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New research paints a stark picture for HR leaders. According to data from RewardGateway and Edenred, 67% of HR teams have faced budget cuts in the past year. The penalty for failing to demonstrate ROI is severe: those who struggled to prove their value saw their budgets cut by twice as much.
It creates a difficult paradox. While HR leaders argue that slashing people development is a "recipe for disaster" - leaving employees without the skills to succeed and managers unequipped to lead - the pressure to justify every penny spent has never been greater.
The wider business context only intensifies this pressure. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace, 2025 report reveals that only 21% of employees and 27% of managers are engaged globally, trapping organisations in a vicious cycle of disengagement and declining productivity. The financial toll is immense, with low engagement costing the global economy an estimated $9.6 trillion.
But is it possible to turn the tables? The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) believes so, suggesting that a 7% improvement in management quality could unlock £110 billion in economic value. The challenge, however, lies in the measurement. As the current research indicates, HR teams often struggle to gauge the effectiveness of traditional management development. To understand why and how to fix it HR Grapevine spoke with Laura and Dominic Ashley-Timms, authors of The Answer is a Question: The Missing Superpower that Changes Everything.
The measurement problem with traditional training
According to the Ashley-Timms, the inability to prove ROI often stems from a fundamental flaw in the design of leadership training itself. It is typically episodic and disconnected from the daily reality of a manager’s role.
A prime example, they argue, is the widespread reliance on the GROW model to teach managers how to coach. While a standard in the industry, they explain that this model was originally designed for professional executive coaches working in formal, scheduled sessions. "It doesn’t take into account the challenges faced by time-starved managers, nor that they don’t operate on their ‘coachees’ agenda," they note.
Without development opportunities, employees are more likely to 'jump ship' to find roles more aligned with their values
The result is a significant implementation gap. "Not surprisingly, there is little evidence that managers can utilise this approach to coaching effectively, and as a result, perhaps less than 1% of employees will ever experience this ‘formal’ approach to coaching," the Ashley-Timms observe.
However, they suggest a way forward. "If, rather than teaching managers how to run a coaching session in a transactional way, we can show them how to adopt coaching-related behaviours that they can apply situationally, in the flow of work and at the point of need (Operational Coaching®), then you have something that fits with their daily reality, and that can reach the other 99%," they explain.
