Research Paper: Shakti Ghosal Efficacy of Coaching concepts in a non-coaching organisational environment – An empirical study

7/29/2019 Research Paper: Shakti Ghosal Efficacy of Coaching concepts in a non-coaching organisational environment An e

1/22

Research Paper Assessment

Name: Shakti GhosalDate: 8th June 2012Student ID: CPCP ProgramEmail: [email protected]

Complete your 2000 word research paper and insert it in the space below.Then email this document as an attachment [email protected]

1
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


2/22

Efficacy of Coaching concepts in a non-coaching

organisational environment - An empirical study

International Coach Academy- Certified Professional Coach Program,

Research Report

Student Name: Shakti Ghosal

8th June 2012

No. of words: approximately 2000

Table of Contents

2


3/22

Section1- Introduction 4

Section 2 - Study Objective and Research Questions.. 5

Section 3- Methodology 6

Section 4 - Study findings and Results.. 8

Section 5Conclusion. 12

Section 6 Recommendation 14

Section 7- Study limitations.. 14

Bibliography and References 16

Annexure I- Workshop Details and Sequencing.. 17

Annexure II- Survey Questionnaire. 19

International Coach Academy, CPCP Research report

By Shakti Ghosal, student June2012

Section 1 : Introduction

3


4/22

Organizations are increasingly finding that traditional "command and control

Management style is no longer effective in todays post industrial, knowledge based

environment (Hirschhorn, 1990) signifying increasing complexity, flatter organisation

structures, networked information flows and just in time development ( Peter Webb,

2006). The requirements are individual empowerment, creativity and performance

coupled with rapid response and resilience.

It is largely accepted that Coaching intervention improves employee and organizational

resiliency and effectiveness, especially during rapid environmental changes.One of the

well known studies reported in The Manchester Review concludes that the

Organisational return on investment (ROI) is 5.7 times the initial investment in coaching

(Joy McGovern, Michael Lindemann et al, 2001)

However there are certain aspects which detract from a widespread use of Coaching.

1. Organisations often approach a coaching intervention to fix weakness, because

weakness can result in risk and cost. Yet the agenda of the coaching client



(deputed employee) is more concerned with how he can develop and play on his

4


5/22

strengths. This can become a difficult dynamic for perceived effectiveness and

acceptance of Coaching within the organisation. ( Steven Axelrod, 2006)

2. Organisations may also lack access and availability of accredited and effective

Coach resource specific to the needs of its business and environment.(CIPD

Survey, UK, 2009)

3. While coaching concept is well understood in developed economies, this is not

true in the developing world. Ironically, it is this latter space which today faces

significant business challenges and is possibly in need of urgent coaching

intervention. Unfortunately Managements lack understanding of what coaching

signifies and its delivery potential. This problem is further exacerbated by lack of

availability of experienced executive coaches in sufficient numbers.

Section 2 : Study Objective and Research Questions

This study is based on the Hypothesis that use of coaching skills and tools outside a

formal coaching process can be beneficial on a wide scale and in a cost effective manner.



The study proposes the following research:

5


6/22

(a) Determine effectiveness of Coaching concepts and tools in Organisations when

the concerned participants are not involved in a formal coaching process.

(b) Explore the extent to which use of coaching methodology can catalyse fresh

perspective to allow personnel to upgrade their own competencies and

organisational effectiveness.

Section 3 : Methodology

The study is based on the following:

1. Workshop Series: The author is part of the Senior Management team of his

organisation, Saud Bahwan Group (SBG) based in the Gulf region He has

conducted a set of three workshops themed, Management perspective shift for our

times -a Workshop for self discovery.

The participant target group was Mid level Managers and Supervisors of diverse

educational, work and nationality backgrounds from within the group. A total of 87

participants were spread over three sessions.

The stated objective was to catalyse fresh thinking and perspective with relation to

how Managers and supervisors perceive and utilise their own competencies. Are



6


7/22

their learnt and re-enforced behaviours and responses producing optimal results in

todays fast changing environment? There was no mention of the use of

Coaching process or concepts.

