9 Reasons Why Executive Coaching Fails in Organizations
Executive coaching is the most effective leadership development tool available, bar none. And yet, year after year, companies waste enormous amounts of money and time on executive coaching that doesn’t deliver results.
The negative impact of failed coaching initiatives
Consider these negative impacts in terms of loss of time, money, efforts, and lost opportunities.
• High potential employees will miss a chance to improve upon 1-2 critical behaviors needed to move up the career ladder
• Management will criticize another highly advertised human resources initiative that didn’t live up to the hype
• Human resource department wonders what went wrong – how an initiative with so much promise could fail so miserably!
• Leaders and teams will miss development opportunities
• The organization will miss out on utilizing its potential and maximizing performance
Which is the best leadership development program?
What are the reasons executive coaching fails to deliver results in organizations? Often, companies jump on the coaching bandwagon without a systematic thought process or clearly defined action plans. These are essential for the success of any executive coaching initiative. Here are 9 questions to ask, corresponding to the 9 reasons why coaching initiatives fail in organizations.
Read: Is your leadership development effective? Or is the money going down the drain?
9 reasons why organizations waste their money on executive coaching
Here are 9 reasons and questions that will guide you through the process to maximize the ROI on the coaching dollars. When you answer these questions, you will go through the entire thought process that allows you to plan, implement, manage, and get measurable results from the executive coaching intervention.
It will also allow you to answer questions or objections and convince the decision-makers to get buy-in and support for the coaching intervention. If you answer no to six or more of these questions, it is a cause for serious concern as there is a good chance of the executive coaching intervention may fail to deliver results.
1. What is the organization’s strategy?
The strategic direction the organization has decided will dictate what competencies will be required of the leaders and hence need to be developed through executive coaching. Although many details go into deciding the strategy,
I will take a simple example to elaborate on this point. Think about two different companies – Walmart and Starbucks. Walmart has a strategy of low-cost operation so that they can provide the lowest prices to customers. Starbucks, on the other hand, is built on outstanding customer service and a fabulous customer experience.
If you only rely on standard competency models, you may end up developing some leadership competencies in both organizations, but probably not the ones that will provide your organization with a strategic advantage.
We help companies to assess their leaders on 15 Global leadership competencies using Global Leadership Assessment or GLA 360.We then compare your leaders with the norm group of global leaders. We then help you align the competencies to strategy to leverage leadership development.
2. Do you have the support of the senior leadership team?
The senior leadership team ultimately decides whether to allocate the budget for coaching or not. And that is just the beginning. Their support is also essential throughout the implementation of coaching.
The CEO and the senior leadership team have to be convinced of the value and ROI of the coaching investment. If the CEO is unwilling to support the executive coaching, chances are she has seen prior executive coaching (or other leadership development initiatives) that failed to deliver any business impact.
One of the best ways to convince the senior leadership team is to first think of these questions and answer them thoroughly. Then make a presentation that answers these questions and clearly outlines the impact and ROI of executive coaching.
We will sit down with you to help you answer these 9 questions honestly and thoroughly. When you have done your homework and can clearly show the measurable ROI of the coaching investment that has an escape clause, you are better equipped to convince the top leadership to go ahead with the investment and provide ongoing support during the process.
3. Who should you include and how to decide?
If an organization had no budget constraints, then every leader at any level will benefit from executive coaching. But we live in a real world where most organizations have a limited budget. So decisions have to be made on who will be included in the executive coaching program.
Here are some thoughts on the decision-making criteria. Without having clear criteria, individual leaders may end up nominating their “favorite” employees to coach instead of the most deserving or the ones who will have the most impact.
1. Include senior leaders first:
It is best to start a coaching program with the senior-most leaders. They have the maximum impact on the organization. They set the direction and execute the strategy. Hence investing in them will result in the highest payoff. Leaders who are at least at the director level, and/or in charge of entire departments or divisions are the right candidates. Besides, when senior leaders role model the desired behaviors, they cascade down to their team members, multiplying the benefit of executive coaching.
