Effectiveness of Leadership Coaching—An Integrated Evaluation Framework

W Hofmans 2015

The evaluation of the exact impact of executive coaching on both individuals and organisations is lagging behind. This has been demonstrated by the few empirical studies which link coaching to improved outcomes. This particular research project focuses on the coaching of leaders in organisations. It draws on resources from the fields of Leadership, Management, Psychology and Training & Development. The question this research project aspires to answer is “What does the application of an integrated evaluation framework tell us about the effectiveness of leadership coaching?” The significance of this study is that it is a mixed-methods pre-/post longitudinal study about leadership coaching with a quantitative emphasis. It has been approached from the field of Business with a focus on the impact of executive/leadership coaching. Only professionally certified external coaches have been involved. The data is based on multi-source feedback from various evaluators. The study reports on multi-level effects and has considered formative evaluations. The relevance of this research project to the field of Management is that it provides a framework for managers to evaluate the effectiveness of executive/leadership coaching through the application of an integrated coaching evaluation model. In terms of the academic fields of Management, Leadership and Psychology, this research aims to provide empirical evidence regarding the impact of executive/leadership coaching engagements on clients. This project has been completed with a total sample of 30 participants working with six coaches following a longitudinal design in which pre- and post-coaching data has been gathered between July 2011 and November 2014 during a mean time of 8.67 months per coaching engagement. Data was collected using a 360° feedback instrument, that includes a measure of leadership effectiveness, as reported by all evaluators (the boss’s boss, boss, direct reports, peers and others) and as a self-assessment, self-assessed Mindfulness, Business Performance data (as reported by the boss and as a self-assessment), achievement of Client’s Coaching Objectives (as decided by the client and his/her boss), an evaluation of the coach by the client and an evaluation by the coach of the client.