For today’s Talent Development Leaders, a disruption is reshaping how we think about people development. Gone are the days when employee growth was limited to yearly workshops or exclusive coaching for senior leadership. The conversation is now focused on scalability, personalization, and continuous learning—concepts that may sound familiar but have only recently become truly feasible thanks to technological advancements.
Leaders in this space understand the stakes: retention, engagement, and performance all hinge on effective development programs. Yet many of the established models, even those grounded in popular platforms like BetterUp, Torch, and Coachello, often struggle to evolve beyond traditional frameworks of scheduled learning. These platforms, while robust in their own right, lean heavily on episodic coaching or leadership-centric models, which sometimes miss the nuanced needs of an entire organization.
What’s the Missing Piece?
If you’re already invested in people development, you know the landscape is becoming increasingly crowded. So, why explore further? Because the development landscape is changing, and your organization’s needs are shifting just as fast. The future isn’t just about scaling what already works; it’s about reimagining how development can happen in the flow of work, in real-time, for everyone—from individual contributors to the C-suite.
The tools available today—whether it’s BetterUp’s well-being-focused coaching(Josh Bersin), Torch’s integration of mentoring(Torch), or Leadr’s personal development plans for leadership—are solutions in this landscape. (SourceForge)
But here’s the question: How are these platforms addressing the broader, systemic need for behavior change? There’s a difference between development that’s personalized in theory and personalized because it is unique to the person, contextual, and in real time within in the flow of work.
And speaking of that, what does everyone even mean when we talk about things like:
- Coaching for Everyone: Sure, many platforms promise scalable coaching, but is it really reaching everyone in a meaningful way, or is it still reserved for high performers and leadership?
- Learning in the Flow of Work: We hear this phrase everywhere, but how often is it executed well? Is development truly woven into work, or does it still require stepping away from productivity to make time for learning?
- Personalization: All platforms claim personalization, but how deep does it go? Is the content tailored based on role and department, or does it adjust dynamically based on real-time team interactions and individual needs?
- Measuring Impact: It’s easy to track engagement or satisfaction scores, but are you able to clearly see how development impacts business outcomes like retention, team performance, and innovation?
- AI in Coaching: AI sounds great, but how is it actually being used? Is it helping match users with coaches, or is it going a step further—delivering real-time, adaptive coaching insights based on day-to-day challenges?
Is there more to development than scheduled coaching sessions or leadership-focused programs? As we look to the future, the challenge isn’t just about providing access to coaching—it’s about integrating development into the everyday moments that shape team dynamics, decision-making, and performance.
Automated Coaching™ is designed with this in mind, offering more than LMS style learning, content libraries, role based suggestions, or episodic mentoring. It provides real-time, micro-coaching nudges, customized to your team’s unique dynamics and each individual’s specific needs.
If your current tools have served you well, that’s great. But ask yourself this: is there a next level you haven’t yet explored? By the end of this article, you’ll see not only how platforms like BetterUp, Torch, and Coachello contribute to the development space but also why Automated Coaching’s approach is different. It’s a new standard for people development—deeply personal, immediate, embedded, and scalable.
Ready To Build Human Skills At Scale With Your Managers?
- Close the gap between learning and on-the-job application
- Personalize growth to individual strengths and needs
- Integrate learning so it is actually in the flow of work
- Develop human skills fast enough to solve business problems
- Prove the ROI of your development programs
What Are The Actual Barriers Blocking People Development?
It’s easy to assume the barriers to effective people development are surface-level—limited budgets, lack of time, or employee disengagement. But for many Talent Development Leaders, these challenges often mask deeper, systemic issues that are much harder to spot. What if the real obstacles aren’t what we think they are?
Leaders often focus on getting the right tools or securing leadership buy-in, but the true barriers could be how development programs are structured and delivered. For example, we might blame low engagement on lack of motivation, but the root cause could be the disconnect between training and real-time application. Is your development program really embedded in the day-to-day workflow, or is it an isolated initiative? Are you scaling growth for everyone or only offering personalized coaching to a select few?
The real problem may not just be in how we measure success but in how deeply development is embedded into the culture and workflow of an organization. Understanding these underlying barriers is the first step in creating solutions that work in theory and practice.