2. Include high potential leaders:
Whether it is through performance management, assessment centers, or succession planning, most organizations have a process of identifying high potential employees. All the high potential employees identified through such a process can be included in the executive coaching intervention.
3. Include leaders willing to change:
While this sounds obvious, we often meet leaders who are unwilling to change. This can be because of many reasons – the leader is close to retirement, she is not the right fit for a particular role, or he may have a derailing behavior that he is unable or unwilling to change. Changing the well-entrenched behaviors of successful leaders is difficult even when the leader is ready and willing. Trying to change the behaviors of a successful leader who doesn’t want to change is a waste of time and money.
We will help you select the right candidates for leadership coaching so that you can maximize the impact.
4. How will you measure success?
It is not uncommon to see organizations use the likability criteria to measure the success of executive coaching. Feedback from the leader being coached usually only means that the leader liked the coach and the coaching process. It hardly has anything to do with the business impact of the coaching! And because of these success criteria, many coaches tell the leader what they want to hear, and avoid telling them what they really NEED to hear! The coach and the leader may have great intellectual discussions around the issues, but not much will happen in terms of the behavior change at work.
The only criteria for the success of executive coaching should be a positive behavior change of the coachee at work. And this behavior change should be anonymously rated by the leader’s stakeholders – the direct manager, peers, and subordinates.
We believe that the only measure of success should be real behavior change at work. We administer 3 leadership growth progress reviews (LGPR’s) during the coaching intervention. LGPRs are anonymous surveys by the leader’s team members whether the leader has improved their behavior at work or not. This helps measure both the progress and sustainability of the desired behaviors at work.
5. How long should the executing coaching process last?
The ultimate goal of coaching is to help the leader make a sustainable change in behavior at work. The coach’s role is the support of the leader until she can do it on her own. Often, organizations enlist coaches without a clear deadline for delivering results. This is counterproductive for the leader and the organization. The coaching may go on and on as the coach is being paid by the session.
Ideally, the coaching engagement should last long enough for the leader to form habits that will sustain the behavior. A coaching process that lasts less than six months may be ineffective. Six months is not a long enough time period to sustain behavior change. The ideal time period to convert new behaviors into lasting habits is 12 to 18 months. On the other hand, if coaching takes longer than 18 months, the coaching goal may be too ambitious, the coachee may not be putting in the efforts, or the coach may not facilitating the process professionally.
Instead of feel-good coaching that may go on and on, we have clearly defined time limits. 6-12 months to sustained behavioral change at work.
6. Which coaching methodology(or process) to use?
Unfortunately, many human resources professionals themselves are not clear about their choices of available coaching methodologies. Even when they are aware, the choice is based on which coaching agencies or providers have marketed themselves well enough! There are just a few large-scale scientific studies available to measure the effectiveness in terms of behavior change at work. Most coaching agencies cite the studies that measure the likeability of the coach or the coachee’s perception if the coaching was helpful. Now, any coaching is likely to be helpful when compared with no coaching at all. But is that enough? If the coaching does not help the leader change her behavior at work, it cannot be considered effective.
Coaching methodologies can be classified into two main categories. Research has proven one method to be significantly more effective than the other. Unfortunately, most leadership professionals are only aware of the less effective method and hence tend to prefer it due to the common knowledge bias.
1. Psychological coaching
The focus of psychological coaching is to find the reasons for a leader’s behaviors. It often includes personality assessments that will shed light on the “personality” or “tendencies” of the leader. The popular assessments used are FIRO-B, MBTI, 16PF, HPI, etc. These tools allow the coachee to understand why she behaves in a certain way and helping her change it. The premise is that if you understand why then you can work on the how. The coach is the “expert” and often at the center of the coaching process and is responsible for behavior change.
2. Behavioral coaching
Behavioral coaching methodology assumes that
1. we exhibit behaviors that are rewarded and
2. we tend to avoid behaviors that are discouraged or punished.
Our current behaviors are developed as a result of interactions with friends, family, colleagues over time. We do more of what is rewarded and tend to avoid what is “punished” or dissuaded. Although behavior coaches agree that every individual is born with certain traits and tendencies, they don’t worry about the past and why the leader behaves in a certain manner.
