The Breadth of Arcora Coaching’s Impact
See how Arcora’s coaching creates wide-reaching organizational impact, through real client results.
The majority of evaluation participants experienced meaningful improvements across multiple domains, with significant gains in work engagement and well-being delivering a minimum 7:1 ROI.
Introduction
When organizations invest in coaching, they typically have a specific goal in mind, like helping a leader strengthen their skills or supporting an employee’s career development. What they often don’t expect is just how far the impacts of coaching can reach.
Evaluation data from Arcora’s program tells a compelling story: our coaching doesn’t just address isolated issues—it creates broad, interconnected improvements across employees’ work and personal lives. After just a few sessions, findings show that participants experienced meaningful gains across an average of two to four different outcome areas. That’s the power of breadth, and what makes Arcora coaching different.
Key Findings
- 94% of participants improved across at least one core coaching domain, with 75% improving in two or more
- 87.5% improved in at least one work-related outcome (performance, engagement, self-efficacy)
- 100% improved in at least one leadership capability, with 87% improving across six or more specific leadership behaviours
- 87% experienced improvements in well-being
- Work engagement showed statistically significant improvement with a large effect size
- Improvements were distributed across several core domains of professional growth and organizational well-being, demonstrating the broad reach of Arcora coaching
One Investment, Multiple Organizational Benefits
These key findings show that investing in Arcora coaching does more than address specific employee goals. By improving individual performance, leadership ability and well-being, it creates a ripple effect across core elements of organizational effectiveness. This breadth of impact is why organizations see such strong returns.
Assessment Approach
This evaluation uses validated, research-backed assessment tools administered before (baseline) and after (follow-up) participants completed up to three sessions of Arcora coaching. We selected tools with strong psychometric properties that are widely used in organizational research.
Reporting Approach
Findings are expressed as percentages, both because these are easier to communicate than statistical results and due to the sample size of our initial evaluation cohort. We’ve already achieved statistically significant results with large effect sizes on key coaching outcomes, which strongly indicate meaningful impact. As our research grows, we’ll continue to expand our statistical analyses.
Focus on Well-Being and Work Engagement
The main focus of this white paper is on well-being and work engagement outcomes measured before and after coaching. Our comprehensive evaluation also tracks improvements across essential coaching domains and leadership capabilities; however, these are highly individualized, as clients choose coaching focus areas based on their specific coaching needs and goals.
We examine these results to understand broad coaching impact, while our pre-post measurement focuses on two universal outcomes that apply regardless of clients’ specific coaching goals:
- Well-being: This measure reflects Arcora’s unique foundation in comprehensive employee mental health supports and aligns with our central Employee Assistance Program (EAP) evaluation approach. By measuring well-being as a core outcome rather than a by-product, we demonstrate how our coaching builds sustainable performance.
- Work Engagement: This measure forms the basis of our ROI calculation, demonstrating the direct link between coaching and productivity gains.
Our Coaching Fundamentals
Arcora’s coaching brings something unique to the table: a foundation of more than 15 years of expertise in employee mental health and well-being. This experience serving Canadian businesses with key organizational supports, including our EAP, has built our understanding of what it really takes to support people not just as employees, but as whole human beings.
Our program is rooted in positive psychology and developed by world-leading coaching researchers—and while the priority is professional development, many of the skills developed through our coaching are also highly beneficial and transferable life skills.
We don’t just help people perform better—we help them thrive. That’s the Arcora difference.
The Coaching-Counselling Connection
Arcora’s extensive EAP background has shown that sustainable performance improvements start with employee well-being. You can’t optimize work function without attending to the person first. That’s why human-centered care is the cornerstone of our supports.
Arcora’s EAP counselling and coaching are distinct but complementary services, and well-being is the bridge that connects both.
EAP Counselling
Supports designed to address mental health concerns and help employees navigate challenges that impact their well-being.
Workplace Coaching
Supports designed to develop leadership capabilities, enhance work performance and facilitate intentional career growth.
While other coaching providers often treat well-being as secondary to performance, Arcora tracks this as a core outcome. The improvements in resilience and flourishing that participants experience through Arcora services aren’t incidental, but a natural and expected result of our evidence-based approach. It’s why our coaching creates such broad impact—improvements in well-being can support sustainable gains in work performance and leadership effectiveness.
Breadth of Impact, Explained
Breadth of impact refers to Arcora coaching’s ability to produce meaningful improvements across multiple interconnected domains, rather than concentrating growth on just one skill.
