To conduct a Return on Investment study to validate the impact of coaching on business results in a typical branch banking operation.
Brief
Client: Major Australian Bank.
Size: Over 30,000 employees.
Challenge: To validate the impact of coaching on business results in a typical branch banking operation.
Aim of Program: To achieve a Return on Investment of greater than 14% on the coaching study.
Time Frame: One Year.
Deliverables
To validate the effect of coaching, the study was conducted in four three month phases:
Phase 1: The training provider coached the sales and service operatives in the target branch fortnightly, to lift business performance. In this phase the managers in the branch observed the coaching skills and methodology of the professional coach.
Phase 2: The training provider coached the Branch and Assistant Branch Manager, in coaching sales and service skills, to lift and sustain the performance of their staff. The professional coach observed and side coached the managers, as they conducted the coaching of the sales and service operatives.
Phase 3: The professional coach regularly quality checked the coaching of the managers, carrying out any remedial skilling necessary.
Phase 4: In this phase, to test the managers' ability to maintain the impact unaided, the training provider took no part in the ongoing coaching.
Before the study commenced, sales skills and behaviours, business activities and revenue were benchmarked. These measures were tracked across the twelve months of the study. Finally an ROI was calculated.
Outcomes
1. Area and Branch management identified revenue improvements of $31.7 m that could be attributed, at least in part, to coaching.
Of that amount, they conservatively estimated that $5.1 m could be directly attributed to coaching. This resulted in a Return on Investment of nearly $20 for every $1 spent on the study ($255,000).
Coaching impacted primarily through the development of skills such as counter service, referrals to sales specialists, overcoming objections, sales interviews and client financial analysis interviews.
2. Sales and service behaviours were also positively impacted by the study, with 360 degree surveys conducted pre and post the study, showing an overall, 10.5 % improvement.
3. Participants in the study, rated the extent to which the coaching they received improved their performance in their role, at 3.5 (Moderate to High), on a 5 point scale. They cited the confidence the skilling gave them in dealing with customers, as the primary benefit.
4. The study convincingly demonstrated the effectiveness of coaching, in driving better business performance.
The impact of coaching was even greater than identified in the study, as the benefits were ongoing, not just confined to the year of the study.
The coaching capability that has been transferred to the management of the target branch, would result in significant ongoing benefit to its business performance.