Demonstrating the business value of leadership development: measuring true ROI

Despite continued investment, many organisations find it challenging to clearly demonstrate the return on their leadership development programmes. Measurement is often applied only at the end of the initiative, without an agreed baseline or robust point of comparison. As a result, proving progress, gaining sustained stakeholder support, or confidently linking leadership behaviour to business performance can be difficult.

A more disciplined approach starts much earlier. Unilever provides a strong example of how building measurement into the design of leadership development, aligning outcomes with operational priorities and tracking progress throughout delivery, helps make impact both visible and credible. This approach played a key role in Unilever and Tack TMI receiving Gold at the Brandon Hall Excellence Awards for their frontline leadership development programme. While organisational contexts will always differ, the core principles remain widely applicable.

The five factors below outline how organisations can move from assumption to evidence, ensuring leadership development drives measurable behavioural change, performance improvement and lasting organisational value.

Five essential considerations for measuring real ROI in leadership development

Use the right tools to measure effectiveness

Measuring leadership capability can be complex, but choosing appropriate metrics is critical to success. At Unilever, improving productivity and operational efficiency sat at the heart of its leadership programme. To understand business impact, the organisation carried out a detailed evaluation using the Kirkpatrick Model, alongside overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). This enabled Unilever to assess how efficiently manufacturing operations were performing against their full potential, based on availability, performance and quality.

Another widely used measurement approach in learning and development is Net Promoter Score (NPS). By reviewing engagement levels before and after leadership sessions, Unilever was able to monitor improvements in leadership effectiveness, using a score out of 10 to evaluate how training strengthened leadership capability and supported continuous improvement.

Alongside this, 360-degree feedback assessments focused on targeted competencies and behaviours offer a powerful way to measure leadership development outcomes. Using pre- and post-programme assessments helps organisations track behavioural change and understand how effectively leadership interventions are driving the desired shift.

Prioritise leading indicators, not just lagging outcomes

A critical element of measuring genuine ROI in leadership development is paying attention to leading indicators, rather than relying solely on lagging results. Lagging measures, such as KPIs, monthly sales figures or profitability, only become visible after training has concluded. While valuable, they offer limited opportunity to adjust or refine programmes in real time.

Leading indicators provide earlier, more actionable insight. Measures such as monthly organisational effectiveness (OE) progress or participation rates act as early signals of success. Tracking these metrics regularly, whether daily, weekly or monthly, enables timely course correction and helps ensure leadership behaviours are aligned with wider business outcomes, including quarterly performance.

Use existing business metrics to evidence impact

Rather than creating new measures, organisations are far more effective when they work with metrics already embedded in existing performance dashboards. Introducing unfamiliar metrics can undermine confidence and lead stakeholders to question their relevance.

By aligning leadership development objectives with established business measures, such as productivity, engagement or performance indicators, organisations reduce internal resistance and strengthen the credibility of their evaluation approach.

Engage multiple teams and regions to gain deeper insight

Involving a broad mix of sites, teams or regions delivers a more robust and balanced picture of progress when rolling out leadership development initiatives. More established sites may demonstrate smaller improvement margins, but even incremental gains can still validate the programme’s value.

Analysing differences in improvement across the organisation can highlight where leadership development is delivering the greatest impact. In Unilever’s experience, comparing pilot locations, early adopters and more mature sites revealed relative improvement trends that reinforced confidence in the programme’s effectiveness.

Work with experienced partners to deliver impactful programmes

Partnering with an experienced learning and development provider who understands your organisational context is key to delivering relevant and effective leadership programmes.

When selecting a partner, look for practitioners who combine proven expertise with a collaborative approach. As a global organisation, Unilever benefited from working with Tack TMI, which adopted a flexible, localised delivery model. This ensured leadership content aligned with participant needs, enabling learning to take place in local language, culture and context.

An effective partner will also establish ongoing feedback loops that monitor both leading and lagging indicators. At Tack TMI, we frequently find that while clients may start with clear assumptions about their needs, our pyramid framework helps uncover deeper organisational challenges. This allows us to design leadership programmes that deliver against performance measures while also strengthening engagement and organisational culture.

About the Expert

Veronica Luna, Global Learning & Leadership Development Supply Chain Lead, Unilever

Veronica Luna is Global Learning & Leadership Development Supply Chain Lead at Unilever, where she shapes the global learning strategy for manufacturing and supply chain teams across more than 260 factories worldwide. With over 17 years’ experience in capability building, leadership development and organisational change, she designs and delivers future-ready learning programmes aligned to operational excellence and business transformation. Veronica leads Unilever’s Manufacturing System learning agenda, champions experiential and gamified leadership development, and is recognised for embedding robust measurement frameworks that link leadership behaviours to business performance and ROI.

FAQ: Measuring the ROI of Leadership Development

Why is it difficult to measure the ROI of leadership development?
Because leadership outcomes are often behavioural and long-term, many organisations lack clear baselines, agreed metrics, and ongoing measurement during programmes, making impact harder to evidence.

What metrics can be used to measure leadership development effectiveness?
Common metrics include operational performance indicators (such as productivity or OEE), engagement scores, Net Promoter Score (NPS), 360-degree behavioural assessments, and organisational effectiveness measures aligned to business priorities.

What is the difference between leading and lagging indicators in leadership development?
Lagging indicators reflect outcomes after training has ended, such as financial results or KPIs. Leading indicators provide early insight into progress, such as participation rates, behaviour adoption, or monthly operational effectiveness trends.

How can organisations link leadership behaviour to business outcomes?
By aligning leadership development goals with existing business metrics and tracking behavioural change alongside performance data throughout the programme, organisations can demonstrate clear cause-and-effect relationships.

Why should organisations use existing business metrics rather than new ones?
Using familiar metrics builds credibility, reduces resistance from stakeholders, and ensures leadership development is directly connected to recognised business priorities.

How does ongoing measurement improve leadership development programmes?
Continuous tracking allows organisations to adapt programmes in real time, address gaps early, and ensure leadership behaviours are reinforcing desired business outcomes.

What role do learning partners play in proving leadership ROI?
Experienced learning partners help align leadership development with business strategy, design relevant interventions, and establish measurement frameworks that track both behavioural change and organisational impact.