Organisational benefits and the business case for coaching

These can be assessed in three ways. All indicate that in most cases coaching has considerable benefits for organisations.

• Ask the coachee about the benefits coaching has had on their wellbeing, confidence, attitudes, skills and performance, and ask them to assess the effect this has had on their performance. This gathers personal evaluations, which are subjective but still important. There are many (often small) studies like this, some more rigorous than others. Taken together, these studies give strong evidence that coaching is generally beneficial, with return on investment estimated to be in the range of 100% to 500%, or more in some cases.

• Ask organisational colleagues. for example, compare 360 degree or similar assessments before and after coaching, or ask the coachee's manager or the sponsoring client (e.g. the HR office) to assess the effect coaching has had on the coachee's performance, and on the performance of people and teams the coachee interacts with. This gathers more objective evaluations, which have more organisational credibility. There are not many studies like this, but they also indicate that coaching is organisationally beneficial with considerable return on investment.

• Assess organisational benefits from reduced staff turnover and increased engagement. This is rarely done, because it needs organisational data and
  systemic evidence, and so requires organisational commitment to the study. However, it is well established that high staff turnover, and low staff engagement or low capacity to use relevant knowledge and skills, has high direct and indirect costs. So coaching interventions that reduce turnover, or increase engagement and the effective application of knowledge, are expected to have major benefits.

Studies show that successful coaching depends on good rapport between coach and coachee, and it is good practice to ensure that the coachee's development fits with organisational strategy.

At Insight Leadership Coaching, we recognise that good rapport and strategic alignment are the most important factors for getting organisational benefits. We work with you to achieve this. Before starting coaching, we use our organisational expertise to design with you an appropriate coaching program, and we use our experience and network to propose a suitable coach for each coachee. During the coaching we monitor rapport and alignment, and we will suggest alternative coaches or recommend changes to programs if it seems advisable.

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