How we calculate the ROI
The goal of the calculator is to give HR and finance teams a defensible, conservative number. We'd rather under-promise and have it stand up to scrutiny than overstate and lose credibility. This page describes the inputs, the formula, the studies we lean on, and what the calculation deliberately leaves out.
Inputs
Default monthly salaries reflect mid / upper management — roughly 1.7× the country's average per the Eurostat 2024 Annual Salary Report. The slider covers everything from junior roles up to C-level (typically 0.5×–3× the default). Storyhouse pricing is held at the equivalent of ~€12 / employee / year in local currency.
Formula — current cost
Current annual cost = (annual leavers × annual salary × 20%) + (headcount × 3.6 days × daily salary). The first term is burnout-related turnover cost; the second is stress-driven absence (3.6 days = baseline, from which the calculator deducts 1.8 days of savings).
Formula — savings after Storyhouse
Savings = (25% reduction in turnover × current turnover cost) + (1.8 days × headcount × daily salary). Net saving = total saving − annual Storyhouse investment. Payback in weeks = (investment ÷ savings) × 52.
What the calculation IGNORES (deliberately)
We don't count productivity gains (Gallup reports +23% in top-engagement teams), eNPS uplift, faster ramp-up for new hires, customer retention impact, or ROI from better execution. The calculator stays with measurable hard savings (turnover + absence) so it stands up in front of a CFO.
Limits
Real savings depend on industry, team size, demographics, and most importantly on whether leadership acts on the data. Storyhouse is a diagnostic tool — without action from leadership, the numbers stay in the report. A tailored business case is part of the pilot.
Studies & sources
- 1
Average turnover rate: ~14% in Czechia, 15–17% across the EU.
Eurostat / ČSÚ 2024 - 2
Replacement cost: a conservative 20% of annual gross salary. SHRM cites 50–200% depending on role (hiring, onboarding, ramp-up, lost productivity).
SHRM Cost of Turnover 2024 - 3
Storyhouse reduces turnover by 25% — Gallup's Q12 meta-analysis (11th edition, 2024) shows top-quartile engagement teams have 21–51% lower turnover across 736 studies.
Gallup Q12 Meta-Analysis 2024 - 4
Absence reduction of 1.8 days/employee/year. Gallup reports 78% lower absenteeism in highly engaged teams; Deloitte 2024 documents £4.70 ROI per £1 invested in mental health.
Gallup 2024 · Deloitte UK Mental Health 2024 - 5
Absence cost ≈ one day's salary (220 working days/year). Conservative — does not include lost team productivity or replacement cost.
CIPD Health & Wellbeing at Work - 6
WHO/Lancet Psychiatry: every $1 invested in employee mental health returns $4 in productivity and health gains.
Chisholm et al., Lancet Psychiatry 2016 - 7
Salary defaults are derived from the Eurostat 2024 Annual Salary Report (average annual gross salary across the EU). Mid/upper management estimated as ~1.7× the average.
Eurostat Annual Salary Report 2024