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How we calculated it

What is it worth? Example: a company with 5,000 employees

This is how we arrived at the figures in our presentation. It is an illustrative example: one shared set of assumptions for a company with 5,000 employees, with an employer cost of 6,800 PLN per person per month.

approx. 1.5m PLNstrong employer brand
approx. 330k PLNsports challenge
approx. 345k PLNAI assistant takes load off HR
approx. 2.2m PLNin total per year

Shared assumptions

  • 5,000 employees in the company.
  • 6,800 PLN a month — the employer cost per person. The same in all three calculations.
  • All amounts are annual.
Lever 1

Strong employer brand — approx. 1.5 million PLN a year

Fewer leavers means fewer people to recruit, train and bring up to speed from scratch. We calculate what it costs to replace those people.

Annual turnover: 15% of 5,000 employees750 leavers
Turnover 5% lower (relative: from 15% to approx. 14.3%)37.5 fewer people to replace
Cost of replacing one person: 6 months of training and ramp-up × 6,800 PLN40,800 PLN
37.5 × 40,800 PLN1,530,000 PLN a year

Source of the method: Anna Macnar, “Employer Branding bez tajemnic” (Employer branding without secrets), 2023.

Why this is a cautious assumption: a LinkedIn study (2,250 recruiters) points to turnover up to 28% lower in companies with a strong employer brand. We assumed 5%.

Lever 2

Sports challenge — approx. 330,000 PLN a year

Employees who exercise vigorously have fewer days of sick leave. We calculate how many fewer sick days that gives and what those days cost.

Challenge participants: 20% of the workforce1,000 people
We count only one in four participants, assuming they exercise vigorously250 people
Fewer days of sick leave per such person4.1 days a year
250 × 4.1 days1,025 days
Cost of one day: 6,800 PLN ÷ 21 working daysapprox. 324 PLN
1,025 days × 323.81 PLNapprox. 331,900 PLN a year

For comparison: at Volkswagen Poznań, 983 people took part in the “Let's Move VWP!” edition (June–September 2026).

Study: K.I. Proper, S.G. van den Heuvel, E.M. De Vroome, V.H. Hildebrandt, A.J. Van der Beek, “Dose–response relation between physical activity and sick leave”, British Journal of Sports Medicine 2006;40(2):173–178, doi:10.1136/bjsm.2005.022327.

The authors analysed three Dutch databases: OBiN (n = 5,070), POLS (n = 8,993) and SMASH (n = 1,593). Employees who were vigorously active at least 3 times a week had 3.6 to 4.1 fewer days of sick leave a year. We used the SMASH result: 4.1 days.

Why only one in four participants: for moderate activity the study found no link with sick leave. That is why we count only 250 of the 1,000 participants and assume they exercise vigorously.

Lever 3

AI assistant takes load off HR — approx. 345,000 PLN a year

HR spends a large part of the day answering routine questions from employees. For some of them the answer is already in the company's own materials — those are exactly the questions the AI assistant takes over, because it answers from those materials.

People in HR and payroll: 0.5 per 100 employees25 people
HR time spent on routine calls and e-mails from employees36% of the day
Queries that could be answered from information already available in the company47%
25 people × 36% × 47%4.23 FTEs
4.23 FTEs × 6,800 PLN × 12 monthsapprox. 345,200 PLN a year

Why 0.5 people per 100 employees: this is deliberately below the SHRM benchmark (approx. 1.7 per 100), because manufacturing plants have smaller HR departments.

Study: Vanson Bourne for Transversal, United Kingdom, 2013, HR departments of companies with more than 500 employees (summary in HR Review). HR spends 36% of the day on routine calls and e-mails from employees, and 47% of those queries could be answered from information already available in the company.

In total: approx. 2.2 million PLN a year

Strong employer brand1,530,000 PLN
Sports challengeapprox. 331,900 PLN
AI assistant takes load off HRapprox. 345,200 PLN
Totalapprox. 2,207,100 PLN, i.e. approx. 2.2 million PLN
Context

What the research says

up to 2×lower cost per hire in companies with a strong employer brandLinkedIn, 2,250 recruiters
up to 28%lower turnover in companies with a strong employer brandLinkedIn, 2,250 recruiters
86% vs 56%of new hires stay after a year in companies with the best and with the weakest onboardingAberdeen Group, 200 organisations
14m EURsaved by Albert Heijn (60,000 employees) after cutting turnover among employees aged 15–22 by 15%Albert Heijn data
Calculator

How to calculate it for your company

The formulas are the same as above. We only swap in your own parameters:

  • number of employees
  • annual turnover
  • monthly employer cost per person
  • training and ramp-up time for a new hire
  • size of the HR and payroll team
  • share of the workforce taking part in the sports challenge

Set them below. The defaults are the assumptions from the example for 5,000 employees.

Fewer people to replace = employees × turnover × turnover reduction. Cost of replacing one person = months × employer cost (A. Macnar, 2023).

Each person exercising vigorously = 4.1 fewer days of sick leave a year (Proper et al., 2006). Cost per day = employer cost ÷ 21 working days.

FTEs freed up = people in HR × 36% × 47% (Vanson Bourne for Transversal, 2013). Saving = FTEs × employer cost × 12.

estimated value per year
Strong employer brand
Sports challenge
AI assistant takes load off HR

An illustrative estimate based on the research described above. It is not a guarantee of results. We will work it out together using your company's data.

Let's calculate it with your company's data

Together we will plug in your headcount, turnover, employer cost and the size of your HR team.

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