How leaders who think differently are turning development from a cost centre into a performance engine.
When budgets get tight, employee development is often the first thing to go.
It’s seen as a cost. A luxury. Something to “pause” until things improve.
But here’s the reality:
Organisations that prioritise development are 11% more profitable than their competitors. (Gallup, 2024)
And with the average cost of replacing an employee in the UK now over £30,000 (Oxford Economics), cutting development might actually be your most expensive mistake.
In other words:
You don’t need to choose between performance and development.
You just need a smarter way to do both.
The True Cost of Cutting Development
- Talent feeling stuck or undervalued
- Leaders lacking the skills to lead change or unlock performance
- A gap between business ambition and workforce capability
The impact?
Not just turnover – but lost momentum, declining morale, and stalled transformation.
Why Development Drives Retention and Results
- Signals that people are seen, valued, and invested in
- Creates stretch and meaning in day-to-day work
- Builds confidence, capability, and commitment
- Future-proofs teams for innovation and change
When done well, development isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s a direct driver of performance, resilience, and retention.
What Gets in the Way? Daily Pressures.
Even when leaders value development, it often gets sidelined.
Urgent tasks take over. Time disappears. The important gets postponed.
But development doesn’t have to compete with delivery.
It can enhance it -when it’s built into how people work.
A Smarter Way Forward: 60–90 Day Challenges
At Go M.A.D. Thinking, we design these to connect:
- Personal development
- Team accountability
- Visible, measurable results
- Develop leaders in real-time by working on a live challenge
- Drive performance through better thinking, clarity and collaboration
- Boost retention by giving people purpose, stretch, and support
How Clients Get the Greatest Value From Working With Us
We support leaders and teams with short, focused improvement challenges – typically over 60 or 90 days – that build capability while delivering results.
Here’s how it works:
Permission to Think Differently
It starts with a senior sponsor who gives people the space – and the backing – to challenge assumptions, explore smarter ways of working, and test bold ideas.
Learn, Apply & Measure Impact
Kick off with 2–3 days of hands-on workshops, where teams access and apply the Go M.A.D.® Results Framework to a real business challenge.
We review progress at 30 or 45 days, with regular sponsor check-ins, coaching, and momentum support.
Each challenge ends with a celebration and results presentation – showing ROI, key learnings, and what’s next.
Guaranteed Results
We support every challenge with tools, coaching, and thinking partner support. And here’s our promise:
If you don’t see results in 60 or 90 days, we’ll keep working with you – for free – until you do.
Final Thought
If your organisation is facing performance pressure, retention risk, or leadership gaps – cutting development isn’t the answer.
Smart development doesn’t drain resource. It multiplies it.
Because when you invest in growing your people, they invest more in growing your business.
So ask yourself:
“What could we possibly achieve in the next 90 days if we made development a business priority?”
You might be surprised how fast the results show up.