Workshop details and sequencing is given atAnnexure-1

Participant feedback was collated through observations during the workshops as

well as post workshop (after a period of one month) face to face sessions to

ascertain the extent of perspective shifts and take-aways from the earlier workshop.

Since no formal exposure to the Coaching process was available to the participants,

their feedback was without any preconceived bias and solely on their own

experience and perception of the various competencies and skills showcased in the

Workshop as also their implementation subsequently.

2. Management Survey: This was using a structured questionnaire (Annexure- 2).The

scope of survey was senior management personnel in business associate and client

organisations based in Oman, U.A.E., India, United Kingdom and Germany and

known to the author. For locally available participants, survey was conducted

through face to face sessions. A total of 26 questionnaires were implemented.


By Shakti Ghosal, student June 2012

7


8/22

Here also, any mention of Coaching process and methods was avoided. The survey

urged the participants to base their feedback on past experience alone with no

opportunity to specifically try out any of the competencies indicated.

Section 4 : Study findings and Results

The study has attempted to assess the perceived efficacy of identified skills and tools

closely aligned to ICF Core Competencies in a non-coaching environment.

(http://www.coachfederation.org/icfcredentials/core-competencies/)

The following is the summary of key findings.

1. Participants and surveyed individuals accepted the importance and effectiveness

of the following skills.

Skill Set Score (%)

(a) Planning & Goal setting 93

(b) Managing progress through accountability 93

(c) Creating trust and connection 87

(d) Enquiring and Learning attitude 84

(e) Acknowledging inner qualities& achievements 77

(f) Empathetic and intuitive listening 64


By Shakti Ghosal, student June 2012

8


9/22

However majority of the respondents gave significantly lower weightage to the

remaining skills viz.

(g) Creating awareness 41

(h) Asking powerful / inspiring questions 39

(i) Holding other persons agenda in designing actions 23

Predictably, there existed unanimity about the high importance in areas of

planning, goal setting, and managing accountability-(a & b).These are considered

as straightforward and critical management competencies with high confidence

towards implementing. Further there appeared no measurable improvement

arising from the workshops.

Regarding Creating trust and connection and Enquiring and learning attitude

(skill sets c & d), there existed high level of perceived importance amongst

participants and respondents. Interestingly, there seemed to be confused thinking

about their implementability. While the Workshop significantly improved clarity,

subsequent feedback sessions indicated low success rate of adoption. Reasons

given were a non-supportive organisational culture, inter-personal issues,

excessive fire-fighting and difficulty in changing leadership styles. Our study

indicates that many Managers perceive it easier to use their organisational power

to push through their agenda (short term results) rather than invest in building

trust, connections for long term leverage.



9


10/22

Acknowledgement (e): There was marked improvement in its understanding due

to the workshop. Post workshop feedback sessions also indicated better

appreciation of this skill. More than 50% participants indicated that they have

consciously implemented this in their day to day interactions and have observed

benefits. Also there was clear difference in the scores between the workshop

participants (who had developed better awareness of this perspective) and the

survey respondents. Another interesting result was that acknowledging the

intrinsic qualities seemed to have a significantly positive impact on Managers/

Supervisors as compared to more junior staff. Also it seemed to work better with

immediate subordinates in the reporting hierarchy than with staff who were below

by multiple layers.

Empathetic and Intuitive listening (f): While majority of respondents appreciated

its importance, post workshop feedback and the questionnaire survey results

showed divergence in views. The workshop clearly created an awareness of this

skill. Most participants took this new perspective into their work area and

reported significantly positive results in terms of staff motivation and Ownership

& risk taking attitude. However perspective of the questionnaire respondents

(who did not have the benefit of workshop inputs) had a much lower score. This

in fact pulled down the overall weighted average score above.



10


11/22

Creating Awareness (g): The perceived importance of this competence was low

on overall basis. While workshop participants attached higher importance during

the session, interestingly the score came down appreciably in the post session

feedback. Further the interview respondents also attached low scores. Reason

appears to be a tendency of Managers and Supervisors to hold onto their power

base, restrict information on need to know basis. Somehow the need to create

awareness as a way to empower subordinates holds low priority.

