The Impact of Organizational Coaching

Executive coaching has become as accepted in Fortune 1000 busineses as sports coaching is on the athletic field.

What is the ROI of executive coaching?

• Manchester Inc. reported that a survey of executives from large (mostly FORTUNE 1000) companies found that those who had participated in a coaching program characterized the ROI to be in the order of 6:1.
• In other words, a coaching program that cost $15,000 for six months would translate into $90,000 in cost savings for the organization.
• This research was cited by Fortune Magazine as representing strong confirmatory evidence supporting the effectiveness of executive coaching

The conundrum is this: executive coaching typically focuses on a thin layer of senior management. And while the ROI seems strong, what about the rest of the organization?

While I'm not suggesting that every employee be assigned an executive coach, a greater ROI can be achieved when "organizational coaching" is applied to unlock the potential of improved performance of every person in the organization.

I'm not referring to the fluffy stuff here. I'm talking about the kind of organizational coaching that provides much more impact on the ENTIRE organziation's ability to improve performance. These are the core competencies of learning, growing organizations:

• formulating strategy
• developing goals that can lead an organization
• creating initiatives and projects that support the goals
• assigning dates, deadlines, measures and accountability
• developing activity plans and monitoring progress
• cultivating innovation
• learning how to continually improve performance

Executive coaching has much to offer. Organizational coaching, however, is where real change occurs, and where the return on investment is the greatest.