Arcora’s coaching program is designed to establish breadth, as clients experience quick wins across multiple areas after just a few sessions. This creates momentum and demonstrates value early on, building a foundation for continued growth—once employees see improvements, they’re positioned to pursue deeper development in specific areas through further coaching.
Narrow Impact
- Employee improves in one specific skill (e.g. time management)
- Single-domain ROI
Broad Impact (Arcora Coaching)
- Employee improves across three to six different domains (e.g. autonomy, resilience and career advancement)
- Multi-domain ROI—one investment, multiple organizational benefits
The Eight Domains of Arcora Coaching
Our program is organized around eight core domains that represent key aspects of professional development and personal growth. These are interconnected, meaning improvement in one area often supports gains in others.
Domain 1
Mastery and Competence
Confidence in professional abilities and understanding of organizational systems.
Development in this domain leads to employees feeling more capable and effective in their roles.
Domain 2
Purpose and Organizational Alignment
Understanding how one’s role contributes to organizational success and creates meaningful impact.
Development in this domain helps employees connect their daily tasks to bigger-picture value and find intention in their work.
Domain 3
Autonomy and Self-direction
Ability to manage work independently, make decisions and set and achieve self-directed goals.
Development in this domain empowers employees to become more self-sufficient, accountable and proactive.
Domain 4
Interpersonal Relationships and Team Collaboration
Building positive relationships at work and contributing to collaborative, supportive team environments.
Development in this domain helps employees strengthen workplace connections and teamwork.
Domain 5
Personal and Professional Resilience
Strengthening emotional intelligence, stress management and adaptability.
Development in this domain builds employees’ capacity to handle challenges and maintain a positive outlook in difficult situations.
Domain 6
Career Advancement and Professional Growth
Identifying career opportunities and how to strategically prepare to achieve future milestones.
Development in this domain helps employees gain clarity and confidence about their career trajectory.
Domain 7
Communication and Social Skills
Understanding effective communication styles for positive engagement with colleagues.
Development in this domain enhances employees’ ability to build and maintain productive professional relationships.
Domain 8
Work-Life Blend and Well-being
Finding a healthy, sustainable balance between professional responsibilities and personal life.
Development in this domain helps employees experience greater overall well-being and life satisfaction.
The Interconnection Effect
These domains don’t exist in isolation—they’re interconnected through corresponding skill development. This explains why participants are able improve across multiple domains simultaneously: for example, when Arcora coaching helps an employee improve their autonomy (Domain 3), they become more self-assured, which can also support career advancement (Domain 6) and resilience (Domain 5).
Why Breadth of Impact Matters for Organizations

Coaching is often seen as a targeted intervention: fix this performance issue, develop this skill, address this challenge. While Arcora’s coaching absolutely addresses specific goals, the breadth of impact creates value that extends far beyond the initial coaching focus.
Multi-Domain ROI
An organization that invests in Arcora coaching for one employee typically sees improvements in two to six additional areas beyond that employee’s stated goals. This translates to:
- A higher return on investment, as one coaching engagement delivers multiple organizational benefits.
- Compounding effects through interconnected domains—like improvements in well-being supporting better performance or gains in autonomy facilitating career growth.
- Unexpected wins, as employees often improve in areas they didn’t even identify as initial coaching goals.
Support that Goes Beyond Problem-Solving
Breadth of impact means Arcora’s coaching isn’t just reactive problem-solving, but proactive development. Even high-performing employees show meaningful improvements across multiple domains, making this a valuable development tool for entire teams.
Systemic Organizational Benefits
Rather than isolated pockets of improvement, Arcora coaching creates ripple effects throughout the organization—because when employees improve across multiple domains, the impact compounds:
- Teams with higher engagement, better communication and stronger collaboration
- Managers with improved leadership capabilities and resilience
- Employees with clearer career paths and stronger organizational alignment
- Workplaces with better work-life integration and overall well-being
The Evidence: Breadth of Impact in Action
The following data clearly demonstrates broad improvements amongst employees across the eight core domains after just a few sessions of Arcora coaching.
Number of Arcora Coaching Domains by Participant Improvement
- At least 1 domain improved: 94% of participants
- At least 2 domains improved: 75% of participants
- At least 3 domains improved: 69% of participants
- At least 4 domains improved: 69% of participants
- At least 5 domains improved: 38% of participants
- At least 6 domains improved: 25% of participants
- At least 7 domains improved: 6% of participants
- All 8 domains improved: 6% of participants
Key Finding
Three-quarters of Arcora coaching participants saw multi-domain growth, with at least two areas of improvement.
