Evidence-based research

There is an extensive focus in organizational research on exploring the impact coaching can have as a development tool for teams, and especially for leaders. Training internal leaders in coaching skills and developing a coaching culture show significant increases in retention, engagement, productivity, and performance, as well as ROI (17x) (Rock & Donde, 2008; Milner, Milner & McCarthy, 2020).

In a research conducted in 498 Spanish companies, Utrilla et al. (2015) found that coaching impacts both individual performance and organizational performance indicators, while helping companies improve their competitive position, maximize benefits and minimize costs.

 

Coaching creates a safe space, where individuals or groups can explore and connect ideas, resources, possibilities, analyze consequences, strengths, and opportunities for development.

Its added value is greater than the direct results it facilitates, given that it helps individuals develop beyond the coaching focus,

e.g. when a leader engages in a coaching process with the goal to improve communication with their team and they succeed in doing so, this can indirectly improve performance and engagement within the team, and an increased satisfaction can be observed in the leader’s relationship with themselves too.

 

Below, you will find a list of benefits depending on the beneficiary of the coaching process i.e. individuals, teams, organizations, leaders.

 

Benefits organizations can have from coaching:

 

Benefits for employees and/or teams:

  • improved communication and decision-making
  • clearer goals, roles, and responsibilities
  • increased self-awareness
  • reduced conflict
  • more efficient teamwork
  • increased self-organization within teams
  • increased engagement and commitment
  • connecting personal values with professional values
  • clearer career path perspectives

 

Benefits for the organization:

  • improved productivity
  • more structure and clearer direction in objectives and long-term goals
  • restructuring/optimizing processes and procedures
  • improved clarity on the mission, and values of the company
  • better alignment between personal and organizational values
  • identification of high-potential individuals
  • creating a culture of wellbeing and adopting a people-focused mindset

 

Benefits for managers and leaders:

  • less firefighting
  • increased trust in their capabilities and increased impact through their work
  • improved communication, creating a better experience in 1:1 conversations or performance reviews
  • using coaching as a leadership tool
  • thinking outside the box
  • personal coaching for self-leadership, building new skills, and unlocking their own best performance

 

When a trainer or mentor is invited to support an employee’s performance, the individual is likely to achieve more. When the same employee is engaged with a leadership coach, the individual is likely to transform and grow (Stoltzfus, 2005).