Abstract

As the business environment becomes more competitive, companies are forced to push themselves to the very edge of their capabilities. Ultimately the success of the company relies on the people within. Coaching has become an increasingly used method in order to enhance the individual and organizational performance. The purpose of this study is to provide a better understanding of how coaching is used as a management philosophy within corporations. To reach this purpose we have conducted multiple case studies of Nordea, Plastal Group, and Freys Hotel. We have investigated the objectives with coaching, the strategies of coaching, and how the effects of coaching can be measured. Our main findings show that the objectives could be described on both an individual as well as an organizational level. The main objectives are to enhance the individual’s performance level: however, the overall aim is to create synergy effects that affect the entire organization. Regarding the coaching strategy we found that coaching is not considered a time-limiting event with an initial phase and a final stage. It is considered to be an ongoing function, and the factors affecting the process are continuously changing and the process must adapt to this. We have further found that coaching is considered a hands-off leadership style. Regarding the specific techniques used, our findings indicate that a structured technique exclusively for coaching is not commonly used. Fixed frames and criteria are only used to a limited extent, due to the fact that it is the individual situation that is considered the most important factor. Finally, measuring the effects of coaching was found to be extremely difficult to conduct, since the impact of coaching is hard to isolate and the fact that it is an on-going process. However, we did find monitoring of the progress to be the most commonly used method in order to evaluate the effects of coaching.