Coaching progress that is visible, measurable, and provable.
Walnut uses the Kirkpatrick Four-Level Evaluation Model to measure coaching outcomes at every stage — from initial engagement through to measurable business impact.
Most coaching programmes measure success with satisfaction surveys. The coachee says it was helpful. The coach says it went well. HR reports high NPS. But none of this tells you whether anything actually changed.
Blume et al. (2010) found that 90% of training fails to transfer to on-the-job behaviour. Satisfaction is not the same as skill acquisition, and skill acquisition is not the same as behaviour change. Walnut is built to measure all three — and to make that measurement visible to HR from the first session.
Baseline Assessment & Coach Matching
Every participant begins with a gamified personality and skills assessment that builds a baseline profile across leadership competencies. The platform uses this profile to match each coachee with the best-fit coach from the Walnut network. From day one, HR has visibility into programme activation and coach-match quality.
Skill-Anchored Coaching Begins
Each coaching session is anchored to a specific node on the coachee’s skill tree. Coaches log structured session notes against these nodes, and coachees receive in-app assignments between sessions. Skill data and session engagement are visible to HR in the aggregate dashboard from the first session.
Direct Report Survey & Skill Delta Measurement
At the programme midpoint, Walnut triggers anonymous direct report surveys that measure observable behaviour change against the coachee’s target skills. These surveys produce a self-vs-others gap score and a skill delta measurement — showing how much the coachee has moved since baseline, validated by the people who work with them every day.
Full Growth Report & HR Analytics
At programme completion, each coachee receives a detailed growth report showing skill progression from baseline to graduation. Coaches verify mastery against the skill tree. HR receives a cohort-level dashboard with aggregated growth curves, engagement metrics, promotion readiness scores, and a board-ready ROI summary.
Walnut measures at all four Kirkpatrick levels.
Donald Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Training Evaluation Model is the gold standard for measuring the effectiveness of learning and development programmes. Most coaching reaches Level 1 at best. Walnut is designed to measure at all four.
Did they engage?
Measures whether participants found the coaching valuable, relevant, and engaging. Most coaching programmes stop here — collecting satisfaction surveys after sessions.
Walnut tracks real-time session engagement, assignment completion rates, and in-app activity — not just post-session satisfaction scores.
Did they actually learn?
Measures whether participants acquired new knowledge, skills, or attitudes as a result of coaching. This requires structured pre- and post-assessment.
The gamified baseline assessment and skill tree provide a quantified before-and-after comparison for every coachee, anchored to specific competencies.
Did they change on the job?
Measures whether participants are applying what they learned in their day-to-day work. This is the level where most L&D programmes fail — knowledge that never transfers.
Anonymous direct report surveys measure observable behaviour change as rated by the people who work with the coachee every day — not self-reported.
Did it move the business?
Measures whether the coaching programme produced tangible business outcomes — retention, promotion rates, team performance, revenue impact.
The HR dashboard aggregates skill growth, promotion readiness scores, and engagement trends into a board-ready ROI summary tied to real business metrics.
Aggregate visibility. Individual confidentiality.
The Walnut HR dashboard gives people leaders cohort-level data on programme effectiveness, skill growth, and engagement — without ever exposing individual coaching content. Confidentiality is non-negotiable.
Skill Growth Curves
Cohort-level progression across every competency node in the skill tree. Filterable by team, level, and programme tier. Exportable for board reporting.
Aggregated — individual scores are anonymised
Engagement & Sentiment Trend
Week-by-week engagement metrics including session attendance, assignment completion, and coachee sentiment. Live dashboard updated after every session.
Manager & Leadership Readiness Score
A composite score combining skill growth, direct report feedback, and coach-verified mastery. Indicates promotion readiness and leadership pipeline strength.
Confidential to HR
Board-Ready ROI Summary
Full programme ROI summary combining engagement data, skill delta, behaviour change, and business outcomes into a single-page executive summary.
Available on Leadership and Executive programme tiers
See what the dashboard looks like for your organisation.
Book a 20-minute demo and we will walk you through the HR dashboard, measurement timeline, and reporting with your team size and goals.
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