Impact of Managers on the Transfer of Training: What Matters?

Impact of Managers on the Transfer of Training
What is the true impact of managers on the transfer of training?  In practice, the answer is more consequential than many leaders assume. Across years of facilitating new manager development, it has become increasingly clear that the individual who most determines whether learning translates into action is the direct manager. Not the facilitator. Not the curriculum. The manager.

This aligns with decades of research showing that managers shape the conditions that enable employees to practice, refine, and ultimately sustain new behaviors. Baldwin and Ford’s classic transfer-of-training model highlights supervisor support as a defining predictor of whether knowledge actually sticks. More recent studies, such as Saks and Burke-Smalley’s examination of learning transfer climates, reinforce that managerial reinforcement is one of the most powerful levers an organization has to ensure training dollars produce measurable impact.

The takeaway is straightforward: if managers are not actively engaged before, during, and after training, the odds of meaningful transfer drop sharply. When they are engaged, they become accelerants — creating clarity, accountability, and psychological team safety for employees to experiment, stretch, and grow.

Recent conversations in our action learning leadership programs consistently reinforce this reality — and the data backs it up. In a study we conducted with 121 professionals and their managers at a major North American financial services firm, the findings underscored just how pivotal managerial behavior is in turning training investments into workplace performance gains. Employees who reported strong managerial involvement — through clear expectations, coaching, follow-up, and visible support — demonstrated substantially higher application of newly learned skills compared to peers who received little managerial engagement.

Impact of Managers on the Transfer of Training Client Results

1. 20% Higher Skill Adoption
   Manager coaching is directly linked to skill application on-the-job.  We compared 61 participants average proficiency score across 38 skills who received individual coaching to 47 control group participants who did NOT get individual coaching.  The Coached Group scores were nearly 20% higher than those who did not receive coaching from their manager.

   Are your managers providing reinforcement coaching for your critical initiatives?  It could make a 20% difference in skill adoption.

2. 2x Greater Performance
   Manager coaching is also directly linked to on-the-job performance.  Each participant was asked for one example of “how coaching conversations with your manager have made a significant difference in a sales situation.” These were verified to include the situation, specific coaching, and results over the last three months.

   Training measurement found that the Coached Group created 2x more new revenue over the same time period as the Control Group.

   Are your sales managers coaching their direct reports to help meet revenue targets? It could double your revenue.

3. 72% Difference
   How coachees feel?  We asked, “What difference did the coaching conversations with your manager make in your success?  The rating scale ranged from 100% “made all the difference” to 0% “made no difference” (your manager did not have any impact or played no role in your success).

   Participants in the coached group said their manager “made a significant difference” (72%) compared to “a little difference” (33%) for the non-coached group.

   Is it worth a manager’s time to coach? Just ask those who benefit most.

The Bottom Line
Coaching and reinforcement from managers exert an outsized influence on whether new skills take root and drive measurable performance. When managers are aligned, present, and actively supporting learning before, during, and after workshops, skill adoption accelerates. When they are absent, transfer collapses. If the goal is real behavior change — not theoretical competence — manager involvement is the difference between a meaningful investment and a low impact training event.

To learn more about how to use coaching to improve the impact of your training initiatives, download The Top Coaching Mistakes – Is What You Learned All Wrong?

Tristam Brown

Tristam Brown is a seasoned business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.