ask about it. Not about the level, but about what worked this week. Interest from the manager carries more weight than any reminder from a system.
What does this look like in practice?
Say a manufacturing company puts twelve international employees through Dutch training. In the first set-up the lesson was on Friday afternoon, scheduled by HR, with level B1 as the target.
After the revision, participants choose between two lesson slots, the goal for the first six months has been scaled back to following the daily stand-up and reading work instructions, and the team has agreed that the stand-up stays in Dutch with a short English summary afterwards. Same training, different organisation around it, and a completely different retention rate.
What does this deliver for the organisation?
A programme that gets finished instead of emptying out halfway. That is directly measurable: every participant who drops out is investment without result, and the budget was already spent at the moment of enrolment.
The Netherlands counted around 1.1 million international employees in 2023, a group growing by more than five percent a year according to research agency Decisio. For most organisations this is not a one-off issue but a recurring process, which makes it worth setting up properly once.
Want to know more about the set-up itself? Read how to make language part of your onboarding or take a look at the Dutch course.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make language training compulsory?
Legally that depends on the job requirements and the collective agreement. Practically it is rarely the best route. Compulsory participation produces attendance, not practice between lessons, and that is where most of the learning happens. An attractive offer with clear benefits works better than an obligation.
What if employees say they have no time?
That is usually a signal about priority rather than about the calendar. If the lesson keeps giving way to other work, the employee knows exactly how important it is. Fix it in the schedule and let the line manager protect it.
How long before someone really speaks Dutch?
That depends on the starting level, the native language and the time someone puts in outside the lessons. As a guideline, Cambridge English works with roughly 200 guided learning hours per step on the Common European Framework. So work with interim goals that are visible within weeks, rather than an end level that is months away.
A language programme people actually finish?
We are happy to think along about the set-up, from level assessment to lesson rhythm and the agreements on the work floor. Our trainers come to your workplace.
Next week: September is the new January, and how to make sure you can start straight after the summer.
