Researchers Mowat, Haar and Forsyth compared 412 employees in New Zealand. Half were formally coached by their manager, half were not. The coached employees found more meaning in their work and more often went the extra mile for colleagues. On plans to leave the company, the two groups looked about the same.¹

Talent Takeaway

It reminds us what coaching gives people: the sense that their work matters. That alone is a good reason to invest in it. When the goal is also to keep people, coaching works well together with the other things people care about, such as career paths, pay and flexibility.

¹ Mowat, J. W., Haar, J., & Forsyth, D. (2025). The impact of formal workplace coaching on employee outcomes: A matched sample analysis. Human Resource Development International, 29(2), 317–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2025.2549541

Further reading: Nicolau, A., Candel, O. S., Constantin, T., & Kleingeld, A. (2023). The effects of executive coaching on behaviors, attitudes, and personal characteristics. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1089797