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Dave Basarab Consulting has elevated the training experience, offering an end-to-end comprehensive approach that includes training strategy, instructional design, development, delivery , post program training transfer, and evaluation (via the unique Predictive Evaluation methodology). Virtual Chief Architect Dave Basarab has combined all of these individual training elements with his user-friendly, comprehensive Learning to Performance approach, which significantly increases companies' training ROI.

Why we are different

  • Innovation: Our primary focus is creating learning programs using a Learning to Performance approach.
  • Expertise: Dave offers the depth and breadth of his experience, including working internally at prestigious companies (Motorola, Ingersoll Rand and Pitney Bowes) as well as his knowledge and expertise as a highly-respected, sought-after consultant.
  • Partnership: Basarab collaborates with companies, serving as their own Chief Learning Officer whenever they need to plan, strategize, or implement training initiatives.

Training Services

Enterprise Learning Strategy

Enterprise Learning Strategy

At Dave Basarab Consulting, we're experts in creating Enterprise Learning Plans. We work with you to develop your company's learning strategy and direction.

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Custom Design, Development, & Delivery

Custom Design, Development, & Delivery

Custom training is an effective way of developing the capability required to execute your strategy. We are a custom design house that creates programs specific to your business.

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Learning Burst Development

Learning Burst Development

We can create and deliver your courses via our unique Learning Burst Method - keeping your employees at their jobs while receiving world-class training.

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Predictive Evaluation

Predictive Evaluation

We predict the ROI for your courses and establish success gates. We then evaluate the course against the success gates to show value realized and continually improve results.

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Leadership Development

Leadership Development

Turn-key virtual custom leadership development program that combines world-class leadership speakers/educators with post-event personalized coaching to provide you with a cadre of highly skilled leaders.

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Predictive Evaluation

Measuring the Business Impact of Leadership Coaching Programs

Leadership coaching is often evaluated through participant satisfaction, confidence ratings, or anecdotal comments from managers. These signals can be useful, but they do not show whether coaching changed leadership behavior or improved business performance. A stronger approach connects the learning experience to observable actions, team outcomes, and strategic priorities.

Measuring the business impact of leadership coaching programs requires a clear chain of evidence. Organizations need to define what leaders should do differently, identify how those behaviors affect employees and operations, and establish credible measures before coaching begins. This turns evaluation from a reporting exercise into a practical management tool.

A disciplined measurement process also helps learning teams decide where to invest. It can reveal which coaching components drive adoption, where reinforcement is needed, and whether reported gains are meaningful enough to justify continued funding.

Define The Business Case First

The evaluation begins with the business problem the coaching initiative is intended to address. That problem might involve weak succession pipelines, inconsistent execution, low employee retention, poor cross-functional collaboration, or a need for stronger change leadership. A general goal such as “develop better leaders” is too broad to produce useful evidence.

Translate the business priority into a small set of leadership outcomes. For example, a coaching program supporting operational growth might target faster decision-making, more effective delegation, and improved accountability. Each outcome should have a baseline, a desired direction of change, and a time period for measurement.

This step also clarifies which stakeholders should define success. Senior sponsors may care about productivity and strategic execution, while human resources may focus on retention and internal mobility. Participants and their managers can identify behavior changes that make those outcomes possible.

Connect Coaching To Observable Behavior

Leadership capability becomes measurable when it is described as action. “Improved emotional intelligence” is difficult to assess consistently, but “holds structured feedback conversations within two weeks of a performance issue” is observable. Behavioral indicators should be specific enough for managers, peers, or direct reports to recognize them.

Useful evidence can include 360-degree feedback, manager observations, team pulse surveys, goal attainment, meeting-quality assessments, and records of employee development conversations. Combining sources reduces reliance on self-reporting and makes the findings more credible.

The timing of measurement matters. Immediate post-coaching surveys may show confidence or intention, while follow-up measures reveal whether new habits survived workplace pressure. A practical schedule might include a baseline, an early adoption check, a 60- or 90-day behavior review, and a later business-outcome assessment.

Build A Balanced Measurement Framework

A balanced framework separates activity, learning, behavior, and business results. Participation tells leaders whether the program reached its audience, but it does not prove value. Knowledge and confidence measures show readiness, while behavior and operational indicators show whether readiness became performance.

