| Coaching has often been seen as an intervention for executives, problem employees, or high-potential employees. The researcher was interested in what was currently being offered within organizations in relation to coaching processes and methodologies. This research project examined internal coaching programs and practices in 13 organizations where participants were asked eight open-ended questions about their coaching techniques and methods. Interviews were conducted over the phone, via e-mail, and face to face.;The findings of this study revealed that most internal coaching programs were created to improve leadership development. Internal coaches tended to be part of Human Resources, Organizational Development, or Learning and Development departments. Coaching was being provided to high-potential employees, employees who were referred by their manager, those who were in management positions, and individuals who requested to be coached. This study also examined methods of evaluation, including individual evaluations of coaching practices as well as the entire program. Findings indicated that methods used for evaluating individual coaches were accomplished through a survey, informal call or e-mail, or inquiring about what had worked well and what could be done differently.;A number of themes emerged in evaluating the entire coaching program, which included stories that were positive incidences where coaching benefited the coachee while other companies tracked the number of employees being coached, coaching topics, and number of coaching hours. Return on investment (ROI) was also considered and evaluated with most participants indicating that there was some type of measurement that was utilized; however, a majority of the interviewees suggested that measuring ROI had not been accomplished successfully.;The literature review includes an overview of coaching and contains information related to the definitions of coaching, types of coaching populations, theory, perspectives and approaches, models, structures, evaluation, techniques, ROI, with a discussion related to challenges and possible barriers. The researcher speculated that there would be some similarities between coaching practices related to the espoused reasons for creating an internal coaching practice and evaluating the program, noting that measuring ROI was not being successfully implemented. |
