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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

How Training Adoption Shapes Employee Engagement Scores

Training success is often judged by attendance, completion rates, or post-course satisfaction. These measures show whether employees encountered a learning experience, but they do not explain whether people used what they learned or whether the experience improved their connection to work.

Training adoption provides that missing link. It describes the extent to which employees apply new knowledge, skills, tools, or behaviors in real situations. When adoption is strong, engagement scores can reveal how practical learning influences confidence, motivation, manager relationships, and commitment to organizational goals.

For organizations seeking measurable business results, Dave Basarab Consulting connects learning strategy, instructional design, leadership development, and Predictive Evaluation. This broader view helps leaders examine whether training is becoming part of daily work rather than remaining a short-lived event.

What Training Adoption Really Measures

Adoption begins after the formal learning experience ends. An employee may complete a course on coaching, sales conversations, cybersecurity, or project management, yet completion alone does not prove that the new behavior has entered the workflow.

Useful adoption indicators include how frequently employees use the skill, how consistently managers reinforce it, and whether teams have the tools and time to practice. Observation data, workflow metrics, manager check-ins, and employee self-reports can be combined to create a more reliable picture of capability transfer.

This distinction matters because engagement surveys often capture the employee’s experience of the workplace, while adoption data captures behavior. Looking at both creates a clearer connection between what employees learn and how they feel about their work.

Why Engagement Can Rise After Effective Learning

Well-designed training can increase engagement by giving employees greater confidence. When people know how to handle difficult conversations, make decisions, use systems, or solve recurring problems, they are less likely to feel blocked by uncertainty. Competence can support energy, autonomy, and a stronger sense of progress.

Learning also signals that an organization is willing to invest in its people. However, that positive signal depends on relevance. Employees are more likely to respond favorably when training reflects real job demands, respects their time, and leads to visible improvements in how work gets done.

Manager behavior has a major influence as well. If supervisors discuss the learning, provide opportunities to practice, and recognize application, employees are more likely to see training as part of the organization’s culture. If managers ignore it, engagement gains may disappear quickly.

Reading The Metrics Together

A high course completion rate paired with flat engagement scores may indicate that the content was accessible but not meaningful. Employees attended because participation was required, yet they may not have gained useful skills or support for applying them.

The reverse pattern can also occur. Engagement may rise after an inspiring learning event, while behavior adoption remains low because systems, incentives, or workload prevent application. This is why learning teams should avoid treating a single metric as proof of impact.

Learning and engagement pattern Likely meaning Useful next action
High completion, high adoption, rising engagement Training is relevant and supported Scale the program and track business outcomes
High completion, low adoption, flat engagement Participation is occurring without behavior change Improve practice, manager reinforcement, and workflow access
Low completion, high engagement Employees value development but face access barriers Review scheduling, format, and communication
High adoption, falling engagement Skills are being used, but pressure or culture may be harming experience Investigate workload, leadership, and role design
Low adoption, falling engagement Learning is disconnected from employee and business needs Reassess the strategy, audience, and performance problem

Design Learning For Behavioral Change

Training adoption improves when design reflects the context in which employees make decisions. Short practice activities, realistic scenarios, job aids, and timely reminders can reduce the distance between a course and the moment when a skill is needed.

Insights from behavioral economics in instructional design can help learning teams account for attention, friction, incentives, defaults, and decision environments. These factors often determine whether employees follow through, even when they understand the material.

Learning bursts can reinforce key behaviors without overwhelming employees. A five-minute prompt before a customer meeting, a manager-led discussion after a workshop, or a targeted performance support tool may have more influence than adding another hour to the original course.

Build A More Reliable Measurement System

A useful measurement approach starts with the business behavior the organization wants to change. From there, learning leaders can identify the capabilities required, define observable adoption signals, and select engagement questions that relate to the intended outcome.

For example, a leadership program may aim to improve feedback quality. Adoption measures could include the frequency of structured one-to-one conversations, employee reports of receiving useful feedback, and manager use of a defined coaching model. Engagement data might examine trust, recognition, growth, and confidence in leadership.

Predictive Evaluation strengthens this process by estimating likely adoption, impact, and return on investment before and after a program. Forecasting gives decision-makers an opportunity to address weak conditions early instead of waiting for annual survey results to reveal that learning has failed to transfer.

Practical Ways To Connect The Signals

Learning and human resources teams can make the relationship between adoption and engagement more actionable by agreeing on shared definitions. “Engaged” and “trained” should each describe observable evidence rather than broad assumptions.

Useful practices include:

  • Segment engagement results by training participation, role, manager, location, and level of adoption.
  • Track behavior at multiple intervals, such as 30, 60, and 90 days after learning.
  • Ask managers what enables or prevents employees from applying the new skill.
  • Connect adoption indicators to operational outcomes, retention, productivity, quality, or customer experience.
  • Use employee comments to explain why a numerical score changed.

This approach turns measurement into a feedback loop. Survey findings can improve instructional design, manager enablement, communications, and learning delivery, while adoption evidence can show whether engagement improvements are durable.

Turn Learning Evidence Into Business Action

Training adoption and employee engagement scores are most valuable when interpreted together. Adoption shows whether learning has entered daily behavior; engagement shows how employees experience the conditions surrounding that behavior. Neither measure is sufficient by itself.

Organizations can begin by selecting one priority program, defining its expected behaviors, and comparing adoption evidence with relevant engagement indicators over time. Use the findings to strengthen the learning experience, remove workplace friction, and help managers reinforce progress. When learning is designed for application and measured for impact, employee development becomes a visible contributor to business performance.

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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