Workplace performance doesn’t improve by chance. It comes from leaders who know how to guide, motivate, and get the best out of their people. Yet too often, managers step into leadership roles with technical expertise but little preparation for the realities of leading teams. The result? Confusion, disengagement, and lost productivity.
Leadership training addresses this gap. By giving leaders the tools to communicate clearly, inspire trust, and manage change, organisations build workplaces where employees understand expectations, feel supported, and deliver at a higher level. In today’s environment of hybrid work, digital transformation, and rising employee expectations, this kind of structured leadership development is no longer optional, it is essential.
For a deeper look at why productivity depends on capable leadership, see Leadership and productivity, which explores how effective leadership practices translate into measurable workplace results.
Why leadership training has become a business imperative
Workplaces are undergoing rapid change. Hybrid teams, digital transformation, and shifting employee expectations are creating new challenges for managers at every level. Deloitte’s 2024 Human Capital Trends report found that 74% of organisations now see leadership development as a top priority for performance and growth, and yet many admit their courses are underdeveloped.
Evidence confirms why this matters. A meta-analysis from Rice University found that well-designed leadership training courses improve learning by 25%, on-the-job behaviours by 28%, and organisation-level outcomes by 25% (Doerr, Rice University, 2024). This reinforces that leadership training works, but design and structure are critical to sustaining its impact.
Courses like IML’s Management Essentials and New Manager courses align closely with this evidence. They focus on measurable performance lift through practical leadership capability building, equipping managers with proven frameworks that drive results across teams.
Leadership training ensures that leaders are not left behind by equipping them to:
- Set dirction with clarity
Communicate goals in a way that cuts through noise and gives teams a shared sense of purpose. Clear direction reduces wasted effort and helps employees understand how their work contributes to broader organisational success. - Engage and motivate staff
Build trust, offer recognition, and create inclusive environments where employees feel valued even in remote or hybrid contexts. This engagement directly lifts morale and fuels long-term commitment. - Navigate rapid change
Respond to shifting market conditions, new technologies, and unexpected challenges with resilience and adaptability. Trained leaders can turn disruption into opportunity rather than risk. - Focus on long-term productivity
Balance short-term demands with strategies that sustain performance over time. This includes developing people, optimising processes, and ensuring workloads remain manageable.
These capabilities go far beyond management, they reshape culture and make productivity a natural outcome of strong leadership.
How leadership training directly impacts performance
Research consistently shows that leaders have an outsized effect on organisational performance. A meta-analysis across 44 international studies found that management and leadership training directly improve firm productivity, profitability, and operational longevity (Inter-American Development Bank, 2023). This demonstrates that leadership capability is one of the strongest predictors of sustainable business growth.
In practice, leadership training:
- Improves decision making
Leaders develop structured problem-solving frameworks that reduce bottlenecks and enable faster progress. - Strengthens accountability
Training helps leaders set expectations, monitor outcomes, and intervene early when performance slips. - Increases engagement
Employees feel supported and valued, which boosts morale and discretionary effort. - Reduces turnover
Studies show that employees are significantly more likely to stay when they see their managers investing in development and growth. - Enhances collaboration
Leadership training helps break down silos, improving cross-functional teamwork and shared ownership of outcomes.
Courses such as IML’s Management Essentials are designed to deliver this kind of behaviour change, transforming how leaders think, act, and communicate to achieve measurable performance outcomes.
To understand how these leadership capabilities link to Australia’s broader productivity challenge, read Australia’s productivity challenge: what leaders must do next.
The productivity lens: beyond “doing more”
Productivity is often misunderstood as simply working faster or producing more. It is about removing barriers that prevent people from doing their best work. Soft-skills leadership training has been shown to produce lasting gains. A randomised controlled trial by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER, 2023) found that training supervisors in communication, empathy, and feedback increased productivity by 12%, especially among under-recognised managers.
Leadership training helps create the conditions for true productivity by minimising turnover costs, boosting collaboration, preventing burnout, and optimising everyday processes. Trained leaders know how to retain skilled staff, align priorities across teams, manage workloads fairly, and improve communication and delegation, all of which directly lift performance.
The IML Foundations of Intentional Leadership course addresses exactly this, helping leaders build human-centred leadership capability. Its focus on “human skills that drive real performance” aligns directly with what modern workplaces need most.
The value of professional development is also reflected in broader trends. A global review of management training courses confirmed that structured capability building leads to higher productivity, profits, and firm survival rates (IADB, 2023). This reinforces that learning-led performance is the foundation of sustainable growth.
Building the skills that drive change
Effective leadership training delivers skills that make an immediate and measurable difference. Courses that focus on strategic communication, emotional intelligence, adaptability, coaching and mentoring, change leadership, and decision-making under pressure give leaders the tools to guide their teams with confidence.
However, not all leadership courses deliver long-term results. Research published in PLOS (2024) found that leadership training improved leaders’ behaviours and organisational effectiveness, and that these effects persisted well beyond the intervention period. This highlights the importance of structured, ongoing learning rather than one-off workshops.
IML’s Corporate Membership is a practical way for organisations to build leadership capability in a structured, repeatable way. It gives teams access to shared development pathways, consistent tools and a common leadership language that links directly to business goals. This helps organisations lift capability across whole cohorts rather than relying on ad-hoc training.
For leaders seeking formal recognition, the CPMgr designation provides accredited, long-term credibility. It validates real-world management capability and strengthens organisational leadership standards. CPMgr also drives measurable business performance by setting clear expectations, improving decision-making capability and supporting a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How soon can results from leadership training be seen?
The timeline depends on course design and organisational buy-in. Communication and engagement improvements can appear almost immediately, while deeper shifts in productivity and culture typically emerge after three to six months of consistent application. Deep, transformational changes, such as greater emotional intelligence and strategic decision-making, often take 6-12 months to become undeniable, while sustainable, ingrained leadership behaviors may take a year or more to fully manifest.
Is leadership training valuable for small businesses?
Yes. In smaller teams, leaders’ influence on daily operations is magnified. Leadership training helps managers delegate effectively, avoid burnout, and create professional environments that attract and retain skilled staff.
What’s the best way to measure the ROI of training?
Return on investment is best measured through a blend of quantitative and qualitative data. Productivity and retention metrics reveal tangible outcomes, while 360-degree feedback highlights behavioural changes.
Can leadership training improve employee wellbeing?
Absolutely. Leaders shape workload balance, recognition, and psychological safety. Training that covers empathy, resilience, and communication enables managers to create healthier, more motivated teams.
What is the link between leadership and engagement?
While leadership training supports all sectors, industries experiencing rapid change, such as healthcare, technology, and professional services, benefit most from leaders who can manage complexity and inspire innovation.
References
Doerr, Rice University. (2024). Leadership training works: Meta-analysis of 335 samples. Retrieved from [https://doerr.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs3016/files/2020-03/Leadership%20Training%20Design%2C%20Delivery%2C%20and%20Implementation.pdf]
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). (2023). Management training and firm productivity: Evidence from 44 studies [PDF]. IADB Publications.
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). (2023). Soft skills and productivity: Evidence from a randomised controlled trial. Retrieved from [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w31335/w31335.pdf]
PLOS. (2024). Sustained effects of leadership training on organisational effectiveness. Retrieved from [https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0320131&
