Measuring Corporate Coaching in the Australian Workplace

Millions of dollars have been invested particularly over the past 5 years into various corporate coaching and executive coaching programs. But has the investment really paid off and how do we know what impact it has made?

In answering this question I would like to take this discussion a step backwards for a moment to the reason why any corporate coaching or executive coaching program is implemented in the first place?

I would assume that some area of the business was not performing the way it should be. This performance could be behavioural or outcome driven. For example it may be a leader’s behaviour that requires change or a revenue result that has not been acceptable.
Either way there was an underlying factor for a corporate coaching, executive coaching or leadership training program to be initiated.

Here’s the problem.

What normally occurs after the recognition of the coaching requirement is finding the appropriate corporate coaching specialist and implementing the coaching program.
What often fails to occur is agreement on the measurement aspects of the corporate coaching or executive coaching program.

Subjective assessment by nature is insufficient and unreliable due to its many variables that are likely to create bias. Without precise, specific and objective measurements the corporate coaching program lacks the accuracy of action and accountability of both the coach and the participant.

It is imperative before any corporate coaching or executive coaching program be implemented, that a detailed proposal including milestones, time lines and the key actions that will be required from the participant be outlined by the coach. It is suggested that this proposal be communicated at the pre approval stage after an extensive brief have been provided. Sign off should not occur before this has been done.

In this way the decision makers of corporate coaching programs will be able to ascertain the participant’s readiness for change and provide their input into the content of the program.

It is also important that agreement of outcomes be reached between the participant and the coach. Commitment of action of the participant will be key factor in the success of the corporate coaching program. Open communication with the participant is crucial to identify any aspects of the corporate coaching program that he/she feels are uncomfortable, unreasonable or unattainable.

Another aspect to be included in the proposal are the restraining factors that may prevent the outcomes from being reached. These factors are valuable to identify at the preliminary stages of the corporate coaching program as they serve as a reasonable predictor of the degree of success upfront.

The feedback component to the corporate coaching or executive coaching program is another area of consensus. This is where the coach presents an updated report to the decision makers about the progress of the participant, areas of challenge and speed of learning. Communication of this nature will keep both the coach and the participant in check and external opinion may be extremely valuable to any problem solving requirements.

To conclude it is evident that the structure and process followed before the execution of any corporate coaching or executive coaching program is a major factor in the composition of measurement and ultimately the success of any corporate coaching intervention.