In 1997 Gerald Olivero, Denise Bane and Richard Kopelman published research that they had undertaken into the effects that training and coaching have on productivity in a public agency.  This research was published in Public Personnel Management, the journal of the International Personnel Management Association.

The title of their report is:  Executive coaching as a transer training tool:  effects on productivity in a public agency

In essence, they studied 31 senior managers in a major Northeastern US city participated in undertaking both phases of their research project.

In the first phase all managers took part in a three-day classroom style workshop.  This included interactive sessions that focused on their work roles.  All participants rated the training very highly on all quantative and qualitative measures.

In the second phase, all managers participated in one-to-one coaching.  The coaching took place over 8 weeks, with participants having one coaching session per week.  Each manager was required to conduct a real work project that could be completed within this time.  The project was based on improving performance at work.  In feedback, two themes emerged:  coaching was beneficial to them personally and coaching was beneficial to the organisation.

The coaching included goal setting, collaborative problem solving, practise, feedback, supervisory involvement and evaluation.

The authors found that while their training intervention with managers increased productivity by 22%, adding one-to-one coaching after the training increased productivity to 88%.

Find out how PRF Solutions can help you introduce Sustainable Professional Development in your workplace