When Growth Doesn’t Translate to Momentum
You’re investing in your people — training, coaching, skill-building. They’re growing. But somehow, the business isn’t moving forward the way it should.
You’re not alone.
Organizations spend over $400 billion every year on human capital development, yet most still struggle to see meaningful returns. In fact, one study by the Corporate Leadership Council revealed that while leaders viewed employee development as vital to performance, they also saw their organizations’ learning and development functions as ineffective — even suggesting that removing them altogether wouldn’t make a meaningful difference.
The Hidden Disconnect
The problem isn’t lack of investment — or lack of effort.
Employees want to grow. Leaders want to support them.
The issue lies in the connection between development and direction.
Self-Determination Theory helps explain why. One of its core components — agency — shows that people thrive when they have ownership of their goals. When development feels dictated rather than chosen, engagement plummets.
If your programs reflect only the organization’s priorities, your people won’t see themselves — or their values — in the process. That’s when learning becomes compliance instead of commitment and rarely leads to the growth both leaders and participants want.
Aligning Growth With Purpose
The answer isn’t to loosen direction — it’s to align it.
When employees can choose skills and goals that excite them within the company’s mission and values, something shifts. Growth stops being a task and becomes a calling.
This is how development begins to move the business forward — when individual motivation fuels organizational purpose.
Two High-Leverage Ways to Start
- Draw clear, solid lines and connect the dots between developmental programs and your organization’s values, mission, and goals. Every investment in growth should clearly connect to business outcomes.
- Create space for choice. Within those goals and values, give your people the freedom to pursue the skills and topics that most energize them — while keeping those choices aligned with your company’s direction.
When employees connect why they’re growing with where the organization is headed, development transforms from a cost center into a force multiplier. That balance of clarity and autonomy is what transforms training into traction.
Ready to Align Your Growth Efforts?
If your people are growing but your business isn’t, it’s time to bridge the gap between development and direction.
👉 Schedule a conversation with Rewire to explore how we can help you connect purpose, performance and people - so your investment fuels real business results.
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Written by: Steve Longan, Director of Coach Training Programs
