Does Coaching Matter? A Multilevel Model Linking Managerial Coaching Skill and Frequency to Sales Goal Attainment

TLDR

Managerial coaching involves feedback, modeling, and goal setting to improve performance, yet its effect on objective outcomes remains unclear. The study tested a multilevel model linking coaching frequency and skill to sales goal attainment in 1,246 reps across 136 teams over a year, and discusses implications for coaching research and practice. A multilevel model was used to link coaching frequency and skill to sales goal attainment across 1,246 reps in 136 teams over a year. Managers’ coaching skill directly related to reps’ annual sales goal attainment, partially mediated by team-level role clarity, and moderated the negative effect of coaching frequency when skill was low; overall, results underscore the importance of effective managerial coaching.

Abstract

Managerial coaching is a process of feedback provision, behavioral modeling, and goal setting with subordinates to improve their performance and address their personal challenges. Despite the popularity of coaching as a management practice, the impact of coaching on objective measures of performance remains unclear. To this end, we tested a multilevel model linking managerial coaching frequency and skill to the sales goal attainment of 1,246 sales representatives in 136 teams within a pharmaceuticals organization over a year. Managers’ coaching skill, which was evaluated in the context of a training exercise, was directly related to the annual sales goal attainment of the sales representatives that they supervised. This effect was partially mediated by team‐level role clarity, as predicted by feedback intervention theory and goal setting theory. In addition, coaching skill had a cross‐level moderating effect on the relationship between coaching frequency and sales goal attainment; coaching frequency had a negative effect on goal attainment when coaching skill was low. We discuss the implications of this finding for coaching research and practice. Overall, our results demonstrate the clear theoretical and practical importance of effective managerial coaching by drawing on multisource and multilevel measurements with a predictive design.