Is Group Coaching Really Worth the Investment? A Realistic Look at the ROI

In today's competitive business landscape, everyone's hunting for that magic bullet – an intervention that delivers genuine returns, not just on the bottom line, but in culture, innovation and sustained employee performance. Our clients are no different.

Group coaching is frequently touted as that solution. But let's be honest, while the idea is appealing, hard data proving a solid return on investment is tricky to find. We believe it’s worth taking a realistic look at what the numbers suggest and whether group coaching truly delivers.

What Actually Is Group Coaching in a Business Context?

Before diving into ROI, let’s clarify what we mean by ‘group coaching’. As we’ve mentioned in other blogs recently, it involves bringing together a small cohort – often people in similar roles or facing shared challenges – facilitated by a skilled coach. The aim is collective learning, mutual support, and accountability. It's often used for leadership development, team cohesion, or navigating significant organisational change.

The ROI Question: Where Do the Numbers Come From?

You'll often see figures bandied about claiming enormous ROI for coaching – 700%, even 5000%! But a crucial point to remember is that these numbers often encompass all types of coaching – one-to-one, team coaching, mentoring – and are often self-reported by the coaching providers themselves. Disentangling the ROI specifically for group coaching is challenging.

While various studies suggest coaching generally delivers positive outcomes, attributing these outcomes solely to group coaching, and quantifying them with such precision, is difficult, even with this data coming from highly credible sources such as the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and Oxford Brookes University.  We think it’s important to be honest about this.

But we know that there is also much to support group coaching in the data too. The majority of research indicates that companies investing in coaching of any kind report higher revenue growth than those that don’t. And while a 700% return feels optimistic, a tangible benefit is certainly plausible.

Productivity, Performance & Engagement: What Can We Say?

Beyond the headline ROI figures, there’s more believable evidence suggesting group coaching can deliver positive changes. Around 72% of organisations tracking productivity metrics report an increase following coaching interventions. And over 70% of participants report improvements in performance, relationships, and communication skills.

These improvements, while difficult to directly translate into pounds and pence, likely manifest as faster project delivery, better collaboration, and increased agility. A happier, more engaged workforce generally translates into increased productivity. That’s common sense, even if it’s hard to prove definitively.

Employee Retention: A Sensible Benefit

Employee retention is a costly issue for many businesses. Group coaching, by investing in employee development and fostering a sense of community, can reasonably be expected to improve retention rates. While we can’t put an exact figure on it, we suspect you as HR and business leaders can!

Leadership Development at Scale: A Key Strength

One of the most compelling arguments for group coaching is its cost-effectiveness. Developing leaders one-to-one is expensive. Group coaching allows you to develop multiple leaders simultaneously, leveraging peer learning and shared accountability. This makes it a potentially attractive option for organisations scaling quickly or managing significant change.

So if you have a constant stream of coaching requests and an ever tightening budget, group coaching might be a good answer to your dilemma. 

Measuring Success: What Should You Track?

To actually determine if group coaching is working for your organisation, you need to track specific metrics. These might include:

• Productivity rates before and after the coaching programme

• Quality of work outputs

• Achievement of team goals

• Employee engagement survey scores

• 360-degree feedback before and after the programme

• Staff turnover rates

Whatever relevant data you have already in place, use it when setting the goals for group coaching activity, and for analysing success at the end. Any credible group coaching company will work with you to ensure this happens right at the very start of your relationship.

Final Thoughts: A Worthwhile Investment…With Realistic Expectations

Group coaching isn’t a magic bullet, and the widely-quoted ROI figures should be viewed with a healthy dose of scepticism. However, we strongly believe it can be a valuable investment, particularly when it’s part of a broader talent development strategy and you have clear, measurable goals.

It's not about expecting a 700% return overnight. It’s about investing in your people, fostering a culture of learning, and improving engagement and performance. If you approach it with realistic expectations and track your results diligently, group coaching can deliver a meaningful positive return for your organisation. Just don't believe everything you read about astronomical ROIs.

If you want to know more about the data we looked at, or would like to discuss the possible impact of group coaching to your organisation, we love to hear from you.