Does coaching work and who benefits most?

This is a precis of an article by Dr Rebecca Jones and Dr Holly Andrews, Associate Professors in Coaching and Behavioural Change.

The research problem

Coachees are, to a large extent, assumed to be a homogenous group that will all respond to coaching in the same way. The problem with this assumption is that it may be masking differential effects in coaching: do some individuals benefit more from coaching than others? Generalised self-efficacy is a relatively stable, generalised competence belief. Research has shown that individuals low in generalised self-efficacy (i.e. they have low beliefs in their own competence across a range of settings) tend to benefit most when training supports the development of psychological resources needed for the transfer of learning to the real world. It is thought that individuals high in self-efficacy may already possess these psychological resources and therefore see fewer gains from this type of training. We test whether similar trends are present for coaching.