Coaching at work may help results most, with smaller gains in skills and feelings

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   The studies covered 2,267 people, most of them senior managers or managers. The paper does not give their ages.

2. 02

   What they did

   Coaches were either inside or outside the company. Most studies compared coaching with no coaching; three only measured people before and after. Coaching averaged about 6 sessions over about 19 weeks.

3. 03

   What happened

   Coaching was linked to bigger gains in feelings, skills and results than comparison groups had. The gain in results was largest, but came from three studies, and the authors did not check for missing negative studies. Gains were smaller when coaches came from outside the company or when feedback came from several people at work.

What the review found

1. HelpedOther outcomes

   Across 10 studies, coaching brought bigger gains in feelings and attitudes than others did.

   • Action: Set a specific goaltested
   • Rule: With a coach or therapisttested

   Pooled analysis of 10 studies with 592 people · vs people with no coaching, or scores before coaching · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

2. HelpedOther outcomes

   Across 10 studies, coaching brought bigger gains in skills, such as leadership, than others did.

   • Action: Set a specific goaltested
   • Rule: With a coach or therapisttested

   Pooled analysis of 10 studies with 1,784 people · vs people with no coaching, or scores before coaching · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

3. HelpedGoals

   Across three studies, coaching brought bigger gains in output and goals reached than others did.

   • Action: Set a specific goaltested
   • Rule: With a coach or therapisttested

   Pooled analysis of 3 studies with 116 people · vs people with no coaching, or scores before coaching · ⚠ results look too good to be true; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

Source