New AITD report urges organisations to move beyond participation metrics and embed measurement into the way leadership is developed and managed
The Australian Institute of Training and Development (AITD) has released a new research report, Measuring Leadership Capability Beyond Participation: Six Patterns from Australian Leadership Development Practice, offering practical insights into how organisations can more effectively measure leadership capability in real-world settings.
Drawing on in-depth case studies from Australian organisations across sectors including agriculture, construction and the public sector, the research highlights a critical gap in current practice: while leadership development remains a significant investment, many organisations still struggle to demonstrate whether capability has genuinely improved.
The report finds that traditional measures (such as attendance, completion rates and participant satisfaction) continue to dominate, despite offering limited insight into actual capability shift. Instead, the research points to a growing shift towards measuring what leaders do differently in their roles over time, and how that translates into organisational outcomes.
AITD CEO Ben Campbell said the findings reflect a broader challenge facing the L&D profession. “Organisations are investing heavily in leadership development, but too often the evidence stops at participation and perception. What this research makes clear is that capability isn’t built in programs. It is demonstrated in role, over time, under real conditions.”
“This isn’t a measurement problem in the traditional sense. It’s a design, governance and operating rhythm challenge. If measurement sits outside the way leadership is developed and managed, it will always struggle to produce meaningful evidence.”
Six patterns emerged consistently across organisations measuring leadership capability shift:
Measurement needs to sit inside the normal operating rhythm
Organisations with weak systems struggle to produce strong evidence
Transfer is designed in rather than diagnosed after
The useful evidence changes decisions
Organisations are borrowing from multiple frameworks rather than adopting one clean model
Together, these patterns point to a fundamental shift: organisations achieving meaningful measurement are redesigning how leadership capability is built, observed and governed.
A central finding of the report is the need to distinguish between leadership development and leadership capability.
While programs, workshops and coaching represent the inputs, capability is reflected in the behaviours, judgements and decisions leaders demonstrate in their roles over time. This shift requires organisations to rethink what counts as evidence, and to prioritise behaviour and performance over participation and sentiment.
The research also highlights the importance of designing measurement upfront, rather than treating it as a post-program activity. Organisations generating the most useful insights are those that define success early, build evidence collection into the flow of work, and use findings to actively inform decisions.
The report translates its findings into practical actions for L&D and HR leaders, including:
Design measurement into the system – embedding it within leadership pipelines and performance rhythms
Focus on behaviour in role – prioritising evidence of application over satisfaction or completion data
Build the conditions for transfer – ensuring managers, systems and workflows support capability development
Use evidence to make decisions – adjusting, targeting or stopping initiatives based on what the data shows
Adopt contribution logic – building credible evidence of impact without over-claiming direct ROI
Importantly, the research emphasises that measurement does not need to be complex to be effective. The most valuable approaches are often those that are repeatable, embedded and closely aligned to real work.
“Leadership capability measurement is not primarily a reporting exercise. It is an operating system embedded in how organisations build and manage leadership over time,” said Campbell. “Without credible evidence, organisations risk making investment decisions based on activity and perception. With it, leadership capability becomes something that can be understood, strengthened and governed as a strategic asset.
“This research gives practitioners a clearer, more practical way to think about measurement,” Campbell said. “It’s not about collecting more data. It’s about changing what counts as evidence, and designing systems that make capability visible over time.”
The report Measuring Leadership Capability Beyond Participation: Six Patterns from Australian Leadership Development Practice is available free to AITD members and for purchase by non-members.
Download the report here.
AITD would like to thank Beth Hall FAITD and Joanne Spriggs GAICD, lead researchers and authors of the report, as well as all the L&D practitioners who participated in the research.