Lord Kelvin, while he was still Mr.
William Thomson, observed in a much-quoted phrase that unless you can put your knowledge into numbers, it is an inferior, less satisfying kind of knowledge.
Executives and managers would definitely agree.
This is why it is always better for an executive coach to be able to demonstrate his contribution by quantifiable measurements.
This is actually true for any other type of coaching professional as well, though maybe not all clients would know to ask for such metrics.
What should a coach measure? Generally speaking, coaching is about change.
A coach is usually hired because someone wishes to make a change, and believes that a coach would be able to help bring on this change.
Therefore, the first foremost measurement for coaching success is: did the desired change take place, and is the change as big as was desired? In the corporate arena, the desired changes are usually measured in some sort of throughput (units or $ value): Sales, Production volume, rate of processing (i.
e.
- number of invoices processed) etc.
Such metric are usually counted per a given time-frame.
Therefore, a measure of the benefit of coaching could be, for example, the percentage of increase of sales over a given period.
As a coach, you should also try to express the expected change in terms of Return on Investment (ROI%).
To calculate the ROI%, you simply divide the (Benefit - Cost of coaching) by the Cost of coaching, and multiply by 100.
Of course, one can always manipulate the benefit of coaching by calculating it over a longer period, but if you calculate it over one year no one would fault you.
Make sure to point out the calculation period when you present the numbers.
For example, if the cost of coaching was 3000$, resulting in 750$ per month increase in gross profit, then the ROI%(1 year) is (750X12-3000)*100/3000=200%, which is quite good as ROIs go.
Another good measurement is the Break-even point.
This metric indicates how long would it take for the investor to regain his investment, without any additional gains.
To calculate the Break-even point, divide the Cost of coaching by the monthly Benefit.
In the example above, the break even point would be 3000/750=4 months (assuming that the coach was only paid when the coaching was through).
Such numbers as presented here are actually very good numbers for any kind of investment, and can be used by coaches to demonstrate their value to their clients.
William Thomson, observed in a much-quoted phrase that unless you can put your knowledge into numbers, it is an inferior, less satisfying kind of knowledge.
Executives and managers would definitely agree.
This is why it is always better for an executive coach to be able to demonstrate his contribution by quantifiable measurements.
This is actually true for any other type of coaching professional as well, though maybe not all clients would know to ask for such metrics.
What should a coach measure? Generally speaking, coaching is about change.
A coach is usually hired because someone wishes to make a change, and believes that a coach would be able to help bring on this change.
Therefore, the first foremost measurement for coaching success is: did the desired change take place, and is the change as big as was desired? In the corporate arena, the desired changes are usually measured in some sort of throughput (units or $ value): Sales, Production volume, rate of processing (i.
e.
- number of invoices processed) etc.
Such metric are usually counted per a given time-frame.
Therefore, a measure of the benefit of coaching could be, for example, the percentage of increase of sales over a given period.
As a coach, you should also try to express the expected change in terms of Return on Investment (ROI%).
To calculate the ROI%, you simply divide the (Benefit - Cost of coaching) by the Cost of coaching, and multiply by 100.
Of course, one can always manipulate the benefit of coaching by calculating it over a longer period, but if you calculate it over one year no one would fault you.
Make sure to point out the calculation period when you present the numbers.
For example, if the cost of coaching was 3000$, resulting in 750$ per month increase in gross profit, then the ROI%(1 year) is (750X12-3000)*100/3000=200%, which is quite good as ROIs go.
Another good measurement is the Break-even point.
This metric indicates how long would it take for the investor to regain his investment, without any additional gains.
To calculate the Break-even point, divide the Cost of coaching by the monthly Benefit.
In the example above, the break even point would be 3000/750=4 months (assuming that the coach was only paid when the coaching was through).
Such numbers as presented here are actually very good numbers for any kind of investment, and can be used by coaches to demonstrate their value to their clients.
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