The ROI of Coaching

Hi there. Welcome to this week’s episode of The Podcast. Today, we’re going to talk about the value and the return on investment coaching. This is a conversation I’ve been wanting to have because whether you’re looking to identify your next best role and get a new job or maybe get promoted, be more effective as a leader, or even just navigate the complexities of the workplace dynamics without overworking and stressing out. Coaching really has serious potential to get you where you want to go faster and more effectively. But you might not be familiar with it because until a few years ago, it was just a service that companies often provided to executive senior leaders or problematic senior leaders. When I worked in the industry, I provided coaching to leaders and to our employees around their career development and also interventions when new teams were formed together. But it was only for certain teams and only certain people. But that has changed. Actually, one of the reasons that I left my corporate role in pharma is because I wanted to make coaching accessible to you. Companies know the value of coaching. They already invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into it, like each company with the various coaches or coaching programs that they offer.

And there’s good reason. So I want to give you some stats just to kick us off. So a survey of 100 executives showed that the average ROI of leadership coaching was almost six times the cost of coaching. And that’s from the International Coach Federation. Leadership Coaching helps women improve their performance, satisfaction, and well-being. That is from the International Journal of Evidence-Based Coaching and Mentoring. There was also a case study on women leaders who participated in coaching that shows that leadership coaching improves self-awareness, self-confidence, self-leadership, leadership style, as well as their relationship to power, conflict, and their personal life. And that study is in the International Journal of Evidence-Based Coaching and Mentoring. So according to the International Coach Federation, 86 % of companies that invest in coaching say they recoup their investment at least five times over. Think about that. At least five times over. For executives, it’s even more powerful. There was a study by Manchester Consulting Group that coaching produced an average ROI of about six times the program’s cost. So you could be looking at an investment that comes back to you in tangible dollar-for-dollar value over and over. So you can see through these stats, and there are many others if you were to look them up, that coaching is a proven and powerful development tool that gets you results.

It’s why companies have been using it forever. But it wasn’t accessible, and I wanted you to have this benefit. I didn’t want you to have to be a certain level or be a certain pay or know the right people or have this relationship at work where you have to ask for this coach, and then maybe get it approved, but then it’s not confidential to you and it’s biased to the company. I didn’t want you to have that experience. I wanted women in this industry to have a secret weapon, a private coach that works for them and gives them the competitive edge and insider strategies that they don’t typically get. And so I created it. I created my business. And this is what I do to help women like you have the career you deserve, to stand out against the competition, to be more effective, and create success on your terms without having to work harder or be like the Broskies, okay? So why should coaching be a priority for high-achieving talented professionals like you, especially in this industry? I want you to think about this. You’re managing really important work, whether it’s clinical trials, tackling new drug submissions, NDAs, handling cross-functional teams, or intense timelines.

The technical skills, I have no doubt that you have those down. But to really navigate these high-stakes environments that are male-dominated, and the push, push, push of the industry, it’s not just what you know, it’s how you manage it all, how you lead, and how you push forward when things get tough. It’s how you build relationships and how you lead conversations, not just work on a never-ending to-do list because it just gets filled with more and more things to do. You’re not taught what you learn in coaching anywhere else. It is the best development tool out there because it’s personalized to you. It empowers you to make the best decisions for you and be the leader in person that you want to be step by step. Instead of you taking generic trainings and conferences that are designed for the classes, you get the best strategies, the insights, the tools that are specific to your brain and the situation that you’re in. And it’s all implemented not in a classroom, but in your day-to-day job. And so It’s no extra work. You’re learning and applying in a one-hour session or by going through coaching tools or resources I may provide you, and then you’re implementing them right away at work.

All it requires is the action, the change, and the growth. And that’s where coaching really steps in. So let’s get specific. What ROI are we actually talking about here? So the first is performance improvement. One of the biggest areas where coaching delivers ROI is in performance. And it doesn’t mean that you’re a poor performer. It means you want to Excel and be more effective and better in a certain area. It’s been shown that coaching can improve individual performance by 70 %. That means your coach helps you pinpoint the specific behaviors, blind spots, and habits that can be holding you back, ones that you might not ever be informed of. Once those barriers are out of the way, it’s game on for you and for your career. No more overworking, no more beating your head against the wall with your never-ending to-do list, and sacrificing another night with your family. You are more effective and you’re more efficient. All you have to know is, Hey, I want to be able to do X, right? And then your coach, someone like me, I can fill in that gap for you and walk you into knowing what that is.

