A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF COACHING

The authors studied the impact of executive coaching on 31 managers in a US city health agency.

In phase one of this project all managers participated in a three-day, classroom style training workshop that included a variety of interactive activities and focused on their work roles. The participants rated the training workshop very highly on all quantitative and qualitative measures.

In phase two, the managers participated in an eight-week one-on-one coaching that detailed coaching processes tailored to the agency context. The post-training coaching included goal setting, collaborative problem solving, practice, feedback, supervisory involvement, evaluation of end-results, and a public presentation. The managers met with their coaches for one-hour each week over a two-month period. The authors found that while their training intervention with managers increased manager productivity by 22 %, adding a one-to-one (8-week) coaching intervention after the training pushed productivity to 88 %.

Olivero, G., Bane, K.D., and Kopelman, R.E. (Winter, 1997).
Executive coaching as a transfer of training tool: Effects on productivity in a public agency.
Public Personnel Management, 26, 4, 461-469.

Coaching Increases as Focus Shifts to Leadership

(Lee Hecht Harrison – HR Survey 2002)

The focus of executive coaching is increasingly on leadership and management development, according to Lee Hecht Harrison's survey of 488 HR professionals. And indeed, nine out of ten survey participants reported that their organizations offer coaching to executives.

In the '70s and '80s, "coaching" was usually a euphemism for helping problem employees. But as workforce management practices have become more sophisticated, coaching has been geared more toward developing employees that the company wants to retain. Today, most HR professionals understand coaching as a focused, one-to-one process intended to maximize management and leadership potential or change behavior in the workplace.

Nevertheless, some companies continue to regard coaching in a more traditional way, according to our survey. While the majority of participants report their organizations use coaching for employee development, a significant minority still consider coaching to include personal counseling (33%), fashion assistance (12%) or speech preparation (10%). While some employees no doubt need this kind of help, executive coaching has come to mean so much more in today's workplace.

Which of the following describe your organization's use of coaching?*
Training in new skills or techniques 53%
Program to maximize leadership and management potential 50%
Process aimed at behavioral change 48%
Mentoring by a senior person 33%
Counseling to address personal issues 33%
Advice on appearance or attire 12%
Preparation for a major speech or presentation 10%

*participants were asked to select all that applied

Among our survey's other findings:

One quarter of organizations provide coaching primarily to high-potential, fast-track employees; 54% provide it equally to high-potential as well as other employees. The top reasons coaching is provided are for leadership development (70%), skill or style development (64%), and to retain top talent (40%). 79% of respondents think organizations will increasingly use coaching as part of their succession planning.

This survey was conducted at the Global HR Forum conference in Orlando, the American Management Association conference in Anaheim and the Coaching & Mentoring conference in Boston. 37% of respondents come from organizations with fewer than 500 employees, 11% with 501-1,000 employees, 22% with 1,001-5,000 employees and 30% with more than 5,000 employees.


http://www.lhh.com/knowledge/html.cfm?kcid=13





UK Companies Coach for Corporate Success 16thMay2002


Chartered Management Institute research results on the benefits of coaching skills within organisations.

Richard Branson, Charles Handy and Tony Blair top the list of public figures that Britain's leaders would most like as a personal development coach.

As coaching grows in popularity and credibility, both inside and outside the workplace, eighty per cent of executives say they think they would benefit from coaching at work and dismiss the suggestion that it is just another fad.