The effects of executive coaching on behaviors, attitudes, and personal characteristics: a meta-analysis of randomized control trial studies.

Background: A growing number of studies emphasize executive coaching as an effective developmental tool that managers can use to increase their performance in organizational settings. However, the coaching research suggests a large variety of processes and outcomes, lacking clarity on the primary psychological dimensions most impacted. Method: Reviewing 20 studies with a rigorous methodological design that used control trials and pre-post tests, we evaluated and compared the relative effects of coaching on different types and sub-types of outcomes by means of a classification of coaching outcomes based on previously used taxonomies. Results: The results indicate that the impact of coaching on behavioral outcomes was higher compared to attitudes and person characteristics outcomes, suggesting that behavioral coaching outcomes, especially cognitive behavioral activities, are the most impacted by executive coaching. Moreover, we found significant positive effects for some specific outcomes, such as self-efficacy, psychological capital, and resilience, indicating that executive coaching is effective in producing change even on dimensions considered relatively stable over time. The results show no moderation effects of the number of sessions. The length of the coaching program was a significant moderator only for the attitudes outcomes. Discussion: These findings provide evidence that executive coaching is a powerful instrument for organizations to support positive change and personal development.

Achievement Goals and Goal Progress as Drivers of Work Engagement.

In two studies, we investigated the role of self-regulatory behavior in terms of achievement goals and goal progress for work engagement. Study 1 (N = 205) revealed that trait learning goals were positively related to work engagement and performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals were unrelated to work engagement. In a second study, employees were asked to either set a (state) learning, performance-approach, or performance-avoidance goal for the upcoming work week. Goal progress and work engagement were measured one week later (N = 106). Learning goals at the trait and state level were associated with higher work engagement and performance-avoidance goals were unrelated to work engagement. We found a positive relationship of goal progress with work engagement, in particular for employees who pursued learning or performance-approach goals. Our studies contribute to theory building by delineating the (combined) role of goal orientations (trait), state achievement goals, and goal progress for work engagement, as well as generating practical implications for the design of effective interventions to enhance work motivation in organizational practice.

Aberrant personality tendencies and academic success throughout engineering education.

OBJECTIVE: In a longitudinal field study, we investigated the predictive associations between six aberrant personality tendencies (schizotypal, avoidant, borderline, antisocial, narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive) and academic success of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students. METHOD: Bachelor students of Industrial Engineering at a Dutch technical university (N = 432, Mage  = 18.45; 87.3% male) filled out the NEO-PI-R and aberrant tendencies were operationalized by the five-factor model (FFM) compound technique. Indicators of academic achievement (grades) and persistence (credit points earned per year, re-enrollment, study duration) were made available by the academic office. RESULTS: Validities across the 3 years of the study program consistently support the role of two aberrant tendencies: Individuals with high antisocial tendency reached lower academic achievement, took longer to finish their study, and had a higher risk of dropout. The obsessive-compulsive tendency was associated with higher grade-point average, faster study progress, and higher retention rates and effects were still visible while controlling for known predictors (high school grades, Conscientiousness). Contrary to our expectations, we found no evidence for inverted U-shaped relationships. CONCLUSIONS: We used the compound technique for aberrant tendencies based on the FFM in the academic context and our findings support the importance of personality-based psychopathological tendencies for academic success.

THE EFFECT OF SELF-SET GRADE GOALS AND CORE SELF-EVALUATIONS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A DIARY STUDY.

The aim of this diary study was to examine the effect of self-set grade goals and core self-evaluations on academic performance. Data were collected among 59 university students (M age = 18.4 yr., SD = 0.8) in a 2-wk. exam period on up to five exam days. Multilevel analyses revealed that the individual grade goals students set for their exams were positively related to the grades they obtained for these exams. However, the goal-performance relationship only applied to students scoring high on core self-evaluations. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of the effect of self-set grade goals and core self-evaluations on academic performance and imply important practical applications to enhance academic performance.

The effect of goal setting on group performance: a meta-analysis.

Updating and extending the work of O'Leary-Kelly, Martocchio, and Frink (1994), with this meta-analysis on goal setting and group performance we show that specific difficult goals yield considerably higher group performance compared with nonspecific goals (d = 0.80 ± 0.35, k = 23 effect sizes). Moderately difficult and easy goals were also associated with performance benefits relative to nonspecific goals, but these effects were smaller. The overall effect size for all group goals was d = 0.56 ± 0.19 (k = 49). Unexpectedly, task interdependence, task complexity, and participation did not moderate the effect of group goals. Our inventory of multilevel goals in interdependent groups indicated that the effect of individual goals in groups on group performance was contingent upon the focus of the goal: "Egocentric" individual goals, aimed at maximizing individual performance, yielded a particularly negative group-performance effect (d = -1.75 ± 0.60, k = 6), whereas "groupcentric" goals, aimed at maximizing the individual contribution to the group's performance, showed a positive effect (d = 1.20 ± 1.03, k = 4). These findings demonstrate that group goals have a robust effect on group performance. Individual goals can also promote group performance but should be used with caution in interdependent groups. Future research might explore the role of multilevel goals for group performance in more detail. The striking lack of recent field studies in organizational settings that emerged from our brief review of trends in group goal-setting research should be taken into account when designing future studies in this domain.