There are many ways of evaluating the effectiveness of the Coaching process. Unfortunately, none of them  guarantee a complete and reliable result.  This is due to the fact, that the process of change in great measure concerns the psyche, our way of thinking and perceiving reality (especially in holistic coaching) and this in turn translates into change at the level of Behaviour.  A similar situation applies to “soft” HR tools, like life training, mentoring etc.

Due to the fact that The coaching process is spread in time (eg. half a year) it is extremely difficult to isolate other factors which may also have influenced the accomplishment of a goal.  In business, those may be: market trends, company strategy, new products, competition etc.

we can measure the effects of coaching from three perspectives:

1. Organisation
2. Client
3. Coach

Additionally, we can take into account subjective aspects connected with The client’s feelings and objective, such as  the observation of changed Behaviour which may have its reflection in business results.

The most popular and at the same time the easiest way to assess effectiveness, is to define change at the behavioral level.  Simplifying, we may say that when given behaviour has changed, appeared or has been eliminated (depending on the client’s and organisation’s expectations) then the goal has been accomplished.  Of course the intensity of a particular behaviour is important in cases, when we expect it to appear.

In further order we can specify what impact this change has on the client’s business effectiveness, on what the Coachee has learnt and how he uses this knowledge In everyday life. All these are a result of inner change, which, as it has already been mentioned, is extremely difficult to verify.

It’s worth adding that it is extremely important to properly and correctly determine Goals and the Criteria of their accomplishment at the beginning of the process, because it verification of the results at the end of the process a lot easier.  Otherwise, even if The client and sponsor are satisfied, there is no point of reference, because there is a lack of clear Criteria of change.

It is also possible to use relatively objective measurement tools.  One of them is the 360° evaluation.  In this case, we make one measurement before beginning The coaching process and one when it is completed.   Comparing the results gives us a picture of change, under the condition of course, that it will be possible to separate other factors influencing the client at the same time.

Research is being conducted to create a precise and reliable measurement tool to assess the effectiveness of the coaching process.

Another approach to measuring the effectiveness of coaching is assessing its Return on Investment rate (ROI).

Also, it is possible to apply a modified version of the Donald Kirkpatrick model, that is measuring the effectiveness of the process at four levels:

• Level of reaction
• Level of learning
• Level of change
• Level of effects