So even if you don’t know what your blind spot is, even if you don’t know the skill you need to learn, even if you don’t know how to get there, that is what I can do for you as your coach based on my expertise. Now, number two is leadership development. In our field, the best leaders are the ones that have the technical acumen and the leadership skills. Leadership coaching has been shown to increase leader effectiveness by 60%, according to Cornferry. That’s the growth that has a measurable impact. Companies see this too, which is why pharma companies are actually 36% more likely to invest in coaching for leaders than other industries. Our industry actually invests in coaches more than other industries, especially at the director level and above. Now, our industry, it just loves coaching because it sees the return learn. This industry is a lot on metrics. They don’t tend to invest in things that are not going to impact their bottom line. I’ve actually had clients who were interviewing and they got the job offer over another equally qualified candidate because My client had mentioned that she was working with a coach. So your leadership is more likely to take you seriously and see you as a resourceful leader when they see you investing in your own success and not just relying on them to solve your problems.

Whether it’s your development problems, getting promoted, or knowing what you want. When you go and solve that yourself, that really pays you back. That is a trait that is very desirable. Plus, when you’re an effective leader, you have teams that are direct or in a matrix environment that want to work with you, that ask to be on your team, that work harder for you, and that you actually enjoy working with. So you’re not picking up the slack for your team. You get to actually have a work-life balance as a leader. Now, the third area is your career advancement. So if you’re not in a career you love, or you’re not a leader yet, but it’s something you’re working toward, your chances of rising into leadership and excelling there skyrocket when you have a coach. It’s not just about getting the promotion. It’s about doing well once you have it, right? Where you have your boss thinking, wow, I’m so glad that I promoted her. Or you get into a new role and your new hiring manager is like, wow, we really made the right choice. You cut the learning curve and Excel from the beginning. You know what to say, how to position yourself, how to influence and communicate effectively to get what you need.

You know your blind spots and you overcome them. Instead of just getting good performance reviews without any real feedback, which is a problem that some of my clients have when they come to me is that they’re frustrated, they’re not getting promoted, they’re not advancing, but all they’re hearing is glowing reviews. And so they’re getting passed over for promotions. We solve that because there’s something they’re missing. There’s a skill they need. There’s feedback that they’re not getting a blind spot. There are certain things that HR or your boss might not feel comfortable telling you but are actually holding you back in your career. And those are the things that we discover and fix to get you moving, as well as looking at what is the strategy you’re using. You might not have had an effective strategy and advocating for your sofa that new job or promotion. So if we’re talking about an ROI in the ballpark of 5-7 times your investment with better performance, a stronger leadership presence, and clear upward mobility, the numbers speak for themselves. You also need to consider the skills you learn because these skills you’ll have with you forever. The work in leadership skills, the competence you build, and decision-making skills. These are skills you have for the rest of your career.

So the results you achieve compound year after year with coaching. You achieve things that you wouldn’t have if you never built those skills, if you never discovered those blind spots if you never uncovered that right next step for you. To illustrate this, one of my clients hired me when she was a manager to figure out her next move and build her leadership skills. She was considering changing departments to get some growth. She ended up getting promoted three times even a skip-level promotion to go from manager to senior director and a member of the site leadership team in just three years. And she credits the coaching she received in the beginning as transforming her career potential and giving her the skills to be successful in each role. And she actually sent a message with her own words of her thoughts on coaching and how it impacted her career that I could share with you. And here’s what she says, I cannot overstate the impact that career coaching has had on my personal and professional growth. After working When I work with Melissa as a career coach, I have been able to navigate the complexities of the biopharma industry with confidence and clarity.

Her guidance has not only helped me secure multiple promotions since coaching but has also equipped me with the skills and personal mindset required to Excel in each new role I have obtained. I am truly grateful for Melissa, her support, and her insights. I highly recommend her services to anyone ready to take accountability and advance their own career. So you will literally transform what is possible for you in your career when you hire me as your coach. To me, that is a better investment than any other development out there. There is no book, conference, mentor, training, college course, or even degree that has that type of return. So let’s also talk about the intangibles. Now, these are harder to measure in dollars, but they do make a difference. And for a lot of my clients, it actually is more important to them. They might come wanting that raise, wanting that promotion, wanting that tangible career move, but then they get the intangibles and they’re like, Wow, I didn’t even know that this was possible. Studies show that 80 % of people who receive coaching report higher self-confidence. Confidence might sound like fluff. You might be like, I’m already confident but think about it.

