The Business Case For Executive Coaching

The higher up the organizational ladder an executive climbs, the less he/she can depend on technical skills. Research by numerous consulting firms, including Bixler Consulting Group, has found that executives derail their careers  because of difficulty with change, not being able to work well in a team, lack of focus, and poor interpersonal relations. Coaching helps executives and others develop skills to cope with change, foster teamwork, improve focus, and build rapport.

Coaching is NOT another feel good exercise based in soft skills with no correlation to the bottom line. In one study, managerial training followed by one-on-one executive coaching produced an 88 percent increase in productivity, as compared to only 22 percent increase in productivity when training alone occurred. (Olivero, Bane and Kopelman, Public Personnel Management)

Between 25 and 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies use executive coaches, according to the Hay Group, an international human-resources consultancy. Although it was once used as an intervention with troubled employees, coaching is now part of standard leadership development training for executives and high performing professionals.

Coaching is most often used to sharpen the leadership skills of high potential individuals. Coaching addresses and works to correct management behaviors including poor communication skills, failure to develop subordinates, misplaced ego, or indecisiveness. It also is used to identify those strengths that can be developed further to increase confidence for maximum results.

Coaching is about creating professional interactions that lead to the achievement of  business results.  Michigan-based Triad Performance Technologies, Inc. studied the effects of a coaching intervention on a group of regional and district sales managers within a large telecom organization. The study cited a 10:1 return on investment in less than one year.  Coaching helps develop sound leadership, outstanding interpersonal practices, and the ability to manage organizational conflicts.