A Framework of Executive Coaching Outcomes and a Meta-Analysis of Executive Coaching Effectiveness

Objectives: To provide a framework in which outcomes of coaching can be classified and to present a meta-analysis that synthesizes the existing research on executive coaching effectiveness in order to understand the impact of coaching on work-based outcomes.
Design: Meta-analysis
Methods: A review of the literature related to the distinction between effectiveness and evaluation; definitions of coaching effectiveness; and of training outcomes were conducted to create the framework of coaching outcomes. As a result of this review, a framework was suggested that classified coaching outcomes as either affective; behavioural/skill-based or results/performance. A further extensive literature search then identified 24 studies that matched our inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. These studies were coded on a variety of variables including the type of outcome (as proposed by our framework) and predictor variables including multi-source feedback; type of coach; coaching format and coaching technique. Hunter & Schmidt’s (1990, 2004) meta-analytic procedure was followed.
Results: Our findings indicate that executive coaching has a moderate to strong positive effect on outcomes, with the largest effect size for results/performance outcomes. Conclusions: The overall effectiveness of executive coaching varies depending on the type of outcome considered, however the effect sizes obtained for overall effectiveness (ranging from 0.33 to 0.57) can be classified as a medium to strong effect (Cohen, 1992). We believe that this result has positive implications for the effectiveness of coaching and the likely return on investment for organizations utilising coaching as a development method. This effect size appears to be comparable to those obtained for other types of organisational interventions.