The following structure helps evaluation teams choose measures without overwhelming participants or managers:

Measurement Level Key Question Example Evidence Typical Timing
Reach and participation Did the intended leaders engage? Attendance, completion, coaching-session participation During delivery
Capability Did leaders gain relevant knowledge or skill? Scenario assessments, reflection, skill demonstrations Before and after
Behavior adoption Are leaders applying the practices? 360 feedback, manager observations, action tracking 30–90 days
Team experience Are employees noticing a difference? Pulse surveys, trust scores, clarity ratings 60–120 days
Business impact Did performance improve in a relevant area? Retention, cycle time, productivity, quality, promotion readiness Quarterly or annually
Financial value Does the result justify the investment? Benefit estimates, program cost, ROI or forecasted ROI After sufficient data

A program does not need dozens of metrics. Three to five carefully selected indicators are usually more actionable than a large dashboard filled with weak correlations. Each measure should have an owner, a data source, and a decision attached to it.

Use Predictive And Comparative Evidence

Evaluation is stronger when it begins before delivery rather than after the final coaching session. Predictive Evaluation can forecast expected adoption, impact, and return by examining the target audience, behavior requirements, organizational conditions, and available evidence. This allows sponsors to test assumptions and identify risks before substantial resources are committed.

Comparison can improve confidence in the results. An organization might compare coached leaders with a similar group that has not yet participated, examine changes against a historical baseline, or review differences between teams with high and low coaching adoption. These approaches cannot eliminate every alternative explanation, but they make the business story more defensible.

Context should be recorded alongside results. A rise in retention may reflect coaching, a compensation change, or a favorable labor market. A decline in productivity may be linked to a system migration rather than leadership behavior. Evaluation notes, stakeholder interviews, and operational data help interpret numerical trends responsibly.

Track Adoption Beyond The Coaching Session

Coaching produces value only when leaders use the practices in real work. Reinforcement may include manager check-ins, peer learning, job aids, follow-up challenges, or short learning bursts that revisit a specific behavior at the moment it is needed. These learning bursts can support continued practice without requiring another long workshop.

Adoption data should examine both frequency and quality. A leader may complete an action plan yet apply it inconsistently, or hold regular one-to-one meetings without improving their quality. Short prompts, observation guides, and targeted feedback help distinguish compliance from genuine behavior change.

Resistance can also distort results. If leaders perceive coaching as disconnected from performance expectations, they may participate publicly while avoiding application. Addressing workplace resistance early helps create the conditions required for measurement and impact.

Turn Findings Into Decisions

Evaluation has value when it changes what the organization does next. If coaching improves delegation but has little effect on team clarity, the curriculum may need stronger communication practice or more manager reinforcement. If results vary sharply by department, the difference may point to local sponsorship, workload, or cultural conditions.

Report findings in business language. Instead of presenting only average satisfaction scores, show the relationship between the intervention, behavior adoption, team experience, and relevant performance indicators. Include confidence levels, limitations, and the time required for outcomes to appear.

Recommendations for a practical measurement system include:

  • Define two or three business outcomes before selecting survey questions.
  • Establish behavioral indicators that managers and employees can recognize.
  • Collect baseline data and schedule follow-up measures before launch.
  • Combine quantitative results with interviews or open-ended feedback.
  • Assign each metric to a decision owner who can act on the findings.

A leadership coaching investment becomes more credible when its evidence is planned, connected, and transparent. Organizations that measure adoption and business impact can refine coaching delivery, strengthen leadership pipelines, and demonstrate how capability development supports strategic performance.

Build the measurement architecture alongside the coaching program, then use the findings to guide investment, reinforcement, and future learning strategy. Dave Basarab Consulting can help connect leadership development with observable behavior and business results through structured evaluation and learning design.

Learning to Performance

Learning to Performance, a complete training approach, gives companies world-class training to drive significant return. This approach includes upfront work (Impact Mapping, design), training (for staff and company executives), and post-training efforts to ensure training transfer. This unique recipe - the key for successful training and adoption - is changing the way companies implement training. This methodology could work with any content for organizations in any industry.

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