Asking Powerful / Inspiring questions (h): Significantly, there continued to be low

appreciation for this even after the workshop. Predominant perception of this

competence was as esoteric and theoretical, more suitable for psychological

intervention but with little usefulness in Organisations. It is felt that Goals and

action plans work best when they follow a top-down approach and vetted by

Management. Strategy and tactical actions need a uni-directional and time

specific focus with very little room for opening up of issues based on

questioning. In spite of workshop inputs, there appeared very little attempt to

change ones style from giving decisions and judgments on issues to that of

asking questions.

Holding other persons agenda in designing actions (i): Most participants failed to

see how this competence could be implemented. The argument was that the



11


12/22

Organisational objectives and systems would allow only certain limited ways to

implement requisite actions. While there was the realisation that individual

empowerment might necessitate certain flexibilities in allowing individual

agenda, most respondents felt it would be impractical to hold and support such

agendas, especially if they are significantly removed from accepted processes.

On an overall basis, it is found that discussion and support in use of Coaching

methodology and concepts does enhance thinking and improved perception of

several competencies. Especially there occurs better awareness of the EQ related

skill set. There exists a clear difference in the feedback/scores of the workshop

participants and the questionnaire respondents. It can be postulated that

systematic and periodic exposure would lead to improved thinking and

performance.

Section 5 : Conclusion

The study hypothesis that Coaching competencies can be beneficial in non-coaching

environment if supported through periodic training, stands validated to a large extent. Use

of in-house resources makes this initiative costeffective. Following are the conclusions:

1. Many of the coaching core competencies are amenable for use in non-coaching

environment.

(a) Planning & Goal setting

(b) Managing progress through accountability



12


13/22

(c) Creating trust and connection

(d) Enquiring and Learning attitude

(e) Acknowledging inner qualities & achievements

(f) Empathetic and intuitive listening

2 Workshop and training interventions improve the awareness and applicability of

some competencies viz. acknowledging and powerful listening.

3 In case of competencies like Creating trust / connection and learning attitude,

it is possible to build up awareness and perceived importance through workshops

and training. However, serious blocks exist in their application within

organisations due to diverse reasons. It is however felt that with sustained support,

application and improved performance thereof can be achieved.

4 Over-arching competencies in areas of Planning, Goal setting and Managing

through accountability align with managerial perceptions and enjoy the highest

level of perceived importance. They are thus less amenable for further

improvement through Workshops.

5 Three of the ICF Competencies seem to attract low scores in non- coaching

environment. These are Creating awareness, Powerful questioning and

Holding the other persons agenda. Possible reasons are in the findings above.



13


14/22

Section 6: Recommendation

Organisations need to support leadership development through synergising personal

attributes and business effectiveness. This can be achieved by improving awareness and

efficacy of several Coaching competencies, specially the EQ related skill sets, through

Workshops and allied training. Such an initiative has the potential to yield positive results

in day to day non-coaching situations towards better performance.

Section 7: Study limitations

As indicated above the study is limited to a small sample size. Further, the workshop

participants were from a single corporate group and this could skew the results depending

on influencers like organisational culture, leadership perspective and internal systems.

Respondents to the questionnaire similarly were selected from known individuals from

known organisations from a mix of countries. The basis for selection was solely to

elicit a response rather than use of a sampling technique. More importantly, the know

each other factor both for the Workshop and external survey could lead to suppression

of frank and neutral feedback. All these aspects are liable to introduce a bias and

associated error in the findings.

The author recommends a more representative study encompassing a larger sample size

of individuals from multiple and discrete organisations over larger geographical



14


15/22

territories and markets. Further, the study should allow for a series of workshops (3 to 5)

for each of the participants to allow deepening of learning, reflection and greater

accountability and ownership.

It would be further worthwhile to undertake a cost-benefit and time line analysis to

compare the proposed initiative of implementing coaching competencies within the

overall organisational non- coaching environment versus formal coaching intervention

for managers on a more selective basis.

15


16/22

Bibliography and References:

1. Axelrod, Steven (Nov. 2006) The essential core of Executive Coaching. Axelrod

Consulting,

2 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, UK (2009).Performance

Management in action.

