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POSITION Perspective Papers · No. 5Leadership & Executive Advisory

Built to Outlast the Engagement

Capability transfer as a design principle for consulting, and what the evidence says about making change stick

POSITION Consultants

Perspective Paper

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Abstract

The measure of a consulting engagement is not what changed while the consultant was present. It is what is still working a year after the consultant leaves.

Published research on training transfer, leadership development, coaching and implementation points to four conditions that help change last: workplace conditions that support use, learning designed for practice and feedback, internal people developed as coaches and owners, and a new way of working that is expected, supported and rewarded. This paper summarizes that evidence, sets out the design rules we take from it, and offers a reflection tool for testing whether an engagement is built to outlast outside support.

Keywords: Capability transfer; Coaching; Training transfer; Implementation; Sustaining change; Handover

Key points

  1. Change often fades after the initial effort. Research suggests the environment people return to — and whether a new way is expected, supported and rewarded — matters as much as the training or advice itself.
  2. Meta-analyses associate stronger leadership-learning effects with needs analysis, practice, feedback and spaced sessions, and find positive average effects of coaching — with real limits in the evidence.
  3. Engagements can be designed for handover from the start: diagnose the transfer environment, build in practice, name internal owners early, create expectation and support, and plan what the consultant stops doing.

1The problem: change that fades

Implementation researchers note that many evidence-based interventions are not sustained after initial implementation (opens the original source)[9], and propose that leadership, policies and resource availability are key influences on whether they continue.

2What the research says

2.1Transfer depends on the workplace, not only the training

A meta-analysis of 89 studies by Blume, Ford, Baldwin and Huang found that most predictors of transfer examined, such as motivation and work environment, had stronger relationships to transfer for open skills such as leadership development than for closed skills such as computer software (opens the original source)[1].

2.2Design features that make leadership learning work

A meta-analysis of leadership training by Lacerenza, Reyes, Marlow, Joseph and Salas, drawing on 335 independent samples, found support for needs analysis, feedback, multiple delivery methods (especially practice), spaced training sessions, an on-site location, and face-to-face delivery that is not self-administered (opens the original source)[2]. Design choices, not just content, are associated with results.

2.3Coaching shows positive average effects — with caveats

Several meta-analyses support coaching as a development method:

2.4The new way has to be expected, supported and rewarded

Weiner, Belden, Bergmire and Johnston describe implementation climate as the extent to which organizational members perceive that innovation use is expected, supported, and rewarded (opens the original source)[7], and propose that it is positively associated with implementation effectiveness.

A 2025 systematic review by Hastings, drawing on 10 papers reporting 292 transformation cases across healthcare and other industries, recommends that stakeholders contribute to decision-making during transformation and that leaders approach it with a view to establishing a learning environment (opens the original source)[8].

3How we apply the evidence

The research above is mostly about training, coaching and implementation in specific settings. Applying it to consulting engagements is our inference. We use it to shape five design principles:

Table 1. Evidence-informed principles and what they mean in an engagement

  • Fix the workplace conditions

    What the evidence suggests
    The work environment matters for transfer, especially for open skills like leadership
    What it means in practice
    Design the documentation, guides, decision rights and system of record that let the new behavior happen in daily work

  • Design for practice and feedback

    What the evidence suggests
    Practice, feedback and spaced sessions are associated with stronger leadership-learning effects
    What it means in practice
    Use real cases, spaced sessions and structured feedback, with tracks that differ by level

  • Develop internal ownership

    What the evidence suggests
    Internal coaches showed stronger effects in one meta-analysis
    What it means in practice
    Guide and train while the client's own people carry out the work

  • Make it expected and supported

    What the evidence suggests
    Implementation climate is proposed to support effective implementation
    What it means in practice
    Pair plans with monitoring, clear expectations and recognition, then hand over to internal owners

  • Simplify so it can be owned

    What the evidence suggests
    Usable standards are easier to teach, coach and assess
    What it means in practice
    Keep expectations few and clear, so the client can run them without us

4Five design rules for engagements

  1. Diagnose the transfer environment. Before designing content, ask what will support or block use in the first 90 days.
  2. Build practice and feedback into the plan. Use real cases, spaced sessions and structured input from colleagues.
  3. Name internal owners early. Each deliverable has an internal person who will run it.
  4. Create expectation, support and reward. Managers need time, tools and recognition for using the new approach.
  5. Plan the handoff. Decide what outside support stops doing, when, and how the organization will know it is working.

