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Measuring the impact of coaching
Many of the real benefits of coaching are hard to measure e.g. increased confidence, clarity, a sense of well-being, reduced stress, better relationships, improved career prospects. In attempting to measure the impact of coaching, these are some points to consider:
- Feedback from the coachee can be misleading. A coachee may have forgotten that they ever felt differently than they do after coaching because the process has been so “effortless”.
- A coachee may say they feel different which may be very significant for them even if hard to prove.
- The benefits of coaching often continue to develop even after the coachee has finished working with a coach. It may be months or even years before the full impact of their work with a coach can really be seen to full effect.
- Sometimes coachees do not benefit from coaching. This may not be a reflection of the quality of the coaching they received but to do with their attitude and willingness to take on board new behaviours.
- It can never be known whether the changes observed would have occurred naturally without the intervention of the coach. Again, the coachee is often (but not always) in the best position to know the extent to which coaching caused particular outcomes.
Some ways to test whether coaching has been of value:
- The coachee sets clearly defined goals at the start of the process. Throughout the process progress towards these goals can be seen. Achievement of these goals is one measure of effective coaching.
- The coachee undertakes an assessment e.g. emotional intelligence test or 360 feedback, at the start of the process. During the process or at the end they re-take the test. Improved scores can indicate effective coaching.
- The coachee assesses their current level of satisfaction with particular areas of their life or work with a score out of 10 e.g. 5/10 satisfied with levels of self-confidence. During and at the end of the process they re-score. Improved scores can indicate effective coaching.
- Coachee, coach and employer agree a set of success criteria at the start of the process based on the results of an annual appraisal, feedback from colleagues or an internal core competency tool. During and at the end of the process, progress in relation to these success criteria is assessed.
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