"The study included 100 executives, mostly from Fortune 1000 companies, who received coaching...Half of the executives in the study held positions of vice president or higher. Almost six out of 10 (57%) executives who received coaching were ages 40 to 49, and one-third earned £100,000 ($200,000) or more per year.

The coaching programs that executives participated in were a mix of both change-oriented coaching -- which is aimed at changing certain behaviors -- and growth-oriented coaching -- which is aimed at sharpening performance. The coaching programs typically lasted from six months to one year.

Among the results of the study: The coaching programs delivered an average return on investment of 5.7 times the initial investment in a typical executive coaching assignment -- or a return of more than £50,000 ($100,000)-- according to executives who estimated the monetary value of the results achieved through coaching.

• Among the benefits to companies that provided coaching to executives were improvements in:

Productivity (reported by 53% of executives) Quality (48%) Organizational strength (48%) Customer service (39%) Reducing customer complaints (34%) Retaining executives who received coaching (32%) Cost reductions (23%) Bottom-line profitability (22%)

•  Among the benefits to executives who received coaching were improved:

Working relationships with direct reports (reported by 77% of executives) Working relationships with immediate supervisors (71%) Teamwork (67%) Working relationships with peers (63%) Job satisfaction (61%) Conflict reduction (52%) Organizational commitment (44%) Working relationships with clients (37%)..." - (BUSINESS WIRE)