3. Hirschhorn, L. (1990). The Workplace Within: Psychodynamics of Organizational

Life. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

4. McGovern, J., Lindemann, M., Vergara, M., Murphy, S., Barker, L, & Warrenfeltz, R.

(2001) Maximizing the impact of executive coaching: Behavioral change, organizational

outcomes, and return on investment. The Manchester Review.

5. Webb, Peter, (Feb. 2006). The Impact of Executive Coaching on Leadership

Effectiveness. Intentional Training Concepts Pty Ltd.



16


17/22

Annexure I

Workshop Details and Sequencing

The author conceptualized the structure to build awareness and move the participants

from known Management concepts and competencies, their familiar terrain of strengths

and behaviours to a not so familiar zone of alternative competencies and changed

behaviour patterns. The workshops further invited the participants to apply these in the

workplace.

Sequencing: Start with the following familiar concepts:

1. Ownership attitude: Participants look into their own past

experience to pull out situations. Share.

2. Objective & Goal Setting.

3. Managing through accountability: Participants look into their own

past experience to pull out situations. Share.

Self Awareness Module: determine (1) Own strengths (2) own values. Explore how these

could be matched with (1) Organisational objectives, current responsibilities

(2) Organisational values.



17


18/22

Finally, make the foregoing workshop concepts and discussions flow into some of the

Coaching behaviours proposed as part of the desired Management perspective shift for

our times.

1. Creating Trust- Openness, being on the same page, empathy.

2. Powerful listening- facilitative, collaborative, engagement of others in

addressing complex issues.

3. Learning attitude- Passion, energy, humility.

4. Inspiring questions-open up thinking about possibilities rather than

continue on the tried and beaten path.

5. Acknowledgement- shift from praising visible efforts to acknowledging

intrinsic positive qualities and behaviour.

6. Holding other persons agenda: Empower members to take initiative from

a position of energy and competence.

A set of exercises, visualisations and role plays are used to encourage participants to

Think out of the box, to explore, to visualise, to deliberate on the above issues.

Expected Session take-aways: A better appreciation and willingness to embrace the

above attitudinal and behaviour changes



18


19/22

Annexure II

Survey Questionnaire

Dear Respondent,

I have undertaken a research to determine the competencies and skill set that are needed

to navigate todays fast changing corporate environment which increasingly require

individual empowerment, creativity and performance coupled with rapid response.

As a senior management professional with long years of experience in the business and

corporate arena, your thoughts and inputs would add great value to my study. Could I

therefore ask you to take a few minutes to reflect and fill this questionnaire?

I highly appreciate your support in the matter.

Yours Sincerely

Shakti Ghosal

***************



19


20/22

Sr. Competence Area My Rating

No. Strongly Strongly

Disagree / Agree /

Not Very

Relevant Relevant

1 2 3 4 5

1 Transparency, genuineness and accessibility

-qualities linked to Trust and connection can

achieve better results than systems& controls.

2 Changing your approach to listen more with

empathy rather than offering advice can

empower and improve team performance

3. An enquiry and learning based organisation

culture achieves better decision making and

goal achievement than an instruction and

system based approach.

4. Asking Inspiring Questions is superior than

managing by top- down direction & control

5. Acknowledging strengths and achievements

achieves better performance than appraising

and supporting areas of weakness/ shortfall.

6. Holding the other persons agenda can be a

great alternative to objective based advice

towards achieving organisational goals.



20


21/22

Sr. Competence Area My Rating

No. Strongly Strongly

Disagree / Agree /

Not Very

Relevant Relevant

1 2 3 4 5

7. Creating awareness can influence opinions

and motivate behaviour of team members

in a better manner than communicating on a

need to know basis.

8. A comprehensive planning and goal setting

ideas in a decentralised manner to achieve

organisational objectives.

9. Managing organisational progress throughtask accountability achieves better results

than a more freedom of choice approach.

Name:

Organisation: Date:

International Coach Academy, CPCP Research reportBy Shakti Ghosal, student June2012

21


22/22

Documents

Research Paper: Shakti Ghosal Efficacy of Coaching concepts in a non-coaching organisational environment – An empirical study