Investing in Belonging: Why Language Training Is a Strategic Asset

At Hövding and Waltero, CCO Mattias Nahlin made the same call twice: invest in Swedish language training from the start. Here’s why. In Sweden, English can make work easier.

It can also make belonging harder.

In many international workplaces, English is the official company language. It keeps meetings moving, makes hiring easier, and helps global teams work together.

But outside the meeting room, something else often happens.

A colleague pauses while searching for a Swedish word. A Swedish colleague hears the hesitation and switches to English. The intention is kind. The effect is more complicated.

Over time, this creates a quiet gap. International employees can do the job, contribute in meetings, and navigate the formal parts of work. But the informal parts of belonging, the fika conversation, the offhand joke, the small cultural cues, can still sit just out of reach.

As Mattias Nahlin puts it, there is a level of local language you need in order to feel part of the community.

“In Sweden, it's notoriously difficult for people coming here because Swedes will typically very quickly revert to English.”

Two Companies. Same Instinct.

Mattias has been the commercial lead at two Swedish companies — Hövding, the tech company behind the world’s first airbag cycling helmet, and Waltero, a fintech working on digitalization and resource intelligence. Different industries. Different stages. Both with international teams navigating the same situation.

At both companies, Mattias brought in SpeakCharlie to work with international employees. Not as a perk to put in the offer letter but as an investment. The business case is simple. Hiring takes time. Onboarding takes time. Building context, trust, and relationships takes time. When language support helps someone feel more rooted, it protects the investment the company has already made in that person.

“It’s a perk that was a good investment. Something that’s going to help them be more rooted. Make it less likely that they’ll leave Sweden and the company.”

When an employee sees the company investing in their life here, the signal is hard to miss. We want you here, and we want to grow with you.

Two Employees. Two Starting Points.

The value of language support looked different depending on where each employee was in their life in Sweden.

Akram had already built a life here. He spoke strong English, Arabic and French, and worked in an environment where English was often the easiest default. Swedish was something he wanted to strengthen, but without structure, it was easy to keep postponing.

SpeakCharlie gave him that structure and momentum. Today, he can hold conversations in Swedish, with more confidence and ease.

For Hishem, the opportunity came earlier in the journey. He had recently relocated from Tunisia, and Mattias saw value in giving him Swedish support from the start, while motivation was high and new routines were still forming.

Rather than waiting until Swedish became something to return to "later," coaching made it part of the settling-in process from the beginning.

As Mattias said, the first few months can be a powerful window for language learning. Early support can help Swedish feel less like an extra task, and more like a practical part of building a life and career in Sweden.

“When you’re starting out, you will typically be the most motivated. Getting a good kick start to the process will help.”

A Longer View

For Mattias, language and integration have been a long-term interest, not just a workplace decision.

During the refugee crisis in Sweden, he got involved with early attempts to make Swedish accessible to people in transit — before they were settled, before they had addresses or schools or routines. The idea was that language could be the first foothold, the thing that made every other step much easier.

That belief  hasn’t changed. It’s just found a different setting.

“Language has always been what I’ve leaned on to be able to relate to people.”

His advice to companies still on the fence is practical, not idealistic: move fast, and make language support part of a clear, company-wide approach. That way, international employees receive the same signal from the start: this is not an occasional perk, but part of how the company helps people settle, contribute, and stay.

Companies looking at the investment want to understand the return. Mattias sees that return clearly: language training supports confidence, belonging, and long-term retention.

The business case becomes clearer when you look at what changes for the people taking the course.

They become more confident in everyday conversations, more involved in the team, and more comfortable taking part in the moments that shape working life in Sweden.

That is what it looks like when a company wants international talent to stay, grow, and belong for the long term.

Mattias Nahlin is Chief Strategy Officer & CMO at Waltero and founder of Nahlin Growth Consulting AB. He previously served as CCO at Hövding Sverige AB.

Curious what language investment could look like for your team? Let’s talk.