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Coaching is an efficient and customized way to help bring key business personnel
to the next level of performance. As many as 40% of Fortune 500 companies use
executive coaches because of the benefits to individual and organizational performance.
With thanks to Fortune magazine, here is what Google executive Eric Schmidt said about having a coach . . .
Who Is Coached?
The American Management Association in conjunction with the Institute for Corporate Productivity found that the primary corporate client base for business coaches is made up of executives, high-potential employees, problem managers and expatriates relocating to overseas assignments. The Corporate Leadership Council found in organizations surveyed that the following typically receive professional coaching:
- Top Leadership Team – 65%
- Emerging Executive Talent – 58%
- Senior Managers – 48%
- Executives Newly Promoted into Positions – 29%
- Middle Managers – 26%
- Other – 13%
- Executives New to the Organization – 10%
"According to the AMA survey, companies that use business coaching report performing well on such measures as revenue growth, market share, profitability and customer satisfaction. Individuals who had received coaching were more likely to set work-related goals and to say subordinates trusted their leadership abilities, according to the [2008] survey." – Workforce Management.
Coaching Goals
Manchester, Inc., a management consulting firm, found in a survey that about six out of ten organizations offer coaching or other developmental counseling to their managers and executives. The top reasons for providing such services are:
- To sharpen the leadership skills of high-potential individuals – 86%
- To correct management behavior problems such as poor communications skills, failure to develop subordinates, or indecisiveness – 72%
- To ensure the success or decrease the failure rate of newly appointed managers – 64%
- To provide the required management and leadership skills to technically oriented employees – 58%
Coaching Rates of Return
"Asked for a conservative estimate of the monetary payoff from the coaching they received, these managers described an average return of more than $100,000, or about six times what the coaching had cost their companies." – Fortune, "Executive Coaching – With Returns a CFO Could Love.”
A company’s investment in coaching its executives realized an average return on investment of 5.7 times the cost of the coaching, according to the Manchester survey. The company contacted one hundred executives from the top Fortune 1000 corporations who had received coaching. About 86% said they were very or extremely satisfied with the coaching experience because of improvements in productivity, quality, organizational strength, customer service and shareholder value. Also, they received fewer customer complaints and were more likely to retain executives who had been coached. Specific findings were:
- An increase in productivity – by 53%
- Improved customer service – by 39%
- Increased retention of senior people – by 32%
- Reduction in costs – by 23%
- Increased bottom line profitability – by 22%
Additional information is available from a report issued by the International Coaching Federation in April 2009 entitled, ICF Global Coaching Client Study (PDF). |
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