1. Truly Personalized Learning
While many platforms promise personalized development, most rely on generalized, role-based content that doesn’t account for the individual’s real-time needs, strengths, or challenges. This one-size-fits-all approach results in development that feels impersonal and disconnected from the actual day-to-day experiences of employees.
2. Disruptive Learning Opportunities
Development often happens in isolated bursts—through annual workshops or sporadic coaching sessions—leaving employees without the continuous reinforcement they need to apply new skills or change behaviors over time. Without ongoing learning, development is confined to one-off event rather than an embedded growth process. Employees need learning delivered in manageable, real-time doses that align with their daily responsibilities to drive growth.
3. Limited Resources
Scaling development across an entire organization is no easy feat. Due to time constraints, budget, and resources, most organizations struggle to offer individualized coaching at scale. The challenge lies in extending meaningful development opportunities to everyone without sacrificing quality.
4. Proving Impact
Leaders often struggle to connect development programs to measurable business outcomes like retention, performance, or innovation. Satisfaction surveys or engagement metrics might provide some insight, but they don’t capture the real return on investment for people development efforts, making it difficult to justify ongoing investment.
What People Development Softwares Are We Talking About
BetterUp: A Market Leader Focused on Well-Being and Leadership
BetterUp is a leading platform in well-being and leadership development. It focuses on combining personal growth with professional effectiveness. The platform offers flexible learning paths with 1:1 coaching, allowing users to work on personalized goals while improving mental fitness.
Torch: Mentoring and Coaching For Leadership Development
Torch is a platform that focuses on leadership development through a blend of 1:1 coaching and mentoring. By leveraging behavioral science and feedback loops, Torch aims to align leadership coaching with key business outcomes.
Coachello: AI-Powered Coach Matching and Asynchronous Support
Coachello focuses on providing AI-driven service to match team members with ICF certified coaches to offer asynchronous coaching through familiar workplace apps.
Cloverleaf: It’s Not A Chatbot Or Human Coach. It’s Automated Coaching.
Automated Coaching™ offers personalized, on-demand coaching at the moment it’s needed, tailored to who you are and where you are. Team members receive immediate insightful nudges that are specific to their current needs, team dynamics, and individual strengths. Available in workplace tools to impact areas central to quality teamwork and performance.
What Makes Each Platform Different?
If the barriers to people development revolve around personalization, continuous learning, scalability, and proving impact, it’s essential to understand how each platform tackles these challenges. By exploring how BetterUp, Torch, Coachello, and Cloverleaf approach these key pillars, you’ll be able to evaluate which solution best aligns with your organization’s needs for effective development.
1. Personalization
BetterUp offers 1:1 coaching, matching users with a coach based on detailed assessments. This ensures that each leader receives guidance tailored to their unique leadership style, needs, and goals. These assessments allow for a customized experience, although the content, delivered through the platform’s video library and assessments, is often triggered by role-based changes.
Torch provides 1:1 coaching where users are matched with a coach based on job experience, demographics, and individual preferences. Its algorithm ensures a 96% success rate for coach matching, allowing participants to connect with coaches who meet their specific needs and goals. While the focus is on leadership coaching, the platform also incorporates learning materials based on behavioral science and user feedback.
Coachello’s AI-powered platform recommends coaches for 1:1 coaching based on an intake self-assessment, allowing for a coaching journey that aligns with their development goals around specific soft skills. Participants can also select coaches manually based on preferences.
Cloverleaf provides accurate, layered insight that are based on each person’s unique psychometric data and the specific individuals a team member interacts with daily. Each coaching moment is not only customized to an individual’s strengths but also contextually relevant to their current team dynamics and relationships.
2. Continuous Learning
BetterUp integrates a program-driven approach with ongoing learning opportunities. The platform offers 1-2 minute videos and monthly content updates through both self-guided learning paths and instructor-led sessions so that users receive fresh content relevant to their roles. This structure provides a steady flow of new ideas from a content library to emerging and established leaders. BetterUp’s model allows users to choose when they engage with content, whether through individual coaching, group sessions, or self-directed pathways.
Torch allows participants to access both asynchronous coaching and live 1:1 video sessions through various formats, such as drop-in coaching, one-on-one sessions, and group mentoring. Torch also tailors development programs to each organization’s unique values and competencies, aligning coaching with business strategy.
Coachello offers 6-8 session-based coaching programs, which focus on objective-driven paths. Participants follow development journeys with clear, outcome-based goals that help them progress in areas like leadership or personal development.
