Why invest in coaching?
According to The International Coaching Federation, coaching can be defined as a process where “a coach partners with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential.”
Coaching can be commonly confused with other behavioural tools such as mentoring and therapy. However, it is in fact a very different, standalone specialism. Coaching is not advice giving (which would be mentoring), nor does it focus on the past (which would be therapy). Coaching is a very future focused technique, through which the individuals involved are supported in defining and achieving their own unique goals.
Of course, for any organisation seeking to make a coaching investment, a common question we are asked is “What will the return on investment be?” Our answer, is always, that the benefits are profound.
The business benefits of coaching
Looking for some statistics to support your coaching investment? Look no further!
Recent research has shown that 86% of organisations who have used coaching say that they have made their investment back. Over 70% benefit from improved work performance, better relationships, and more effective communication skills.
Coaching is a well proven supplement to workplace training initiatives, too. The effectiveness of company training programmes can increase from 22% to 88% when supported by strong coaching skills.
Only 10% of teams rate themselves as high performing prior to starting a team coaching engagement. It’s clear that the real focus should be on the power and synergy of our teams to build the best coaching cultures, and team coaching is a highly valuable tool to support with this.
Studies have shown that organisations who coach their teams have a culture that:
- Is 36% more collaborative
- Has 32% lower staff turnover
- Is 18% more likely to show improved profit
Some other relevant statistics in relation to coaching include:
- When employee training is supported by coaching, it leads to an increase of 88% in productivity, versus the 23% observed through training alone.
- 80% of those coached saw improved self confidence
- 73% of those coached saw improved relationships
- 72% saw improved communication skills
- 70% saw improved work performance
- 61% saw improved business management
- 57% saw improved time management
- 51% saw improved team performance
- In the best case scenario, a business demonstrated a 788% ROI on their executive coaching investment!