By the time you are a grown adult and a leader in the mid-forties, there is little use in finding out I am this way because of my parents and wanting to blame them! Behavioral coaches’ focus is to help the leader change future behavior while interacting with the stakeholders.
In the earlier part of an employee’s career, the behaviors that are rewarded are based on individual achievement. As the employee moves up the career ladder, these same individualistic behaviors may become a hindrance in getting work done by others.
Behavioral coaches work from the premise that a leader will develop new or different behaviors through the same process they learned their current behaviors! Through reinforcement of desired behaviors and dissuasion of the undesired behaviors. The coach interviews the leader’s team members and conducts 360-degree feedback of the leader to understand which behaviors are useful and which ones are derailing.
Can you guess which of these two methodologies is effective? Most human resource professionals get it wrong. As I mentioned before, it is in part due to the constant advertisement, halo effect, and common knowledge bias.
A comprehensive study among 11,000 business leaders on 4 continents by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith and Howard Morgan found their behavioral coaching process to be 95% effective.
The effectiveness is measured in terms of on job behavior change of the leader as anonymously assessed by the leader’s own team members. The study was then extended to 86,000 leaders with similar effectiveness numbers.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any large-scale studies that measure on job behavior change of leaders who have undergone the psychological coaching process.
We use a stakeholder centered coaching process developed by World’s number 1 leadership thinker Dr. Marshall Goldsmith. It is a clearly defined process that delivers guaranteed and measurable results.
7. Which executive coaching provider to use and why?
Although the previous questions will help narrow down the list of the coaching service providers, there are a few important questions that you should consider.
1. Availability of coaches locally across geographies
If you prefer local coaching (as opposed to virtual coaching via video calls), the availability and reach of coaches across the locations your company does business with will become a criterion. For multinational companies, having local coaches also helps with language and culture. Even if you decide to have virtual coaching, it is good to have a pool of coaches to choose from.
2. Are the coaches full-time employees, or are do they freelance
Relatively few consulting organizations have full-time executive coaches on their payroll. Most consulting organizations work with a network of qualified and experienced coaches who are freelancers. This allows the client to access a larger pool of global coaches across geographies. The flip side is ensuring the uniformity of the coaching process.
We are the largest executive coaching network in the world. 3000+ coaches in 200+ cities in 55+ countries. All of the coaches are certified in and use the exact same process. We also support the coach, leader, and the entire process through a single online platform. This provides clarity, transparency, and uniformity among all the coaches. It also helps the leader with accountability and habit formation.
Read: What are the best executive coaching programs? Which are the top executive coaching firms?
8. How to maximize the ROI in coaching: Investment and performance guarantee
1. Investment
Coaching is the most effective tool available today. However, coaching also requires significant investment, time, effort, and support from senior leadership.
Depending upon the experience of the coach, and the level of the leader coached, the investment amounts vary. For example, for a CEO, you may want to hire an experienced coach. On the other hand, for a mid-management level, a coach with a decade of experience may be appropriate.
Executive coaching for a period of 6 months onwards starts at around $5,000 per leader. It can go to $50,000 and upwards for a CEO of a large multinational. If we look at the coaching investment in terms of the leader’s annual CTC (10% can be spent on coaching) and impact on the organization’s performance, it more than justifies the investment.
For levels below mid-management, long-term training interventions and/or team coaching may be useful and cost-effective.
2. Performance guarantee
One of the salient points of our behavioral coaching model is performance guarantee. We often work with our clients on a no-growth no-pay basis. The payment is deferred to the end of the coaching intervention. If the leader does not measurably improve (as anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members), there is no charge! Yes, you read it right! Instead of wishing, hoping, and praying that a training or coaching intervention will deliver results as promised, you can be assured of the results.
3. How involved should HR and top management be in the coaching process?
Coaching is a one on one and confidential relationship between the coach and the coachee. Due to this reason, many HR and top management professionals are not in the loop of what is happening with the leader. They have little idea about what the leader is working on and whether the leader has improved or not.
