News

AMSTERDAM, November 2, 2026 – Research by Highberg shows that employees experience too little time and space to apply new skills in practice. As many as 37% of respondents see this as a major obstacle. Acquiring knowledge alone is therefore not enough. Value is created when people are given the room to actually put what they learn into practice.

That connection between learning and change vis precisely what lies at the heart of the next step for Gladwell Academy. The training institute has long been part of Highberg and will now continue under the name Highberg Academy. This strengthens the connection with the consultancy practice, giving the knowledge and experience from transformation advisory projects a clearer place within the training offering.

A training program can be the starting point of a broader transformation by developing new knowledge, skills and awareness. Conversely, training can also strengthen an ongoing transformation and help anchor it. Highberg Academy connects Gladwell Academy’s many years of experience in professional development with Highberg’s expertise in strategy, organization, people and technology. In this way, learning and development become an integral part of sustainable organizational change.

Research

The research was conducted among 500 respondents from the No Ties panel. The results show that 40.5% of respondents cite high daily workload as the main obstacle to organizational adaptation. At the same time, 39% of respondents believe that the effectiveness of learning should primarily be measured by whether employees apply what they have learned in practice. This puts application ahead of simply developing knowledge, which only 18% cite as the most important criterion. The results underscore the importance of a learning environment in which employees not only acquire new knowledge but can also apply it directly in their daily work.

These findings touch on a challenge many organizations struggle with: how do you ensure that investments in knowledge and development actually contribute to change? Learning alone is not enough. It only gains value once people are given the room to apply new knowledge and skills, and new ways of working become part of the organization.

Highberg Academy connects learning with practice

With Highberg Academy, the transformation consultancy brings learning, development and organizational change closer together. The Academy supports professionals, leaders, teams and organizations in their development in a world where technology, expectations and ways of working are constantly changing.

The connection with Highberg broadens Gladwell Academy’s existing training offering with expertise in strategy, organization, people and technology, allowing the offering to better address current organizational challenges. This is not just about acquiring knowledge and skills, but above all about applying them in practice and achieving lasting change.

Miranda Goossens, partner at Highberg and former founder of Gladwell Academy, says: “For me, real change starts with people being given the space to learn and grow. That was the strength of Gladwell Academy, and it’s also at the heart of Highberg Academy. With the new name, we’re placing stronger emphasis on how learning and organizational change are interconnected. Training can be the starting point of a transformation, but it can also help accelerate an ongoing change process and anchor changes for the long term. Within Highberg, we bring education, development and consulting together. This allows us to deploy our knowledge and experience more broadly, including internationally. In doing so, we not only help professionals develop further, but also support organizations’ ability to continuously adapt and grow.”