Want Training That Sticks? Add Coaching.

Organizations invest heavily in training, yet too often the learning fades and behaviors don’t change. As an executive coach, I’ve found that adding coaching alongside training dramatically improves skill application, engagement, and results. The research backs this up—and the best part is that it doesn’t require radical change to your programs, just a smarter design.

What the Science Says

• Multiple meta-analyses conclude that workplace coaching produces meaningful, positive effects across outcomes—skills, performance, well‑being and goal attainment. Effect sizes are moderate overall, and strongest for observable behavioral change.
• In a widely cited field study in a public agency, training alone improved productivity by ~22%, while adding one‑on‑one coaching boosted the gain to ~88%—a powerful illustration of coaching as a transfer‑of‑training tool.
• Training transfer research shows that practice, feedback, support and goal clarity determine whether classroom learning ‘sticks’ on the job. Coaching operationalizes these drivers in real time.
• Memory science shows that spacing and retrieval improve long‑term retention. The cadence of brief, recurring coaching conversations creates the spacing and accountability that training lacks on its own.

When to Add (or Substitute) Coaching

• High-stakes capabilities (e.g., strategic communication, change leadership, stakeholder influence).
• Role transitions (new manager, expanded scope, first-time executive).
• Culture shifts that depend on behavior change (coaching culture, feedback norms, cross-functional collaboration).
• Any training with historically low transfer (e.g., soft skills workshops) that needs on‑the‑job application.

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A Simple, Evidence‑Based Design

Before training: clarify goals & baselines: Use brief assessments and stakeholder input to define success behaviors. Set 2–3 specific outcomes per participant.

During training: deliberate practice + feedback: Blend micro‑practice with coaching-style facilitation (questions, reflection, planning). Capture job‑ready action steps.

After training: short, frequent coaching: Schedule 15–30 minute weekly or biweekly coaching check‑ins for 6–8 weeks to review progress, remove blockers and rehearse tough moments.

Make managers better coaches: Equip people leaders with a simple conversation cadence (expectations → quick connects → check‑ins → development). Coaching from the manager amplifies transfer and engagement.

Measure what matters: Track behavior change (360 micro‑items), activity metrics (e.g., number of stakeholder conversations) and business KPIs tied to the skill (e.g., cycle time, quality, retention).

A Note on 70–20–10

Treat 70–20–10 as a useful heuristic—not a law. The intent is to integrate learning into work (70), relationships and feedback (20), and formal content (10). Coaching is the connective tissue that links all three, turning events into lasting capability.

Let’s Make Your Learning Stick

At The Workplace Coach, my team integrates coaching with leadership training, assessments (e.g., 360, EQ‑i, DISC), and manager‑as‑coach skill building. If you’re planning a program—or if a past program didn’t stick—let’s design a coach‑enabled learning journey that delivers measurable results.

References

• Jones, R. J., Woods, S. A., & Guillaume, Y. R. F. (2016). The effectiveness of workplace coaching: A meta‑analysis of learning and performance outcomes from coaching. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(2), 249–277. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12119
• Sonesh, S. C., Coultas, C. W., Marlow, S. L., Lacerenza, C. N., Reyes, D. L., & Salas, E. (2015). The power of coaching: A meta‑analytic investigation. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 8(2), 73–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/17521882.2015.1071418
• Cannon‑Bowers, J. A., & Bowers, C. A. (2023). Workplace coaching: A meta‑analysis and recommendations for advancing the science of coaching. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1284645. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10597717/
• Olivero, G., Bane, K. D., & Kopelman, R. E. (1997). Executive coaching as a transfer of training tool: Effects on productivity in a public agency. Public Personnel Management, 26(4), 461–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/009102609702600403
• Grossman, R., & Salas, E. (2011). The transfer of training: What really matters. International Journal of Training and Development, 15(2), 103–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2419.2011.00373.x
• Baldwin, T. T., & Ford, J. K. (1988). Transfer of training: A review and directions for future research. Personnel Psychology, 41(1), 63–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1988.tb00632.x
• Cepeda, N. J., Vul, E., Rohrer, D., Wixted, J. T., & Pashler, H. (2008). Spacing effects in learning: A temporal ridgeline of optimal retention. Psychological Science, 19(11), 1095–1102. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02209.x
• Gallup. (2021). Gallup finds a silver bullet: Coach me once per week. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/350057/gallup-finds-silver-bullet-coach-once-per-week.aspx

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