Managers who coach lift performance — through the relationship, not the technique. Put the same coaching inside a competitive climate, and the lift fades.
Nicholas Clarke, Najla Alshenaifi, and Thomas Garavan studied 389 supervisor–subordinate pairs across 31 organizations. Two findings came out of it. First, the quality of the working relationship — what researchers call leader–member exchange — predicted how much coaching a manager actually did, and that coaching predicted job performance. Second, and less comfortable: where employees read the climate as competitive, the link between coaching and performance was weaker. A supportive climate, by contrast, did not strengthen it.¹
The authors state the practical conclusion plainly. Money spent on managerial coaching returns less when the organization is simultaneously running its people against one another.
Talent Takeaway
Before we fund the next coaching rollout, it helps to read our ranking, bonus, and promotion mechanics the way our people read them. Where those mechanics reward cooperation, the coaching we invest in has room to pay off.
¹ Clarke, N., Alshenaifi, N., & Garavan, T. (2026). Contextual features affecting managers undertaking coaching and its impact on employee performance in competitive and supportive psychological climates. Human Resource Development International, 29(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2026.2644373
