TrainingPros Wins Silver Brandon Hall Group Award for Best Leadership Development Program
Quick Summary: TrainingPros earned a 2026 Silver Brandon Hall Group Excellence Award for Best Leadership Development Program for a custom Supervisor Workshop developed with a manufacturing company. The scenario-based program helped technical supervisors strengthen communication, conflict resolution, leadership confidence, and team effectiveness in high-pressure field environments.
TrainingPros is proud to announce it has earned a Silver Brandon Hall Group Excellence Award in the category of Best Leadership Development Program. The award recognizes a Supervisor Workshop developed in partnership with a manufacturing company to strengthen the leadership capabilities of technical supervisors working in high-pressure, customer-facing environments.
The program focused on strengthening communication, conflict resolution, and leadership effectiveness through practical, scenario-based learning grounded in situations supervisors encounter on the job. Early results demonstrated increased leadership confidence, improved team dynamics, and stronger leadership behaviors in the field.
The award highlights TrainingPros’ ability to help organizations create custom leadership development programs that address specific workplace challenges and give leaders opportunities to practice the behaviors they need on the job.
Preparing Technical Experts to Become Effective Leaders
The manufacturing company identified a common leadership challenge: employees with strong technical expertise were moving into supervisory responsibilities without a formal development path to prepare them for the people side of leadership.
Operational leaders identified gaps in interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, and leadership effectiveness. Supervisors were working in environments where teams could change based on availability and skill, and where leaders needed to manage employees, interact with customers, resolve conflict, and make decisions under pressure.
The organization wanted supervisors to take greater ownership of issues, handle conflict more independently, communicate more effectively across teams, and address problems before they escalated.
Rather than relying on a generic leadership program, the company needed learning designed specifically around the realities of its field-based workforce.
TrainingPros’ Role in the Award-Winning Program
TrainingPros partnered with the company to create a practical learning experience built around the situations supervisors were actually facing.
The Supervisor Workshop used live, instructor-led virtual sessions, scenario-based learning, facilitated discussions, and practical tools that participants could immediately apply on the job. Scenarios were drawn from real field situations and included challenges such as resolving crew conflict in front of customers, responding to safety concerns under deadline pressure, and leading peers who may have greater technical experience.
The program emphasized active participation rather than passive instruction. Supervisors practiced decision-making, discussed different approaches to challenging interpersonal situations, and developed skills in communication, conflict resolution, situational leadership, and adapting communication to different audiences and circumstances.
The result was leadership development designed for the environment in which participants actually lead.
Leadership Skills That Transfer to the Job
A critical measure of the program’s success was whether participants continued using what they learned once they returned to work.
A 90-day follow-up assessed the frequency of skill application, confidence in handling leadership situations, and improvements in communication and team coordination.
Participants reported:
- Frequent use of communication and leadership techniques
- Increased confidence leading teams and handling difficult conversations
- Greater ability to address issues proactively before they escalated
Observed outcomes included improved team coordination, more effective conflict resolution, more consistent customer communication, and stronger team dynamics and morale. Managers also reported fewer escalations, greater leadership confidence, and more effective handling of interpersonal challenges.
The program also helped supervisors shift from reactive leadership toward greater accountability, empathy, and more measured responses under pressure.
Leadership Skills That Transfer to the Job
A critical measure of the program’s success was whether participants continued using what they learned once they returned to work.
A 90-day follow-up assessed the frequency of skill application, confidence in handling leadership situations, and improvements in communication and team coordination.
Participants reported:
- Frequent use of communication and leadership techniques
- Increased confidence leading teams and handling difficult conversations
- Greater ability to address issues proactively before they escalated
Observed outcomes included improved team coordination, more effective conflict resolution, more consistent customer communication, and stronger team dynamics and morale. Managers also reported fewer escalations, greater leadership confidence, and more effective handling of interpersonal challenges.
The program also helped supervisors shift from reactive leadership toward greater accountability, empathy, and more measured responses under pressure.
A Leadership Program Designed to Grow
The Supervisor Workshop gained strong support because it addressed recognizable, real-world challenges. Participants brought their own field experiences into discussions and immediately began applying the tools in their work environments. Ninety-one percent of participants completed post-program evaluations, with participants reporting frequent skill use and recommending the program to their peers.
The program has since expanded beyond the initial cohort, with elements adapted for additional roles. Its modular, scenario-based design provides the organization with a scalable model for developing leadership capability across a broader employee population.
The experience also reinforced an important principle in leadership development: programs are most effective when they reflect the culture, working environment, and actual leadership challenges of the organization.
A Recognition of TrainingPros’ Approach
“This award is a wonderful example of what can happen when leadership development starts with the real work leaders are being asked to do,” said Tracy Dee Lufkin, TrainingPros Relationship Manager. “The program gave supervisors an opportunity to practice difficult conversations and leadership decisions in situations that felt familiar to them, so they could immediately take those skills back to the job.”
The Silver Brandon Hall Group Excellence Award recognizes both the program’s impact and the value of designing leadership development around real business and performance needs.
For TrainingPros, the recognition reflects an approach to custom learning that begins by understanding what needs to change on the job and then identifying the right learning strategy and L&D expertise to help make that change happen.
About TrainingPros
TrainingPros is a woman-owned Learning and Development consulting and staffing company. Since 1997, TrainingPros has helped Fortune 1000 companies connect with highly skilled consultants in instructional design, eLearning development, facilitation, leadership development, performance consulting, and emerging learning technologies.
By combining industry expertise with a personalized approach, TrainingPros helps organizations find the right L&D consultant to start their projects with confidence.
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Ready to Build a Leadership Development Program That Fits Your Organization?
An effective leadership development program should reflect your culture, your leaders, and the way your organization works. But designing and developing a truly custom program can require expertise or capacity your internal L&D team doesn’t have available.
TrainingPros connects organizations with experienced L&D consultants who can help design, develop, and deliver custom leadership development programs, from defining leadership competencies and developing learning experiences to facilitating programs and supporting large-scale rollouts.
TrainingPros is a learning and development company that connects organizations with experienced instructional designers, contract facilitators, and virtual classroom producers. We’ve been named a Top 20 Staffing Company by Training Industry and a Champion of Learning by the Association for Talent Development (ATD), recognition that reflects our commitment to delivering high-quality, tailored learning solutions.
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