At Shirlaws, we help our clients identify their specific commercial and cultural objectives. Different organisations, even those in the same industry or location, will usually have different outcomes for which they engage a coach. Some of the most common objectives in Australia include:

Commercial uplift:

• Improved sales, revenue, cash flow or turnover.
• Improved profit margins and profitability.
• Reduced costs and improved efficiencies or productivity measures.
• Increased valuation of the business, both in absolute terms and relative to competitors.

Cultural uplift:

• Better communication at senior management level, partnership level and throughout the business, which can speed implementation of strategic and operational changes for small businesses through to multi-national corporations.
• Improved staff morale, which can impact on staff turnover, efficiencies, innovation and client relationships.
• Clear and agreed company values, which define acceptable behaviours and inform staff recruitment and retention strategies.
• Better work/life balance, which enables senior managers and staff to be more effective and avoid burnout, staff turnover and low morale.

We also encourage our clients to define the Return on Investment (ROI) they are seeking and where appropriate to establish a target return on investment (ROI) formula. This helps focus our coaching sessions, as well as their activity between meetings, with the result of achieving a desired outcome sooner.

As CEO Andrew Mackenzie discusses in this short video, in recent years there have been several independent research programs into the actual return on investment achieved from business coaching. In 2001, a report by the Manchester Review with 100 Executives demonstrated a 570% ROI and stated "we feel confident that this level of value has been achieved and may, in fact, be understated." Similarly, a Fortune 500 Case Study by Metrix Global (now Cylient) demonstrated a 529% ROI on coaching alone, which increased to 788% when the value of staff retention was factored in. A 2009 study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers communicated an average company ROI from coaching of 700%.

Importantly, that same PriceWaterhouseCoopers study demonstrated much of the value returned from coaching was in the intangible areas of confidence, relationships, balance and wellbeing.

Shirlaws Case Studies demonstrate a similar combination of commercial and cultural benefits