Determining factors in the effectiveness of executive coaching as a management development tool

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a classified list of the factors that are most influential in the success of an executive coaching process, arranged in order of importance. Design/methodology/approach – Selection of factors from an exhaustive literature review, and development of a qualitative investigation, applying a Focus Group, a Nominal Group technique, and the Delphi method to a group of experts comprising coaches, coachees, and human resources managers, in order to complete and assess the factors selected. Findings – The most outstanding factors needed in executive coaching are confidentiality, trust, and empathy between coach and coachee; the coach’s ability to generate trust, and her/his competence in communication skills, vocation and commitment; the coachee’s need, motivation, responsibility for his/her own development and commitment to the process; and a guarantee from the organization of the confidentiality of that process. Practical implications – This research furnishes a quantitative criterion for the evaluation and ranking of the determining factors in coaching success, which facilitates a justified selection of factors, both for research and professional purposes. Social implications – This study makes it possible to better channel the allocation of resources and gearing of business decisions for the implementation of coaching programs. Originality/value – This paper provides a systematic review of the empirically based literature dealing with the main success factors in the effective application of executive coaching, and contributes new factors derived from the knowledge of professional experts, along with a classified and ranked list of those factors, assessed in terms of their relevance to the satisfactory outcome of a coaching process.

Challenges for the Theory and Practice of Business Coaching

“…The findings with regard to effective coach characteristics and skills across the three groups of studies reviewed can be summarised into four consistent themes -integrity, support for the coachee, communication skills (Rekalde, Landeta, & Albizu, 2015) and behaviours, and credibility. Important elements of integrity were trustworthiness (Blattner, 2005;Graham, Wedman, & Garvin-Kester, 1994;Gregory & Levy, 2011;Judge & Cowell, 1997;Kombarakaran, Yang, Baker, & Fernandes, 2008;Kralj, 2001;O'Brion & Palmer, 2010;Orenstein, 2006;Peterson, 1996;Rekalde et al, 2015) and maintenance of confidentiality (Blackman, 2010;Douglas & McCauley, 1999;Rekalde et al, 2015;Segers, Vloeberghs, Henderickx, & Inceoglu, 2011;Taie, 2011).…”

“…Support for the coachee included empathy (De Haan, Culpin, & Curd, 2011;Gregory & Levy, 2011) being non-judgemental (Blackman, 2010;Judge & Cowell, 1997), and being able to put issues into a larger perspective (Ahern, 2003;Graham et al, 1994;Orenstein, 2006;Styhre & Josephson, 2007). Communication skills were particularly important (Graham et al, 1994;Longenecker, 2010;Rekalde et al, 2015;Thach, 2002) with particular significance attached to the provision of clear performance expectations (Ahern, 2003;Graham et al, 1994;Orenstein, 2000) and detailed and regular feedback (De Haan, 2008b;Graham et al, 1993Graham et al, , 1994Gregory & Levy, 2011;Judge & Cowell, 1997;Karsten, 2010;Longenecker, 2010;Miller, 2003;Olivero et al, 1997;Orenstein, 2006;Strayer & Rossett, 1994;Taie, 2011;Wasylyshyn, 2003). In the case of these first three themes the conclusions are consistent with those made by Joo (2005) and Passmore and Fillery-Travis (2011).…”

“…Important elements of integrity were trustworthiness (Blattner, 2005;Graham, Wedman, & Garvin-Kester, 1994;Gregory & Levy, 2011;Judge & Cowell, 1997;Kombarakaran, Yang, Baker, & Fernandes, 2008;Kralj, 2001;O'Brion & Palmer, 2010;Orenstein, 2006;Peterson, 1996;Rekalde et al, 2015) and maintenance of confidentiality (Blackman, 2010;Douglas & McCauley, 1999;Rekalde et al, 2015;Segers, Vloeberghs, Henderickx, & Inceoglu, 2011;Taie, 2011). Support for the coachee included empathy (De Haan, Culpin, & Curd, 2011;Gregory & Levy, 2011) being non-judgemental (Blackman, 2010;Judge & Cowell, 1997), and being able to put issues into a larger perspective (Ahern, 2003;Graham et al, 1994;Orenstein, 2006;Styhre & Josephson, 2007).…”

Analysis of executive coaching effectiveness: a study from the coachee perspective

“…This will enable elements of the process to be altered and refined, in order better to meet the client's specific needs. According to the proposed model and other texts (i.e., Joo 2005;Passmore and Fillery-Travis 2011;Bozer et al 2014b;Rekalde et al 2015;Blackman et al 2016), the main variables conditioning the result of the coaching experience are: the performance of the coach, the readiness of the coachee, the relationship between coach and coachee, the characteristics of the coaching process and the organizational context. The hypothesized model therefore proposes a formative evaluation of the 'coach', 'coachee', 'relationship' and 'process' variables, analyzing their influence on coachee satisfaction, which impacts favorably on the results of the intervention.…”

“…The coach should possess certain skills that will contribute to the good outcome of the process, having a positive impact on coachee perception of the effectiveness of coaching (De Haan et al 2013). Among these aptitudes, the literature particularly highlights communication skills (Hall et al 1999;Gyllensten and Palmer 2006;De Haan et al 2011;Rekalde et al 2015), since it is reasonable to presume that coaches who contribute to a satisfactory coaching experience are competent at communicating with the coachee (verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening, assertiveness, etc.). Other authors mention the ability to generate trust amongst coachees (Gyllensten and Palmer 2006;Jones and Spooner 2006;Rekalde et al 2015;Bozer at al.…”