Executive Coaching and Its Impact on Employee Well-Being

Importance of Employee Well-Being for Organizations

It’s no secret that employee well-being impacts productivity and the bottom line. Job burnout, sick day usage, productivity dips, and even turnover indicate a lack of well-being. Many employers have suffered from a drought in employee well-being since the onset of the pandemic, as seen through their employee engagement data. According to Gallup research in five areas of employee well-being, employees who aren’t thriving report the following risks: 61% higher likelihood of burnout, 48% higher likelihood of daily stress, and double the daily rate of anger and sadness. 

Current Data on Employee Well-Being 

A data point shared at the SHRM Talent Conference in 2023 by Catalyst Coaching 360 indicated that just five years ago, only 10% of workers reported symptoms of depression and anxiety, critical indicators of a lack of well-being. Today, that number has increased to 40%. Emphasizing this, one of our long-term client systems recently shared that the #1 employee healthcare benefit used by its employees across its system is their mental health benefit. This is used more than their cancer care, heart disease, and diabetes benefits combined. 

Coaching Feedback Data

Over our 20 years of coaching leaders in tech, healthcare, and public entities, among others, our coaches have observed the engagement and well-being of our coaching clients soar during their 1:1 coaching engagements. So, we started collecting client data to back up our observations. 

Question (n=99) and constitutes % of respondents who Agree or Strongly Agree.

• The quality of my work has improved since I began coaching: 81%

• The quality of my relationships at work has improved since I began coaching: 93%

• The amount of time I feel stressed about work has decreased since I started coaching: 56%

• I am more engaged in my work: 76%

Of these leaders who responded to our requests for feedback, we also noticed some interesting data about their vital leadership competencies. Specifically, 75% reported improving their ability to motivate their employees to bring their best to work – a vital leadership competence. 

Coaching’s Relationship to Leader Well-Being

Over the years, we developed “Inside Out Coaching.” This means we begin at the level of the personal - a leader’s values, vision, blind spots, and stressors. By starting here, our coaches help surface what activates and inspires our clients so they can respond more effectively when the day's stressors present themselves. The most effective leaders need to know themselves well before they can fully and effectively lead others. We provide tools, practices, and resources that clients can use immediately and take with them when a coaching engagement is complete. From here, we focus on interpersonal skills - effective communication, delegation, and feedback. From the interpersonal, we move our attention to one’s skill in team leadership. 

We’ve always believed that a leader’s capacity to understand and manage oneself amid the daily stressors of leadership and life is fundamental to effective and impactful leadership. There is more to examine as we continue to collect data. Still, this data is the start of supporting our hypothesis and pointing to the essential benefits of investing in the development and well-being of leaders through coaching. Of course, coaching doesn’t and should never replace counseling or other professional mental health services. Instead, we suggest that it can be a critical component of an individual’s holistic well-being and leadership strategies.

Ready to bring leadership or executive coaching to your organization? Contact us to get the conversation started!