Arcora Coaching Domains by Improvement Frequency
- Autonomy and Self-Direction: 56% of participants improved
- Personal and Professional Resilience: 56% of participants improved
- Career Advancement and Professional Growth: 56% of participants improved
- Work-Life Blend and Personal Well-being: 56% of participants improved
- Communication and Social Skills: 44% of participants improved
- Mastery and Competence: 38% of participants improved
- Purpose and Organizational Alignment: 38% of participants improved
- Interpersonal Relationships and Team Collaboration: 38% of participants improved
Key Finding
While we see improvements across all domains, these numbers reflect participants’ individual coaching goals, not differential program effectiveness. Arcora’s coaching flexibly supports development wherever employees need it most.
Improvements in Leadership Capabilities
Our assessment uses the Leadership Skills Questionnaire (LSQ), a multidimensional measure that captures core leadership competencies across 18 individual behaviours in three primary domains:
- Administrative Leadership, which includes to day-to-day management capabilities like planning, organizing and managing resources.
- Interpersonal Leadership, which includes working effectively with others, building relationships and understanding team dynamics.
- Conceptual Leadership, which includes strategic thinking, problem solving and higher-order leadership functions.
The breadth of leadership development through Arcora coaching was particularly striking.
Improvement by Leadership Domain
The following data shows cross-domain leadership development, based on participants who improved in at least one competency within each of the three leadership domains.
- Overall Leadership Skills: 67% of participants improved
- Administrative Leadership: 53% of participants improved
- Interpersonal Leadership: 67% of participants improved
- Conceptual Leadership: 80% of participants improved
Key Finding
While conceptual leadership (strategic thinking and problem solving) showed the strongest improvement, notable changes spanned all three domains, which demonstrates holistic leadership development.
Over 90% of participants improved at least one skill in each leadership domain.
Number of Leadership Behaviours by Participant Improvement
We also examined the individual LSQ leadership behaviours to see how many improved for each participant.
- At least 1 behaviour improved: 100% of participants
- At least 2 behaviours improved: 100% of participants
- At least 3 behaviours improved: 93% of participants
- At least 4 behaviours improved: 93% of participants
- At least 5 behaviours improved: 93% of participants
- At least 6 behaviours improved: 87% of participants
- At least 7 behaviours improved: 53% of participants
- At least 8 behaviours improved: 40% of participants
Key Finding
Almost all participants improved in at least three to five leadership behaviours, while more than half of participants improved across seven or more.
Arcora coaching cultivates development across fundamental leadership capabilities: administrative, interpersonal and strategic.
The Evidence: Work and Well-being Outcomes
Beyond core coaching and leadership domains, we measured specific work and well-being outcomes using validated assessment tools, before and after participants completed three sessions, to further identify Arcora coaching’s breadth of impact.
Improvements in Work Outcomes
Work Outcomes by Improvement Frequency
- Work Engagement: 67% of participants improved
- Coping Self-efficacy at Work: 67% of participants improved
- Job Performance: 53% of participants improved
- General Self-efficacy at Work: 53% of participants improved
Number of Work Outcomes by Participant Improvement
- At least 1 work outcome improved: 87.5% of participants
- At least 2 work outcomes improved: 62.5% of participants
- At least 3 work outcomes improved: 37.5% of participants
- All 4 work outcomes improved: 12.5% of participants
Work Engagement Results
Measured using the UWES-3 six-point scale | Statistically significant results: p=.021, d=0.67 (Large effect)

Work Engagement (Pre-Post Coaching)
Mean (0-6 scale): Baseline 4.49, Follow-up 4.98 | Change: +0.49 | Statistical significance: t=2.60, p=.021* | Effect size: d=0.67 (Large)
*Statistically significant at p < .05
Key Findings
A significant majority of participants improved in at least one work outcome, with many improving across two or more. Work engagement and coping self-efficacy saw the most gains, though job performance and general self-efficacy also improved for more than half of participants.
Improvements in Well-being
Well-being was assessed using validated psychological measures that capture different aspects of positive functioning.
