Metrics that Matter: Your Guide to Measuring Leadership Development Program Impact

The field and discipline of leadership development within organizations dates to the mid-twentieth century (Day et al., 2014), and its importance to organizational success has become so widely accepted and professionalized that nearly all mid- to large-sized organizations now have a formal leadership development team or function. Global organizations spent an estimated $67 billion in 2022 on leadership development programs (FMI, 2022). A number of annual polls indicate that leadership development remains a top three concern among CEOs and a factor they believe to be essential to the long-term success of their businesses. There is also widespread agreement that we are in the midst of unprecedented transformations that will require new and elevated skillsets for tomorrow’s leaders.

No wonder that investments in leadership development are projected to grow substantially in coming years, with estimated spending of around $180 billion by 2032 (FMI, 2022). Yet the returns these investments yield for leaders, their teams, and their organizations are not always clear. In fact, there is significant concern and criticism about the failure of the leadership development profession to effectively measure the benefits and results of this massive investment. Several studies conclude that only a small minority of organizations believe their leadership training programs are highly effective (Abelli, 2019; Feser et al., 2017). Improvement in this area has become a perennial concern.

Most organizations and organizational researchers continue to assess the effectiveness of leadership development programs based on participant learning and outcomes. Results tend to focus on individual leaders’ retention of knowledge and skills and their ability to apply that acquired knowledge and skills in action. However, quality programmatic designs can deliver significantly larger positive impacts in three major areas that are overlooked by traditional measurement methods.

The first overlooked area is the leadership development program’s impact on the collective leadership capability of the cohort. In short, traditional measurement continues to focus solely on leader development or human capital development, while ignoring leadership development or social capital development. The second overlooked area is the measurable business results achieved through implementing
solutions generated by program participants in response to business problems assigned to them during the program.

Such recommendations may emerge, for example, out of action learning projects, which are a design feature of many leadership programs. The third overlooked area is the leadership development program’s impact on a variety of individuals and groups beyond the program’s targeted learners. Considering the variety of critical stakeholders often involved in and directly affected by well-designed leadership development programs, a narrow focus on participant outcomes is seriously limiting.

We contend that the failure to measure and account for these three additional impact areas leads to a potentially major undervaluing of a program’s true business impact. Yet more comprehensive leadership development measurement is possible and can enable organizations to make more informed investments in developing individual leaders, enhancing overall organizational leadership capability, and improving
business results to demonstrate greater return on investment.

In this new white paper, MDA Leadership showcases three leading-edge ways we design, develop, deliver and measure cohort-based leadership development programs to demonstrate significant business impact. It highlights why our work has been recognized with two competitive global awards for leadership development excellence in recent years. If you aspire to similar results, contact us to learn more about how we can partner to achieve the individual, team, and organizational results your business needs.

Visit our solutions page to learn more about MDA’s award-winning, transformative leadership development experiences.

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