From Learning to Impact: Making Development Stick
Why training fades – and what you can do about it
Most organisations assume that learning declines simply because people “don’t apply it” or “get too busy”. But the problem begins much earlier than that. The real issue is that most development is still designed around attendance, not application.
People return from training energised and hopeful. Then the diaries fill, old habits creep back in, and within three to six weeks the skills they intended to use become harder to recall, let alone embed. Research suggests that without deliberate reinforcement, up to 80% of learning is lost.
This is isn’t because people don’t care. It’s because the environment they return to hasn’t been set up for them to succeed. And that means most organisations are never realising the return on the investment they’ve already made.
The good news? A few high-leverage shifts can dramatically change the outcome.
Why learning fades: the real blockers
1 – Training is too far from real-world application
If people can’t see how a skill translates to Tuesday morning’s conversation, it won’t take root. Most programmes still over-focus on frameworks and under-focus on lived experience.
2 – Leaders unintentionally undermine development
Not through lack of care, but through lack of involvement. When leaders don’t ask about application, offer coaching, or reinforce expectations, new behaviours quickly become optional
3 – No structure for repetition or feedback
Neural pathways strengthen through repetition, reflection, and real feedback – not through a single exposure. Without follow-up, clinics, or opportunities to practise safely, people revert to familiar patterns.
4 – Skills sit in isolation rather than being embedded in the workflow
If the organisation’s systems, expectations, and rhythms don’t match the behaviours taught in training, the friction is too high. People will always default to what keeps them safe and efficient in the moment.
The shift: design for application, not attendance
When programmes are built as experiences people return to their jobs with, rather than events they step away from, development begins to stick.
At Keystone, our approach to lasting learning draws heavily on behavioural science, habit formation, and what we’ve seen across thousands of leaders, teams, and sites. Here are the design principles that work.
1 – Make the learning unmistakably practical
People need to see themselves in the scenarios.
How to strengthen this:
- Anchor content in real organisational tensions and moments of truth.
- Use drama-based learning, simulation, or facilitated observation to reflect reality back to participants.
- Replace abstract models with “Tuesday morning” examples: emails, conversations, decisions, trade-offs.
When training feels like their world, it gets used in their world.
2 – Equip leaders to be active supporters, not passive observers
The single biggest predictor of learning transfer is the behaviour of participants’ line managers.
How to strengthen this:
- Brief leaders before programmes start.
- Give them simple questions to ask their teams afterwards.
- Encourage short check-ins on what people are trying, what’s working, and where they’re stuck.
Leader involvement doesn’t need to be heavy — it just needs to be deliberate.
3 – Build repetition and reflection into the learning journey
People don’t embed new habits by trying them once.
What this can look like:
- Peer circles every 2-4 weeks.
- Group coaching clinics.
- Short nudges or prompts aligned with the programme.
- Structured opportunities to revisit commitments and refine them.
These small touches multiply the impact of every training session.
4 – Create a psychologically safe space to experiment
When people feel observed or judged, they won’t try new behaviours. Safe practice accelerates confidence – especially when working with sensitive conversations, safety behaviours, or leadership mindsets.
How to strengthen this:
- Use actors or facilitated role-modelling to let people pause, redirect, and test approaches.
- Encourage curiosity, not performance.
- Frame mistakes as data, not failure.
This creates the conditions in which behaviour change becomes possible.
5 – Align systems and expectations with the desired behaviours
If the organisation rewards speed over curiosity, or outputs over coaching, people will feel the tension – and drift back into familiar habits.
High-impact alignment points include:
- How performance is discussed.
- What leaders pay attention to.
- Which behaviours get recognised.
- How team rhythms support new skills.
Even small operational signals can reinforce (or contradict) what people learned.
Practical steps you can take next week
Here are simple, low-effort actions that immediately increase the likelihood of learning transfer:
1 – Ask every leader to check in with participants
A single question works wonders:
“What are you trying out from the programme this month?”
2 – Introduce short peer reflection groups
Thirty minutes monthly is enough.
People embed what they talk about.
3 – Map the “moments of application”
Pick one programme and note where skills are used: conversations, decisions, meetings.
Design small prompts around these.
4 – Send a two-minute nudge
Something as simple as:
“Before your next one-to-one, choose one behaviour from the programme to focus on.”
5 – Reconnect development to business priorities
Explain why these behaviours matter right now – not in general, but specifically for your world.
These small moves ensure the learning doesn’t remain an isolated event but becomes part of the working week.
From learning to impact
The organisations that see real change aren’t the ones delivering the most training.
They are the ones designing for transfer – the shift from knowing, to trying, to doing.
When you close the gap between learning and application, three things happen:
- People grow faster.
- Leaders see the difference.
- The organisation finally gets the return on its investment.
With the right design and support, development doesn’t fade. It sticks – and it sticks where it matters most: in the work.
Esther Patrick is a Client Accounts Director at Keystone and a member of the Senior Leadership Team. An experienced consultant and management author, she has nearly 20 years’ experience leading client partnerships across sectors from construction to healthcare and designing leadership, culture, and team development programmes aligned with their strategic goals and values. Esther is passionate about creative, human-centred learning.