But this should not be the case. At the start of the coaching assignment, the coach should clearly outline the areas she will work on with the leader. HR should also get monthly or quarterly updates on the leader’s progress. While it is ethical for the coach to maintain confidentiality, if the coach finds anything illegal or unethical during the process, the coach should immediately report it to HR and the management.
Our 6-12 month long coaching process often costs less than sending a single leader to a short duration (a few days) leadership development program at a reputed B-school.
You don’t have to send your leaders to a program. We come to you. Virtually or in person. We offer no growth, no pay clause. If the leader does not measurably improve (as anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members), we will not charge you! We provide monthly progress reports from our online platform and 3 anonymous leadership growth progress reviews. This keeps HR, top management, and sponsor in the loop and updated on the progress.
Read Case Study – How we delivered Guaranteed measurable results delivered for our FMCG client
9. How to scale organization-wide the benefits of coaching?
There is a difference between leader development and leadership development. The focus of leadership development is to develop individual leaders. The focus of leadership development is to create conditions within the organization so that more and more leaders are created.
One of the best ways to leadership development is to enroll the entire senior leadership team in executive coaching. A leader is always leading by example – whether they know it or not, believe it or not, or like it or not. When leaders invest time and effort in their own development, the benefits cascade down to the entire team.
Many organizations start with leadership coaching for the entire leadership team. Then the coaching is extended to leaders one level down. Eventually, this helps create a culture of feedback, transparency, learning, collaboration, change, and innovation. Team members are more engaged, and performance improves.
During the coaching of the top leadership team or the 2nd level leadership team, if several leaders have the same or similar improvement areas, then some further actions may be warranted. Better recruitment, better training, clarification of values, competencies, and desired behaviors are some of the things that can be done to prevent undesirable behaviors and hence reduce the need for coaching.
Instead of just developing individual leaders, let us help you scale to organization-wide leadership development.
We will help you scale and cascade leadership development across the organization and create a culture that is conducive to developing more leaders at all levels.
Read: Developing leaders vs. leadership developmen
In Conclusion
These 9 criteria and the related question will help you select the right coaching program and vendor to maximize the value and the ROI of your coaching investment.
Tired of coaching programs that didn’t deliver?
Tired of coaching programs that didn’t live up to the hype? Tired of management asking you to demonstrate measurable ROI on leadership development investment.
Ready to create the most impactful organization-wide leadership development program with measurable ROI with a no-growth no pay clause?
NAL Triple Advantage Coaching with Guaranteed and Measurable results
We offer our New Age Leadership – NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching that delivers guaranteed and measurable leadership growth. It is based on a stakeholder-centered coaching process with a 95% effectiveness rate (in a study or 11000 leaders on four continents). Companies ranging from startups to 150 of the Fortune 500 use this process to develop their leaders.
NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching
We offer our New Age Leadership Triple advantage coaching that delivers guaranteed and measurable leadership growth. It is based on a stakeholder-centered coaching process with a 95% effectiveness rate (in a study or 11000 leaders on 4 continents). It is used by companies ranging from startups to 150 of the Fortune 500 companies to develop their leaders.
Here are some of the salient benefits of NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching
Separate and customized improvement areas for each leader:Every leader is different. One size fits all approach doesn’t work. Individual development areas for each leader aligned to the business strategy.
Involves entire team: Unlike most leadership programs, NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching involves the leader’s entire team, and it has a cascading effect – increasing the team effectiveness and improving organizational culture.
The leader becomes the coach: for continuous improvement for leaders themselves and their teams. It is like kaizen for your leadership development.
Cost-Effective: Our entire one-year coaching engagement often costs less than sending the leader to a short-duration leadership program at any reputed B school.
Guaranteed and measurable leadership growth: as assessed – not by us – but anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members.
Pay us only after we deliver results! : We work with many of our clients on a pay for results basis. What does it mean? If the leaders don’t improve, you simply don’t have to pay us.
Schedule a 15-minute conversation: no obligation and no sales pitch
Reference – MAKING COACHING WORK: Ten Easy Steps by Marc Effron