Research Summary: The Impact of Executive Coaching on Job Performance
  by Jillian Starman, Ph.D.

A recent study on the impact of executive coaching found that executive coaching is being used to improve job performance. The term “executive coaching” was coined in the mid 1980s by the Division of Consulting Psychology of the American Psychological Association. It is a client focused process that engages the executive in dialogue with a coaching professional to address performance gaps and organizational outcomes. The focus of the research study was to identify the effect executive coaching is having on the participants’ satisfaction, learning, job behavior, and job performance.

The research study focused specifically on executive women and the impact that coaching had on their job performance. The executive women who participated in the survey came from ten different business sectors including retail, finance, healthcare, education, pharmaceutical, and technology. Forty-eight percent of the respondents had been in their current position for over five years which indicates that the executive women were seasoned professionals who may have come to realize the positive impact that executive coaching could have on job performance. This study also found that fifty-two percent of the participants had experienced over thirty hours of coaching which may suggest that these executive women were using the coaching process over a period of time to address performance issues.

The first section of the survey asked the executive women to what extent they were satisfied with their executive coaching experience. All of the executive women surveyed indicated that coaching was a valuable experience, and that they enjoyed working with their executive coach. Most of the executive women noted that they were satisfied with the overall coaching experience to the degree that they would participate in executive coaching in the future.

The second section of the survey focused on what work related knowledge, skills, or abilities the executive women were learning as a direct result of participating in executive coaching. Participants in the study indicated that the most important added knowledge they learned were in the areas of communication, relationship building, and reflection. Some of the executive women also noted that they learned additional skills in goal setting, decision making, and strategic focus from their participation in executive coaching.

The third section of the research study identified changes in job behavior that the executive women applied as result of participating in executive coaching. The top three changes in job behavior recorded by the survey were applying effective communication strategies, improved decision making, and coaching other employees. Some participants noted that they had also made more balanced choices and were spending more time developing work relationships as a direct result of participating in executive coaching. Other participants indicated that they felt they were more organized or strategically focused as a direct result of participating in executive coaching.

The fourth and final section of the research study asked the executive women if their job performance had improved as a direct result of participating in executive coaching. Ninety percent of the respondents indicated that participating in executive coaching had improved their job performance. The executive women felt they were better managers and leaders as a direct result of participating in executive coaching, and that their interpersonal communications had improved. The executive women have also seen improvement in their professional relationships and productivity, and many of them felt that they were more goal-oriented.

The results of this study, especially the responses to the questions in the final section of the survey, demonstrate to women in management as well as to the coaching profession that executive coaching can have a positive impact on job performance.