Improving self-awareness and engagement through group coaching

A Sutton, C Crobach International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring 2022

Group coaching has potential to enhance individual and organisational outcomes but demonstrating its effectiveness remains difficult. Practitioners are often caught between trying to demonstrate ROI and knowing that many of the benefits to clients are not captured by this bottom-line. In this paper, we evaluate a group coaching programme by assessing its impact on self-awareness development and work engagement. Using a pre- and post-test design, we find that group coaching improves self-awareness outcomes (reflective self-development, acceptance of self and others, proactivity at work) and employee engagement. Further, coaching sessions provided a supportive environment in which to explore the sometimes-challenging emotions associated with increased self-awareness.