Coaching ROI (Return on Investment)


Return on Investment (ROI) on coaching

We appreciate that you want to be clear as to the return on your investment. Coaching on Call's approach has been built around delivering value to our clients at every level - for the organisation, the L&D or HR sponsor, the individuals whom we coach, their colleagues and their line manager.

Value from coaching investment

The way Coaching on Call creates value for your investment in our coaching services includes:

  • Developing consistency through aligning thinking and action with strategy

  • Reducing development and training costs

  • Improving problem solving

  • Mobilising tacit knowledge

  • Embedding learning

  • Speeding up time to competence

  • Ensuring fast, effective response to change and challenge

  • Raising confidence and engagement

  • Supporting you to become an employer of choice

How we evaluate our coaching interventions

We follow best practice in using normative and formative evaluation methodology, structured along the Kirkpatrick model of four levels.

LEVEL MEASUREMENT
 1 Reaction
  • On-demand coaching has built-in feedback and quality control
  • Executive and perfomance coaching has standard feedback questionnaire for coachee, line manager and coach
  • Coach skill training includes immediate feedback sheets
2 Learning
  • On-demand coaching has built-in commentary and reflection space
  • Executive and performance coaching entails regular reflection and review with line manager/HR Business Partner
  • Coach skill training followed up by telephone coaching for reflection and learning development
 3 Behaviour
  • On-demand coaching entails list of actions committed to by coachee
  • Review with line manager/HR Business Partner includes reference to behavioural shifts
  • Integration with appraisal cycle allows for coaching input to be measured behaviourally
  • Coaching skills embedded through ongoing 'coach the coach'
  • Pre and post coaching 360º evaluation tool
 4 Impact
  • Regular reports provide summary of business area for coaching
  • Regular reviews consider alignment with business objectives and measures with specific reference to coaching interventions
  • Internal coaching impact reviewed through appraisals, 360º feedback and team reflection

Research findings on ROI

As is clear from the scarcity of rigorous analysis of coaching ROI, especially in the UK, the benefits of coaching are difficult to measure using traditional financial approaches. This is echoed by reports by the main professional bodies. A recent survey undertaken by Hays Senior Finance and LeaderShape indicates that, while multi-millions of pounds are spent on coaching across the UK, nearly one in seven organisations (15%) have no formal measurements in place to assess their programmes.

However, the following represent key findings from various international research projects:

  • An executive briefing excerpted from a study conducted at a Fortune 500 firm finds that the bottom line is that: Coaching produced a 529% return on investment and significant intangible benefits to the business. Including the financial benefits from employee retention boosted the overall ROI to 788%. The study provided powerful new insights into how to maximize the business impact from executive coaching.
  • Asked for a conservative estimate of the monetary payoff from the coaching they got, Fortune 1000 US company managers described an average return of more than $100,000, or about six times what the coaching had cost their companies. Source: Fortune, February 19th 2001
  • 92% of respondents reported coaching by external practitioners as being an effective or highly effective development activity. Source: CIPD book The Case for Coaching
  • A Harvard University study revealed that 85% of the success gained by top performers and managers is the result of 20 emotional intelligence skills that can be learned and mastered through coaching. Source: Harvard Business Review, November 1st 2004
  • Source: Research by the Chartered Management Institute and Campaign for Learning "Coaching at Work", press release dated 16 May 2002
    • 80% of executives say they think they would benefit from coaching at work - Virtually all managers (96%) think coaching should be available to every employee, regardless of seniority
    • 85% of managers say a key value of coaching is enhanced team morale
    • 80% of managers value coaching for generating responsibility on the part of the learner
  • Research by the International Personnel Management Association (IPMA)results of which were published in January 2001, concluded that "ordinary training typically increased productivity by 22%, while training combined with coaching increased productivity by 88%".
  • HR Survey 2002 - LEE HECHT HARRISON surveyed 488 Human Resource professionals to learn how coaching is being used in their organisations and found that "Companies are increasingly turning to coaching for leadership development, style issues and talent retention, so it makes sense that 55% of respondents said that their organisation uses coaching as a one-on-one process intended to maximize management and leadership potential and 54% do so to change behaviours."
  • Research findings by coaching.com state that: Overall, the investigators are confident that the Client Company has achieved total impact in the millions. The immediate return on investment will be in the 10 to 1 range. The long-term return will be even higher.