Level 4 – Business Results:
This level is to measure if the coaching has had any effect on the final business results. The level includes any outcome that most people would agree is “good for the business.” The outcomes are either tangible or intangible business results. Also in this phase it is recommended by Kirkpatrick (1994) to have both pre- and post-test as well as a control group.
Few empirical research have been evaluating coaching from level 1 following through to level 4. One of the most cited is Olivero and Bane and Kopelman (1997). 31 people went through training and after that 8 of them were trained to become coaches, who coached the remaining 23 participants.
Return On Investments (ROI):
ROI measures the relationship between the monetary value of the business result and the cost of the coaching.
The most cited research which has gone through all four levels of Kirkpatrick plus measuring ROI was done by McGovern, Lindemann, Vergara, Murphy, Barker and Warrenfeltz (2001). The study is often referred to as ‘The Manchester Study’ (published in The Manchester review, 2001, Vol 6, no 1). There were 100 participants in the research, who all held positions of vice president or above. The coaching duration ranged from 6-12 months and included personal instruments, multi-rater surveys and interviews with members of the multi-rater survey sample.
Other factors
Besides the coaching, many other factors will influence the business result of the company using coaching – the situation of the overall line of business, the organizational context, the circumstances of the coachee etc. One of the most difficult things in the measurement of the effect of executive coaching is to isolate the coaching effect from all other factors. Therefore a control group, who is not receiving coaching, needs to be part of the research design to produce the most reliable measurements on the effect of executive coaching. Only one of the above most cited research has included a control group in the research design: Smither et al. (2003).
Going forward
Future measurements of effectiveness of executive coaching are recommended to follow the four levels by Kirkpatrick (1994) plus ROI, and most importantly also include control group (receiving no coaching) to ensure that the effect of executive coaching is isolated from all other factors influencing the overall business results of the company.
The ideal situation would be not only to prove that executive coaching is effective but also to document under what circumstances is executive coaching most effective. In order to identify the best possible circumstances for using coaching the future research should look into the effect of coaching related to the following external factors:
Conclusion
Based on the research findings it is possible to prove a positive effect of executive coaching but it is not possible to make unambiguous conclusions to what extent. Too few research have been including pre-test which makes it difficult to quantify the effect. Adding to the problem is that most research have not been including a control group, which has not been receiving coaching. This is a must in order to isolate the effect of coaching from all other factors influencing the business result of the company.
Another issue is that at this point of time there is not much evidence to support a clear guideline to when it is recommended to use coaching; as it cannot be documented under what circumstances coaching will be the best choice for the company.
Even though the research paper can conclude a positive effect of executive coaching, more empirical research is needed to quantify the effect. Overall the above mentioned issues with the measurements of executive coaching give a “black box” feel to executive coaching.
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