• Does the coaching style applied within the coaching session make a difference to obtaining positive results?
• Does having a trained and qualified coach make a difference to the outcomes of internal coaching?
• Does internal coaching have an impact on achieving business outcomes?
Overview of the Study
The research hypothesis seeks to confirm that internal coaching had contributed to a positive impact on business outcomes. From the data collected it was found that the participants felt the coach was important to the success of the coaching session. There was evidence of positive support for the internal coach being objective, credible, confidential and independent to the department. It was also apparent that the coaching style adopted by the coach during the coaching session was a blended mix of coaching, mentoring and instruction.
There was also an indication that some participating coaches were more effective than others. It was inconclusive whether being trained and qualified provided a more effective positive impact as the qualitative and quantitative data provides some suggestion of success for all coaches, particularly those who had no qualifications or experience in coaching. The findings demonstrated that clients felt they had successfully achieved their objectives set in the coaching; which supported the research question that internal coaching had an impact on business outcomes. It was also established that participants felt that changes in terms of business outcomes could be attributed to the internal coaching. In other words, they felt that performance had changed in a positive manner due to contributable behaviours affected and influenced through the coaching interventions.
This research observed coaching activities of participants undertaking a programme of coaching within a multi-media company, comprising two stages
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each proceeded with a pilot. The first was a narrative enquiry using accounts written by coaches and their clients, describing experiences of the same session. Twelve narrative accounts were received; 6 from coaches and 6 from clients. These were studied to identify common themes. NVivo software was used to support the process of extracting the essence of what was reported in the accounts to form a skeletal pattern of events to establish the themes.
Stage two of the research comprised a survey of 41 questions built around the themes that were identified from the 12 narratives. A benchmark question was used in the survey to establish a quantitative measure of success as perceived by the clients.
The 12 written narrative accounts were studied in the first stage of the research. These were collected from 10 participants; 4 coaches and 6 clients. The coaches were asked to produce a separate account for each of their 2 clients. In stage two, 135 participants were asked to complete the survey questionnaire; 59% (n=80) completed the survey. However, not every item in the questionnaire was answered by every respondent. For example, only 65 participants completed the quantitative question on business outcomes measuring the perceived achievement of objectives set. All responses (n=80) to the questionnaire have been considered when calculating the percentages of specific activities included in the questionnaire items, as these were not reliant on the quantitative benchmark question.
The findings demonstrate that internal coaching had contributed to a positive impact on business outcomes.
Narrative Analysis
The first stage of the research produced twelve narrative accounts by coaches and their clients describing first-hand experiences of the coaching sessions. This number was suggested appropriate by Willig (2010), considering labour and time available for data collection and analysis. No structure was provided as a template for the narratives to avoid stemming or influencing information, although a couple of prompts were provided.
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Key activities were primarily identified in the narratives by reading and interpreting the accounts, an analysis method which Andrews, Squire and Tamboukou (2008) describe as narrative in context; using the contextual experience of the researcher who understands the context of this research. Vogel (2012) also recognises the concept of context in coaching when he researched the use of narrative coaching. The key themes and activities identified were used to construct the questionnaire survey for the second stage of the research.
The activities, which were primarily identified by reading through the narratives, were refined and confirmed using a qualitative data analysis computer software package, NVivo. This package was designed by QSR International for researchers who use rich text-based information and was used to confirm the percentage of script written about the activities from each participant’s narrative. A summary report of the narratives, activities identified and percentage of script for each activity within the narrative is in Appendix 5. QSR International (2012) claim the software is there to support the researcher explore data:
NVivo, our flagship software, helps you manage, analyze and report on unstructured data like interviews, websites, images, videos and social media posts. NVivo doesn’t do the thinking for you; its powerful workspace helps you to explore your information, so you can focus on making new discoveries and better decisions (QSR International, 2012).
The following table (Table 5 on page 141) illustrates the total percentages for each activity identified using the software. These activities were initially outlined in Figure 3 (on page 106) from the themes and activities identified in the narratives. The activities in Table 5 (on page 141) are ranked in accordance to the average sum of all the percentages of script across the narratives.
The survey questionnaire was then designed around the key activities identified in the table. The table shows the activities that were identified from the narrative accounts. Specific activities were identified in a number of the twelve narratives, but not all; this is shown as ‘Number of Narratives’. For example, the coaching session was perceived to be a ‘positive experience’ in 11 different accounts and throughout these, is referred to 29 times. The ‘sum of all the percentages of script’ that a ‘positive experience’ refers to is stated in the fourth column. The last
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column represents the average percentage of script that this activity appears, calculated by taking the sum of all the percentage of script and dividing by the number of narratives it is mentioned in.
Table 5: Percentages of Narrative for Activity
Activity Number of Narratives Number of References to activity Sum of all % Average: Sum of % / No. of Narratives Achieving Progress 9 31 275.32 30.59 Exploring Objectives 10 41 305.16 30.52 Positive Experience 11 29 291.29 26.48 Business Outcomes 5 19 115.79 23.16 Achieving Objectives 9 21 197.54 21.95 Setting Objectives 12 34 223.72 18.64 360 Assessment 10 22 178.89 17.89 Mentoring Style 7 15 109.28 15.61 Coaching Style 6 12 88.54 14.76 Realisation Moment 9 16 132.61 14.73 Reflection 6 9 85.36 14.23
Client Led Discussion 4 5 38.14 9.54
Supported by Coach 6 7 37.44 6.24
Exploring Objectives is referred to 41 times and from 10 different narratives, and Setting Objectives is also frequently referred to (34 times in all 12 narratives). The activity that the ‘Client leads the Discussion’ is only referred to 5 times, in 4 different narratives. Achieving Business Outcomes is also only mentioned in 5 different narratives but has 19 references.
As previously outlined in the Literature chapter, style is considered to be the manner or behaviour that the coach takes to conduct the conversation. The styles, such as mentoring, coaching or instruction, might be flexibly applied and blended in a combination of approaches, depending on the conversation. In Table 5 above, the two styles that are identified in the table are mentoring and coaching. A coaching style is described in 6 of the 12 narratives and referenced 12 times. A mentoring style is described more frequently; in 7 narratives and referenced 15 times. The average coverage within a narrative is 15.61% for a mentoring style and 14.76% for a coaching style.
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Discussing the achievement of business outcomes is only mentioned in 5 narratives but is referred to within these narratives 19 times. However, achieving progress towards objectives set is discussed much more, as is exploring objectives. The former is mentioned in 9 of the 12 narratives a total of 31 times, and the latter is mentioned in 10 of the narratives and 41 times. Achieving business outcomes is represented 4th on the table by an average coverage of
23.16% and achieving progress towards objectives set is positioned higher in the table, with the highest average percentage of 30.59%.
The survey questionnaire was designed to determine if the activities identified in this narrative stage were important. The survey would provide quantitative data and percentage ratings; as well as the qualitative information from open questions. A summary report of the survey data is in Appendix 5.
The graph below shows the number of responses for the quantitative question in the survey measuring the perceived success of the coaching. Respondents were asked to respond by rating how well they achieved their objectives out of 10. Graph 1: How much do you feel you have achieved the objectives set?
The mean is the middle point between the two extremes and is calculated as the balance point in the distribution of the responses (middle point between 4 and 10
0 5 10 15 20 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Nu m ber o f r es po ns es rec ei ved
Response given out of 10