One of the murkiest areas concerning executive coaching is proving the end results justify the invested resources. One thing for certain is that coaching intent has moved away from addressing derailing behavior to changing behavior to drive business results.
- By Joseph Warren

In the early days of executive coaching, the process was used more as a last resort to stop a top leader's derailing behaviors and thought processes. As executive coaching matured as a profession, it has moved along the spectrum to focus mostly on helping executives and high-potential leaders develop the right business behaviors. The evolutionary process is long from over as organizations struggle to identify and measure coaching results.

Executing a coaching process requires a significant amount of corporate resources, and organizations expect a return on the investment. The challenge is developing the right goal-driven program and finding the proof that it works because there are many skeptics who still wonder if executive coaching is more of a "feel good" process than anything else.

Instinctively Knowing vs. Proven Impact
Depending on the report read, executive coaching delivers a significant Return on Investment (ROI) or Return on Expectations (ROE). The exact impact of coaching is difficult to quantify because it involves behavioral and psychological changes that are challenging to link to specific financial results.

An oft-quoted 2011 PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Association Resource survey of coaching clients reported the mean return on investment for companies investing in coaching is seven times the initial investment. It sounds wonderful, but what does that mean exactly?

The PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP International Survey Unit prepared the 2013 ICF Organizational Coaching Study for the International Coach Federation (ICF), conducting 24 business interviews on coaching across global regions and industries. The study found that mostly very senior-level executives and high-potential but less senior-grade employees are coached.

Though most organizations said they instinctively "know" the coaching has been effective, the proof is mostly anecdotal. Few organizations had a formal impact measurement process in place with most using an informal approach. The organizations that did collect formal feedback were largely using 360 feedback programs, and employee engagement and satisfaction surveys.

Ripe to Succeed or Doomed to Failure
What is the purpose of executive coaching in today's business environment? How does an organization know it is getting results that justify the money paid to the coach, the employee time invested in the one-on-one meetings and completing assessments, and stakeholder time to deliver feedback? Those are difficult questions to answer because each coaching situation is unique.

Executive Coach Marshall Goldsmith writes the Ask the Coach column for harvardbusiness.org and was asked: "What are the conditions that are ripe for an executive coaching engagement to succeed, and when is it doomed to failure?"

His answer was simple: Executive coaching can help only if the person has behavioral issues that need addressing because they are impacting the ability to successfully lead. "Behavioral coaching only solves behavioral issues," he said.

Goldsmith also believes that coaches should not coach integrity violations. This is an important point because acting ethically and with integrity is critical to minimizing organizational risks. If an executive does not have integrity, it is likely he needs to be fired before the organization is ruined. Goldsmith also makes the point that behavioral coaching cannot turn a person or organization around if it is headed in the wrong direction.

One of the key elements of a successful coaching program is delivering plenty of confidential feedback. Other people should be involved in the coaching process through surveys and in other ways. Coworkers need to participate in some of the coaching sessions, but they need to be willing to give honest feedback.

However, it is just as important that the person be willing to change. To change, says Professor KonsatantinKorotov with the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin, Germany, the executive needs to understand his or her own personality as well as understand what motivates others. The example he gives is an executive who is afraid to take risks, and the reasons may not be obvious because they are subconscious. The coach's role is to help the executive gain personal insights.

Dynamic Business Processes Benefit Most From Coaching
Improving executive behavior can improve a variety of business processes. The Sherpa 2015 Executive Coaching Survey found that change management is the process that benefits the most. That was followed by creating growth. Following far behind were productivity, building trust and succession planning. Dynamic business processes are getting the most value from executive coaching.

Measuring the benefits of coaching is important because it proves the investment is bringing results. Though 360 feedback is used most often, it is not the only method of measurement. Others include performance reviews, employee engagement, ROI, ROE and Impact on Business. Whatever measurement system is used, it is the feedback that can best produce leader performance changes to drive business results, and it should be ongoing, even after the coaching ends.

Successful coaches help the client focus on themselves with a different perspective and within the business context. Stakeholders must be supportive of the coaching effort, otherwise there is a risk the coach will be ineffective due to lack of honest feedback. It is the stakeholders who should decide if the executive has really made significant positive change.

Anyone looking for hard science proving executive coaching is worth the investment will be disappointed. The reality is that it is still an evolving profession, and each organization must determine if it is getting the desired results.

Each coaching program involves a different organizational culture and challenges, and different executive needs. However, successful coaching programs do have some common characteristics. There is a well-defined purpose, clear goals set for the coaching investments, and transparency. The coaching results should be documented and the information shared with other organizational leaders to strengthen the coaching culture.