Why Activate is the Manager Development Solution Your Organization Needs in 2026

The data is in, and it's telling us something critical: traditional manager training isn't working.

While 90% of organizations offer managerial and supervisory training, we're simultaneously seeing persistent leadership skills gaps across nearly every organization. Companies are spending more per learning hour than ever before, yet managers still aren't getting what they need to lead effectively.

Here's the challenge: L&D teams are stretched thin, budgets are tight, and the gap between what managers need and what organizations can deliver keeps widening.

So what actually works?

What Actually Works: The Science Behind Successful Manager Development

Recent Gallup research on learning experiences reveals a sobering truth: only 16% of employees strongly agree that their learning experiences substantially improved their performance. That's a staggering indictment of business-as-usual training.

But the same research shows us exactly what separates effective learning from the rest.

The magic happens in the mix. When learning experiences are both interactive AND combine online and in-person elements, 24% of employees report substantial performance improvement. That’s compared to just 15% for online-only and 19% for in-person only formats.

Here's what else matters: effective development takes time. It requires reinforcement through practice, application on the job, and delivery over time rather than as a one-time event. Employees who saw real performance improvement spent more than 8 hours engaging with their learning experience.

This is precisely where Activate succeeds where traditional manager training fails.

Activate: Built on the Blueprint of What Actually Works

Activate isn't another manager training program. It's a manager transformation system designed around the exact principles that research proves drive real results.

1. The Proven Hybrid Learning Model 

Activate combines live virtual cohort sessions with asynchronous learning, peer coaching, and on-the-job application. This isn't by chance, it's the deliberate design that Gallup research shows is 60% more effective than single-format training.

Each cohort participates in interactive live sessions where managers engage with real challenges and practice new skills together. Between sessions, they apply concepts in their daily work and get peer accountability and coaching. Learning doesn't stop at delivery, it continues through reinforcement and application on the job.

2. Interactive + Applied = Real Transformation

The research is clear: interactive formats dramatically outperform passive learning. Activate is built entirely on this principle. Every session involves discussion, problem-solving, and skill practice. Managers don't just consume content - they wrestle with it, apply it to their specific challenges, and get feedback from peers and facilitators.

The result? Managers develop capabilities they can use immediately, not concepts they'll forget by next week.

3. Designed for Your Stretched L&D Team

L&D teams are under mounting pressure to deliver strategic impact with limited resources. Activate is the multiplier you need.

It's turnkey: curriculum designed, cohorts coordinated, facilitation handled. And it is easily customizable bringing your organization’s real-time challenges into the live group coaching sessions for practice. Your team gets credit for transforming manager capability without building from scratch or pulling resources from other critical initiatives. You deliver impact without adding to your workload.

4. Strategic Metrics That Matter to the C-Suite

L&D is increasingly being held accountable for business outcomes, not just training completion rates. Activate is designed around the metrics executives actually care about: habit activation and skill transformation that develops top talent and drives business performance.

The program directly moves these needles because it focuses on the capabilities that drive team performance: effective communication, meaningful feedback, coaching skills, delegation, and accountability. These aren't soft skills, they're the power skills of leadership that translate directly to business results.

5. The Investment That Justifies Itself

Organizations are now spending $165 per learning hour per person because they've realized that quality matters more than quantity. Activate delivers concentrated, high-impact development that justifies this investment. Managers emerge with immediately applicable skills, a peer network for ongoing support, and a clear framework for continuing their development. This is the kind of transformation that shows up in team performance, retention numbers, and manager confidence.

The Bottom Line

While 46% of organizations plan to increase managerial training in 2026, most will continue using the same approaches that created today's skill gaps. It’s time for a new way.

Activate represents the evolution from traditional manager training to the transformation-focused, resource-efficient, strategically aligned development that both ATD and Gallup research proves is necessary.

The question isn't whether to invest in manager development, it's whether to invest in something that actually works. The next cohort of Activate starts February 12th. Your managers (and your business results) can't wait another year for training that doesn't transform.