The Performance Effects of Coaching : A Multilevel Analysis Using Heirarchical Linear Modeling

Drawing on the conceptual foundations of leader-member exchange and behavior modeling we investigate the effects of managers' coaching intensity on the performance of those they supervise at multiple levels of an organizational hierarchy. Data from 328 sales people reporting to 114 middle managers, and 93 middle managers reporting to 32 executive managers are used to test the research hypotheses. Using hierarchical linear modeling we find that managers' coaching intensity influences the performance of their subordinates after controlling for job satisfaction, and this effect weakens at greater hierarchical levels. Surprisingly, we do not observe any cross-level moderating effects of coaching intensity on the satisfaction - performance relationship. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research and practice