Researchers active in the field of business coaching emphasize the following question: Does coaching work?
In addition, they also raise many interesting sub-questions: How do we measure the effectiveness of coaching? Is it enough that the coachee perceives coaching as a tool that helps him achieve his goals easily, or is it necessary for the results to shown in the form of measurable performance measures? And last but not least, is coaching worth the financial, time and other resources that need to be invested in it? (Fillery-Travis and Lane, 2014).
Research on the effects of business coaching
In the field of business coaching frequent studies define the effectiveness of coaching in terms of return on investment. One such study (McGovern, Lindemann, Vergara, Murphy, Barker, & Warrenfelz, 2001) included 100 participants from executive positions in 56 US organizations who underwent a coaching process over a period of 6 – 12 months. The findings showed tangible and intangible business effects of coaching. As many as 86% of participants and 74% of stakeholders were very or extremely satisfied with the coaching process.
The estimated return on investment was more than 90,000 EUR per sample, or as much as 5.7 times the return on the initial investment. Some ROI estimates were as high as 1 million and even 5 or 25 million EUR, which shows that for some organizations the investment in coaching paid off extremely well. Also, the research conducted by Marber (2007), in which 30 international organizations participated (eg Coca Cola, Tesco, Nationwide, etc.), proved the positive effects of coaching. Among them, 23% of organizations saw an increase in revenue, even though this was not the main purpose of coaching.
Participants also reported positive effects of coaching:
- improved relationships with others (77%),
- improvement of teamwork (73%),
- higher satisfaction with work (61%),
- reduced conflicts (52%),
- higher quality of the work performed (48%),
- greater organizational strength (48%),
- better customer care (39%),
- increase in productivity (35%),
- the reduced number of complaints (34%).
The results of a meta-analysis (Blackman et al., 2016) show that coaching is associated with many positive effects, which are limited to a certain extent – the limitations are mainly related to the self-assessments of the counsels and the lack of control groups in the research, as a result of which no effects can be attributed solely to the coaching process.
The positive effects for the recipient of coaching are related to:
- with better delegation (McGovern et al., 2001);
- better stress management (Ladergard, 2011; Wales, 2003);
- better conflict resolution and autonomy at work (Blackman, 2010; Gray, Ekinci and Goregaokar, 2011; Smith Glasgow, Weinstock, Lachman, Dunphy Suplee and Dreher, 2009),
- higher individual responsibility (Kralj, 2001),
- better creativity and innovation (Norlander, Bergman and Archer, 2002; Styhre, 2008),
- higher proactivity (Blackman, 2010; Sonesh, Coultas, Marlow, Lacerenza, Reyes and Salas, 2015) and
- greater flexibility and adaptability of the guide (Hall et al., 1999).
The effectiveness of coaching for the coachees can be divided into general and specific results (Bozer and Sarros, 2012).
- A) General results include better self-acceptance, higher self-awareness and well-being, better stress management, better self-regulation, higher life satisfaction, higher job satisfaction, better communication and relationships, and acceptance and use of feedback (Bozer and Sarros, 2012; Ellinger et al. ., 2003; Kim et al., 2014; McGovern et al., 2001; Theeboom, Beersma and van Vianen, 2013).
- B) Specific results include better goal setting and achievement, better time management, more effective career development and various skills (e.g. management skills) and achieving better results (Hagen and Garvrilova Aguilar, 2012; Kim, 2014; McGovern et al., 2001).
Coaching thus has a positive impact on work- and career-related behavior (Bozer and Sarros, 2012), role clarity and organizational affiliation; the latter is said to have a beneficial effect on work performance (Judge, Thoresen, Bono, & Patton, 2001). Even the meta-analysis of the coaching method conducted by Theeboom et al. (2013), showed that coaching has a positive impact on results and abilities, well-being, stress management, work and work-related behavior, and goal-oriented self-regulation.
Research shows that coaching is effective for virtually all participants and represents a significant return on investment (McGovern et al., 2001).
Dr. Sabina Đuvelek