Well-being Outcomes by Improvement Frequency
- Overall Well-being: 87% of participants improved
- Resilience: 60% of participants improved
- Flourishing: 47% of participants improved
Number of Well-being Outcomes by Participant Improvement
- At least 1 well-being outcome improved: 87% of participants
- At least 2 well-being outcomes improved: 69% of participants
- All 3 well-being outcomes improved: 44% of participants
Well-being Results
Measured using the WHO-5 five-point scale. | Statistically significant results: p=.005, d=0.86 (Very Large effect)

Well-being (Pre-Post Coaching)
Mean (0-5 scale): Baseline 3.08, Follow-up 3.70 | Change: +0.62 | Statistical significance: t=3.32, p=.005** | Effect size: d=0.86 (Very Large)
**Highly statistically significant at p < .01
Key Findings
With most participants improving in at least one well-being outcome, more than two-thirds improving in two or more and just under half improving across all three outcomes, we see that Arcora’s coaching enhances overall quality of life, not just work performance.
The Pattern: Why Breadth Happens
Across every category we measured—core coaching domains, leadership, work outcomes and well-being—the same pattern emerged: participants didn’t just improve in one area, but multiple areas simultaneously. So, why does this breadth happen?
Coaching Addresses Root Causes, Not Just Symptoms
When an Arcora coach works with someone struggling with work-life balance, they don’t just discuss time management tactics. They explore underlying patterns—perhaps lack of autonomy, unclear boundaries or difficulty saying no. Addressing these root causes creates improvements that ripple across multiple domains.
Coaching Domains are Interconnected
Arcora’s eight core coaching domains don’t exist in isolation. For example, when coaching helps someone build autonomy, it often simultaneously supports:
- Career advancement, because they’re more empowered to pursue opportunities.
- Resilience, because they’re better equipped to handle challenges independently.
- Work-life balance, because they’re able to set clearer boundaries through self-direction.
- Mastery and competence, because they have increased confidence in their abilities.
Gains in one domain create momentum in others—this is why breadth is the natural result of effective coaching.
Coaching Uncovers Hidden Growth Opportunities
Even when someone identifies one primary coaching goal, they often have adjacent needs that they haven’t fully articulated. The exploratory approach of our coaching helps clients realize these areas of need, creating opportunities for multi-domain growth within the same coaching engagement.
From Breadth to Depth: The Coaching Journey
The findings in this white paper reflect only up to three sessions of Arcora coaching. Our program follows the solution-focused brief coaching method, which establishes clear, actionable goals for outcome-driven results. While this design creates breadth early on, this is a foundation—we intentionally offer additional sessions that position clients for the next stage: depth.
What Depth Looks Like
With more sessions, our coaching program builds deeper, sustained change in specific domains. Below are some examples of this.
Breadth
Improved autonomy and career clarity
Depth
Sustained leadership development, strategic career pivots and organizational influence
Breadth
Better work-life balance and initial resilience gains
Depth
Transformational, sustained shifts in behaviour, including stress management and well-being practices
Breadth
Improved communication and team collaboration
Depth
Enhanced team leadership capabilities through mastery of interpersonal and conflict resolution skills
Coaching Journey Snapshot
While Arcora coaching works early and creates momentum, our program takes that foundation and builds deep, sustained transformation.
Early development
Outcomes after up to 3 sessions:
- Establish breadth with quick wins across 2-6 domains
- Build momentum and a foundation for growth
Sustained development
Anticipated outcomes after 6-12 sessions*:
- Build depth within 1-3 priority domains
- Experience transformational change and lasting behaviour shifts
Ongoing development
Anticipated outcomes after 12+ sessions*:
- Deepen mastery with advanced capabilities and strategic growth
- Achieve leadership excellence for significant organizational impact
*Research is ongoing to confirm long-term coaching outcomes
Translating Breadth Into Return on Investment
The breadth of Arcora’s coaching impact isn’t just meaningful from a human development perspective—it translates into substantial financial returns for organizations. When employees improve across multiple domains simultaneously, the organizational value compounds.
Conservative ROI Estimate: 7 to 1
Our comprehensive return-on-investment analysis focused exclusively on individual productivity gains from increased work engagement, where 67% of participants experienced growth within three sessions. This is just one of the multiple outcomes that improve through Arcora coaching, and these findings alone demonstrate a minimum ROI of 7 to 1.
ROI Analysis Breakdown
- Used conservative productivity gain estimates (3.5-5% productivity increase per 10% engagement increase)
- Applied the average salary of typical Arcora coaching participants
- Calculated restored productivity value over one year
The Result
$7 returned for every $1 invested in coaching
The True ROI Is Much Higher
As this white paper has demonstrated, Arcora’s coaching creates improvements across not just one domain, but multiple simultaneously. The true financial return is significantly higher when considering:
- Reduced Employee Turnover: Coaching enhances retention, reducing the need to hire, train and onboard replacements. With turnover costs ranging from 50-200% of annual salary, even modest retention improvements create substantial savings.