Cloverleaf integrates coaching into daily tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, email, and calendars, ensuring employees receive real-time, situational coaching without needing to leave their workflow. With unlimited, daily access to short, actionable tips (1-2 sentences), employees get immediate insights tailored to their specific tasks and team dynamics. Whether preparing for a meeting or working with teammates, coaching is timely, specific, and always available, making learning a seamless part of everyday work.
3. Scalability
BetterUp has delivered over 2 million coaching sessions since its inception, making it one of the largest people development software available. User can experience a blended assortment of coaching based on their specific leadership assessments and according to their role. The platform delivers coaching either in-person or via video, providing flexibility in how sessions are conducted.
Torch provides a configurable platform to help organizations design coaching and mentoring programs. It offers multiple coaching formats—1:1 coaching, group mentoring, and collaborative learning—which can be expanded across leadership levels, from emerging leaders to executives.
Coachello can connect a broad range of employees, from emerging leaders to senior executives, with 1:1 coaching opportunities. They use AI-driven technology to match participants with coaches efficiently.
Cloverleaf starts at ($13 per user) with unlimited access for each person to make development for everyone a real possibility, not just high level leaders or departments. By creating a common language through psychometric assessments and coaching insights teams can address challenges collectively and unify personal development into a shared experience.
4. Proving Impact
BetterUp frames its approach to proving impact by focusing on three primary business outcomes: Performance, Retention, and Well-Being. Its impact is centered around leadership development and mental health outcomes and its link to broader business success.
Torch measures impact by providing pre-built reports that track metrics like sentiment, satisfaction, and engagement, while using impact surveys and peer feedback to assess the influence on work performance. With additional tools like retention analysis, user-level engagement reports, and 360-degree feedback.
Coachello measures impact by using sentiment scores, surveys, and business insights to track progress in areas such as retention, performance, sales growth, and career transitions.
Cloverleaf measures growth in competencies of communication, teamwork, and collaboration. The platform also monitors engagement and usage, helping leaders understand how often coaching is used and which assessments are being taken.
Aligning The Right Tool With Your People Development Needs
Each platform—BetterUp, Torch, Coachello, and Cloverleaf—offers unique ways of delivering personalization, continuous learning, scalability, and impact measurement, but how they meet these needs differ significantly.
BetterUp
BetterUp focuses on 1:1 coaching matched through detailed assessments to support personal growth and mental fitness. Its model is structured around scheduled sessions and content libraries concerning development goals. It may work for organizations that want dedicated coaching, but it may still be challenging to accelerate behavior change and learning into the daily workflow.
Torch
Torch provides a combination of mentorship and coaching to align leadership development with business outcomes. The platform focuses on organizations that measure progress using sentiment and feedback surveys, but its emphasis may lean more toward structured leadership programs rather than scalable spontaneous learning moments.
Coachello
Coachello uses AI to match team members with coaches to facilitate asynchronous coaching via workplace apps. Consider whether its asynchronous nature aligns with your team’s requirement for in-depth, interactive coaching or the ability to scale to each person.’
Cloverleaf
Cloverleaf offers something different: real-time, automated coaching embedded into daily workflows through tools like Slack and email. Cloverleaf personalizes coaching based on psychometric data and the specific team dynamics, providing coaching at the moment it’s most relevant. This makes it particularly powerful for organizations looking for continuous, scalable development integrated into everyday work.
Automated Coaching Is A Different Approach To People Development
Automated Coaching is a different approach for organizations needing scalable, continuous, and deeply personalized development for people at all levels. Its affordable, unlimited access model, combined with psychometric-based insights, ensures that development is accessible to everyone while driving measurable behavioral change in key areas like communication, teamwork, and collaboration. Cloverleaf offers a unique, shared learning experience that transforms how teams communicate, collaborate, and grow.
Take the Next Step Toward Developing Your People
Want to offer personalized, real-time development for your entire team? Cloverleaf makes coaching accessible to every employee, every day—empowering them with insightful, context-specific coaching delivered right within the tools they already use. No more waiting for scheduled sessions or high-cost coaching reserved for leadership—Cloverleaf drives continuous learning in the flow of work.
Take the next step toward creating a culture of growth where learning is seamless and actionable. Request a demo today and see how Cloverleaf can transform your organization’s development strategy with scalable, personalized coaching for a stronger team.