If you’re confident in your technical skills, but not in yourself to speak up in your value, to go against the crowd, to be visible, to make decisions with clarity and confidence, to know what sets you apart from other people with the same degree and background, then you’re not going to go as far in your career. And you’re also going to spend time stressed out, overthinking and overworking to make up for it. When you walk into a high-stakes meeting with confidence, that’s when you’re able to advocate for your ideas, to stay composed under pressure, and navigate those difficult situations and people with influence and authority. My clients often refer to having me as their coach as a secret weapon. It’s their competitive edge, their ally, their expert, that helps them navigate work, be their safe space, and Excel in their career. They tell me that they have me in their head, which is such a compliment when they are doubting their decisions, not knowing how to confront a colleague who isn’t completing their work on time and setting the project back, and so on. It gives them the push and the courage to act through the anxiety and doubt and make different decisions, to take bolder action.

That’s the power of coaching. It’s the person who has your back and holds you accountable when things get messy and doesn’t let you give up on yourself and your goals. That helps you always see a path forward, helps you see that next step, and gets you taking it. It’s the focused energy with intention that amplifies what you’re already great at and helps you navigate the toughest part of your career to get to the next level. Another one of my clients shared this with me after our coaching engagement had ended. I had a lot of doubt and fear going into a new leadership role. Negative self-taught was a real problem for me. The changes I experienced in coaching influenced the entire way that I work and the way that I interact with people, the way that I respond to emails, hold meetings. It bleeds into everything. To go from someone who questioned if I could handle this new level in my career to feeling like I do now, confident and knowing that what I do next in my career isn’t a matter of capability of what I’m able to do, but instead knowing I can do anything has made this process so worth it.

The best recommendation that I could give would be to refer Melissa to a close personal friend, and I would do that without hesitation. Any woman with self-doubt who wants to Excel in their career would benefit from coaching with her. You cannot underestimate the value of what this client said, of being happy in your career. It is more than the money, the ROI, or the bigger bonus, or even negotiating the best possible offer, which I’ve helped my clients get up to 40 % salary increases and $50,000 sign-up bonuses. It’s about how you feel in the morning, your energy, the way you feel about yourself, and how that impacts your whole life. When I was stressed with work, feeling like I could make a bigger impact and I wasn’t, it affected my energy, and my desire to get up and work out. The free time I had because I was worried that I would miss something coming through on my email at night. And I was working with a chaotic manager. It affected how present I was with my kids, and how well I slept. It impacted what I ate. It impacted my stress levels. That is, to me solving that problem is worth so much more than any raise and makes the return priceless.

I don’t say that to be cheesy, right? Really think about the value of that. My clients tell me that they’re no longer dealing with anxiety, that their physicals show measured improvement with their doctors in their depression, that they are drinking less, doing the hobbies and dance classes that they let fall to the wayside, that their marriages are better, not because we’re coaching on their marriages, but because they aren’t stressed and complaining about work anymore. They’re having fun with their kids again and volunteering on their kid’s soccer teams. They feel they have figured out how to have it all. So what is that value to you? What is the return on that for you? What is the value of feeling in control of your career and achieving real tangible results like new skills, communicating with influence, getting on the succession plan for your department leadership, getting promoted, getting a new role created for you, knowing your transferable skills and how to navigate the job market in pharma, and also feeling completely different about yourself in a great way, feeling confident, self-assured, energized, and having the home life you desire to have. The potential ROI in coaching is all up to you, your goals, and the work you put into it.

The result and ROI far outweigh any other development option out there. So is coaching worth it? Absolutely. The value of coaching goes beyond salary bumps or new job titles, even though those things are definitely on the table. Coaching is about stepping fully into your potential, which has an impact on everything, from your career path to how you negotiate your next role to how you manage the daily to-do list and work as a leader in this industry. So let’s end this with one more stat. According to a global survey that was done by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the International Coach Federation, 96 % of people who hired a coach said they would do it again. 96 %. And honestly, that number doesn’t surprise me. My clients consistently reach or exceed their goals and recommend me to their friends and colleagues at even higher than 96 %. It’s a great honor to have my business be fueled by referrals. That is the power of a great coach. It’s the power of someone who is working with people that is getting results. So if you’re ready to see this ROI in your career, Whether it’s designing your unique career path, landing your next promotion, being a more effective leader, or just building the skills to show up at work with more confidence every day, I’m here to help you.

You’re not alone. Head to my website at www.yourworthycareer.com to learn more about how we can work together. You’re also always welcome to reach out to me on LinkedIn. Have an amazing week. 

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