- Increased Team Productivity: 100% of participants improved their leadership capabilities—this impact multiplies beyond individual gains, as better leaders improve decision-making, collaboration and overall performance for their teams.
- Enhanced Employee Well-being: 87% of participants improved in well-being, reducing absenteeism, presenteeism and health care costs while improving sustained performance.
- Better Leadership Effectiveness: With 80% of participants showing gains in conceptual leadership (strategic thinking and problem-solving), organizations benefit from more effective decision-making and better business outcomes.
- Stronger Organizational Culture: Broad improvements in engagement, well-being and leadership contribute to positive work environments, driving long-term performance and values alignment.
- Customer and Client Satisfaction: Engaged, well-supported employees deliver better customer experiences, impacting revenue and client retention.

Breadth Creates Compounding Value
When coaching improves three to six outcome areas per employee, the organizational benefits don’t just add—they multiply. A 7:1 ROI based on engagement alone becomes 15:1, 20:1 or higher when accounting for retention, team productivity, leadership effectiveness and well-being gains. This is why breadth matters.
Arcora coaching creates multiple, interconnected improvements that compound over time, delivering exceptional financial returns alongside meaningful human development.
Conclusion: The Power of Breadth
The evidence is clear—Arcora coaching doesn’t deliver a single improvement that’s measured once. It creates broad, multi-domain impact that touches nearly every aspect of employees’ work and personal lives. For organizations considering investing in coaching, this breadth of impact demonstrates why Arcora delivers exceptional value. And because our approach is grounded in more than 15 years of employee well-being expertise, these improvements are built to last.
Key Takeaways
- 94% of participants improved across at least one core coaching domain, with 75% improving across two or more
- 100% improved in at least one leadership capability, with 87% improving across six or more specific leadership behaviours
- 87.5% showed gains in work outcomes (performance, engagement, self-efficacy)
- 87% improved in overall well-being, with 69% seeing gains across multiple well-being areas
- The breadth of impact explains strong ROI: one coaching investment, multiple organizational benefits
- Early sessions establish breadth, while Arcora’s full program builds depth through multiple sessions
- Improvements are interconnected—gains in one domain support growth in others
Assessment Tools Used
Work Outcomes
Leadership Outcomes
Leadership Skills Questionnaire (LSQ)1: Participants rate their leadership skills across three domains: conceptual, administrative and interpersonal.
Job Performance
The World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ)2: Participants rate their overall job performance on a 0–10 scale from worst performance to top performer.
Work Engagement
Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-3)3: This captures vigor, dedication and absorption with items like, “At my work, I feel bursting with energy,” “I’m enthusiastic about my job” and “I’m immersed in my work.”
Coping Self-efficacy
This single-item measure4 instructs participants, “Rate how confident you feel you can easily cope with general workplace challenges”, using a 0-10 scale.
General Self-efficacy at Work
This six-item scale5 assesses confidence in handling work challenges with items like: “I can remain calm when facing difficulties in my job because I can rely on my abilities” and “When I’m confronted with a problem in my job, I can usually find several solutions.”
Well-being Outcomes
Overall Well-being
World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5)6: This captures positive mood, vitality and general interest in daily life, within the prior two-week period. Some items include, “I have felt cheerful and in good spirits” and “I have felt calm and relaxed.”
Resilience
Brief Resilience Scale (BRS)7: This measures the ability to bounce back or recover from stress with items like, “I tend to bounce back quickly after hard times” and “It does not take me long to recover from a stressful event.”
Flourishing
Flourishing Scale8: This eight-item measure captures self-perceived success in important areas of life, including purpose, relationships, competence and optimism. Some items include, “I lead a purposeful and meaningful life” and “I am optimistic about my future.”
Citations
1 Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice.
2 Kessler et al. (2003). The World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ).
3 Schaufeli, W. B., Shimazu, A., Hakanen, J., Salanova, M., & De Witte, H. (2019). Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-3).
4 Coping Self-Efficacy measure Developed by Arcora
5 Rigotti, T., Schyns, B., & Mohr, G. (2008). General Self-Efficacy at Work.
6 Topp, C. W., Østergaard, S. D., Søndergaard, S., & Bech, P. (2015). World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5).
7 Smith, B. W., Dalen, J., Wiggins, K., Tooley, E., Christopher, P., & Bernard, J. (2008). Brief Resilience Scale (BRS).
8 Diener et al. (2010). Flourishing Scale.