5A capability-transfer reflection tool

  1. A named internal owner exists for each major deliverable.
  2. Managers have time set aside to use the new process.
  3. Leaders are expected, in writing, to use the new approach.
  4. People are recognized for using it.
  5. The team has practiced the skill on a real case with feedback.
  6. Records and tools are in the organization's hands, not the consultant's.
  7. The team could explain the approach to a new hire.

6Implications for leaders

  • Judge engagements by what lasts. Ask at the outset what should still be working a year after outside support ends.
  • Look at the environment first. Time, tools, expectations and recognition shape whether new skills are used.
  • Invest in internal capability. Developing your own coaches and owners can be a strong design choice, not a fallback.
  • Plan the handoff from day one. Agree which internal person owns each deliverable and when outside support steps back.

7Limitations

  • Coaching meta-analyses include small numbers of studies, mixed methods, self-reported outcomes and signs of publication bias.
  • Training-transfer research is mostly about training, so applying it to consulting engagements is an inference.
  • Several sources come from healthcare or public-sector settings, and one review draws on cases across industries to inform healthcare. They illustrate principles rather than providing direct evidence for every sector.
  • This paper does not report results from our own engagements. We will describe client outcomes only when they are confirmed and the client has given permission.

8Questions for discussion

For a leadership team conversation. There are no right answers or scores.

  1. When our last consultant or program ended, what stopped?
  2. Who inside owns each outcome today?
  3. Do managers have time and permission to use what they learned?
  4. What does our organization actually expect, support and reward?
  5. Which skills are we outsourcing that we should be building?

References

  1. [1]

    Brian D. Blume, J. Kevin Ford, Timothy T. Baldwin and Jason L. Huang (2010). Transfer of training: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Management, 36(4), 1065–1105.

    Meta-analysis of 89 studies; predictor–transfer relationships.

  2. [2]

    Christina N. Lacerenza, Denise L. Reyes, Shannon L. Marlow, Dana L. Joseph and Eduardo Salas (2017). Leadership training design, delivery, and implementation: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(12), 1686–1718.

    335 independent samples; moderator associations.

  3. [3]

    Rebecca J. Jones, Stephen A. Woods and Yves R. F. Guillaume (2016). The effectiveness of workplace coaching: A meta-analysis of learning and performance outcomes from coaching. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(2), 249–277.

    17 studies; δ = 0.36 for organizational outcomes; larger effects with internal coaches, smaller with multisource feedback.

  4. [4]

    Erik de Haan and Viktor O. Nilsson (2023). What can we know about the effectiveness of coaching? A meta-analysis based only on randomized controlled trials. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 22(4), 641–661.

    37 RCT studies, 2,528 participants; g = .59 with indications of publication bias.

  5. [5]

    Janis A. Cannon-Bowers, Clint A. Bowers, Catherine E. Carlson, Shannon L. Doherty, Jocelyne Evans and Julie Hall (2023). Workplace coaching: a meta-analysis and recommendations for advancing the science of coaching. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1204166.

    11 studies; aggregate g = 0.44 on individual-level outcomes.

  6. [6]

    Harry Kingsley-Smith and colleagues (2024). Leadership development programmes in healthcare research: a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-aggregation. BMJ Leader, 8(4), 283–292.

    48 studies; outcomes mainly self-assessed.

  7. [7]

    Bryan J. Weiner, Charles M. Belden, Dawn M. Bergmire and Matthew Johnston (2011). The meaning and measurement of implementation climate. Implementation Science, 6, 78.

    Conceptual and measurement (debate) paper.

  8. [8]

    Bradley J. Hastings (2025). Guidance for successful healthcare transformation: A systematic review of change management practices and outcomes. Australian Journal of Management, 50(3), 985–1005.

    10 papers, 292 transformation cases across healthcare and other industries.

  9. [9]

    Gregory A. Aarons, Amy E. Green, Cathleen E. Willging, Mark G. Ehrhart, Scott C. Roesch, Debra B. Hecht and Mark J. Chaffin (2014). Mixed-method study of a conceptual model of evidence-based intervention sustainment across multiple public-sector service settings. Implementation Science, 9, 183.

    Study protocol; sustainment determinants are proposed, not demonstrated.

About this paper

POSITION perspective papers draw on published external research and our consulting practice. They are not peer-reviewed studies, original empirical research or validated diagnostic instruments. Publication dates refer to this paper, not to the research it cites.

Suggested citation: POSITION Consultants (2026). Built to Outlast the Engagement: Capability transfer as a design principle for consulting, and what the evidence says about making change stick. POSITION Perspective Paper No. 5. positionconsultants.com/insights/built-to-outlast-the-engagement/

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