Coaching SME managers: business development or personal therapy? A mixed methods study

Abstract

While a growing number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are making use of coaching, little is known about the impact such coaching has within this sector. This study sought to identify the factors that influence managers’ decision to engage with coaching, their perceptions of the coaching ‘journey’ and the kinds of benefits accruing from coaching: organisational, personal or both. As part of a mixed methods approach, a survey tool was developed based upon a range of relevant management competencies from the UK’s Management Occupational Standards and responses analysed using importance-performance analysis, an approach first used in the marketing sector to evaluate customer satisfaction. Results indicate that coaching had a significant impact on personal attributes such as ‘Managing Self-Cognition’ and ‘Managing Self-Emotional’, whereas the impact on business-oriented attributes was weaker. Managers’ choice of coaches with psychotherapeutic rather than nonpsychotherapeutic backgrounds was also statistically significant. We conclude that even in the competitive business environment of SMEs, coaching was used as a largely personal, therapeutic intervention rather than to build business-oriented competencies

Firm size and skill formation processes: an emerging debate

“…Similar assertions concerning the centrality of informal and social learning, and the dangers associated with formal training, can be found throughout the international literature on small firms (e.g. Down, 1999;Taylor and Thorpe, 2004;Palakshappa and Gordon, 2007;Zhang and Hamilton, 2009;Gray et al 2011). While such sentiments are crucial in highlighting the importance of informality, there is inherent in their growing popularity a risk of giving the impression that formal training is simply less useful and / or meaningful -even harmful -for small businesses.…”

Challenges for the Theory and Practice of Business Coaching

“… Enhanced ability to address workplace conflict and work autonomously (Blackman, 2008;Gray, Ekinci, & Goregaokar, 2011;Smith Glasgow, Weinstock, Lachman, Dunphy Suplee, & Dreher, 2009);…”

Perspectives on effective coaching by those who have been coached

“…Executive coaching is broadly defined in terms of a relationship between a client/coachee and a coach that facilitates the client/coachee becoming more effective in their role (Kilburg, ; Witherspoon & White, ). Positive outcomes identified for organizations include increased leadership (Cerni et al ., ; Thach, ); increased skills (Jones et al ., ), increased productivity (Vidal‐Salazar et al ., ); job retention and loyalty to employer (Olivero et al ., ); higher profits (Kampa‐Kokesch & Anderson, ); changing behaviours (Wasylyshyn, ) and ability to address workplace conflict (Gray et al ., ).…”