A 600% ROI? The Undisputed Benefits of Executive Coaching
How powerful would it be for your organisation to realise your company’s investment in
Executive Coaching yielded an average return of almost 600% in the forms of overall productivity, reduced costs, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement and retention?
This result, and other equally impressive results, were identified in the recent survey conducted by MetrixGlobal LLC to determine the business benefits and return on investment of an Executive Coaching Programme.*
The Undisputed Benefits of Executive Coaching
Within the survey, example outcomes included a Fortune 500 company that measured their Executive Coaching programme and showed a 788% ROI – and even when excluding the benefits from employee retention within their survey results, it still resulted in an outstanding 529% ROI.
Similarly, a Fortune 1000 company showed that their investment in Executive Coaching realised an average ROI of almost six times the cost of coaching.
According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF) on monitoring the results, 86% of organisations saw an ROI on their coaching engagements, and 96% of those who had an Executive Coach said they would repeat the process again.
"What got you where you currently are, won't get you where you want to go..."
Dr Martin Goldsmith - International Executive Coach & Author
Most Executive Leaders don't need to work on their exact area of business expertise (although it is important to continue learning and building skills), but what many fail to recognise is that leadership, too, is a skill.
As a leader, you don't just do the tasks you've always done - you have to also lead people to do what they do best, every single day.
A leader's time is often spent dealing with issues within the workplace, observing where performance levels have dropped, monitoring customer service scores and making improvements to performance to maintain the high standards of quality and customer satisfaction. And, as time is money, a leader spending their time running from one meeting to another is costing the company money.
Being an Effective Leader for your business is a skill - and having an Ally in an Executive Coach, will help to address where your time and energy could be better spent across the business requirements.
The areas monitored within the research conducted on the ROI of working with an Executive Coach focused on the Tangible and Intangible factors to measure the cost effectiveness of Executive Coaching.
Tangible ROI Factors Identified:
- Increased productivity
- Higher levels of overall employee and teamwork performance
- Reduced costs
- Growth in revenue and sales
- Higher employee retention and engagement
Intangible ROI Factors Identified:
- Increased confidence of those being coached (Coachee)
- Improved Coachee productivity and organisational strengths
- Improved communication and relationships with direct reports/supervisors
- Stronger employee engagement overall
- Achieved higher levels of engagement and gained respect peer-to-peer, and with key stakeholders
- Thrived on greater job satisfaction
Dispelling the Myths about Executive Coaching
The positive ROI results speak for itself but there still lies uncertainty with some leaders, and they masterfully create excuses as to why they don’t need an Executive Coach.
We share 6 typical examples of adverse responses when an Executive Coaching Programme has been suggested or advised to senior leaders. Some of these responses might sound familiar to you!
1. I have a strong work ethic so why would I need an Executive Coach?
Yes - time is money, and your hectic diary shows just how hard you are working to ensure your organisation delivers on its strategic goals. ‘Busy-ness’ though doesn’t equal Productivity. Ask yourself: What (or Who) is not getting enough of your attention because of your ‘busy-ness’?
SOLUTION: An Executive Coach will help to increase your focus, build on your leadership stamina, and develop your leadership influencing skills to achieve your goals quicker and more effectively.
2. I’m doing just fine…
Your influence, and your approach, may not be as successful as you think, even though your intent is positive. Reality vs your Perception in productivity and amongst peers and stakeholders, may need to be challenged.
SOLUTION: Working with an Executive Coach will help to test your personal resolve in a safe one-to-one environment, to expose the truths about your strengths, and by working together with an Executive Coach, to identify what actions you might need to take to make improvements on how you go about your work.
3. An Executive Coach for me? Why? That’s a sign of weakness!
If you are one of those leaders who thinks having an Executive Coach is a sign of weakness – think again! All the great leaders through time have benefitted from investing in an Executive Coach. ‘Greatness in anything requires a passion to be ‘Great’, to be strong, and to be resilient.’
SOLUTION: Working with an Executive Coach will help to identify what your leadership is teaching people around you, and whether you are prone to pointing your finger at something or someone else instead of at yourself when an issue arises. Importantly, it might also highlight areas for improvement where you might want to further develop your leadership skills.
4. It’s up to the team leader to manage their team’s performance better, or that the downturn in the economy isn’t helping …
Again, there is that finger pointing in laying the blame elsewhere when things aren’t running smoothly. Having the personal resolve to handle the truth in a situation is difficult at the best of times. “The truth hurts” after all – it bruises the ego, it may be hurtful, and it may not seem to be fair…but it’s the truth.
SOLUTION: An Executive Coach will help you to focus on your strengths, help you to uncover your blind spots, help you to develop the path to increase your effectiveness – and to find the strength to own up to your own mistakes that may have contributed to a difficult situation.
5. Surely people know I’m approachable to discuss any issues with?
People also need to find their own strengths when raising an issue for discussion. As a leader, you must be seen to be approachable and willing to listen, and provide the necessary support and guidance an individual or team needs – even on topics you may not want to hear.
SOLUTION: An Executive Coach will work with you in identifying the barriers you might be putting up that make you seem to be unapproachable, and that people find intimidating about you. Your Executive Coach will work with you on techniques to improve your reactions and actions when someone pushes your psychological buttons.
6. An Executive Coach costs too much…
Well we know that’s a lame excuse considering the already highlighted and undisputed facts of the ROI Benefits that Executive Coaching brings. This excuse is often framed around “I am not the problem, and I don’t have the time or money.” It would be better to be questioning how much money you might be losing the company because you won’t reach out and hire a coach to help you do what you do…better.
In summary - Executive Coaching is:
- A waste of money if you are not committed to change
- It’s about change and action: ‘Knowledge isn’t power – applied knowledge is power.’
- It’s not therapy. The focus is to create your Leadership Pathway to Success, to achieve your goals sooner rather than later
- It's about challenging your own assumptions and perceptions
- It is about improving your own personal intuition and influencing skills to solve deep-rooted issues and the challenges they bring
- It will create a positive impact on your overall business performance, and it will provide the clarity to enrich your performance through opportunities to learn and grow.
To find out more about our Executive Coaching Programme, please contact via email: Simone Robinson, Interim Managing Director, or call: 0161 3272031
*Download the MetrixGlobal Survey Research Report
Executive Coaching is about bottom-line business results.
How powerful would it be for your organisation to realise your company’s investment in Executive Coaching yielded an average return of almost 600%?
