EZRA Launches EZRA Labs to Drive R&D for Coaching-Powered Professional Development and Performance

EZRA Labs is the company's latest investment in behavioral science-based research to deliver industry-leading solutions in workplace learning and development

NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EZRA, a leading virtual coaching provider, has launched EZRA Labs, a research and innovation hub of expert behavioral scientists, psychometricians, professional coaches and L&D specialists dedicated to advancing solutions that drive positive behavioral change and organizational impact. EZRA has appointed Sinéad Keenan, a business psychologist with deep expertise in corporate learning, organizational change, and leadership development, as its new Chief Innovation Officer and Head of EZRA Labs. 

EZRA Labs represents the next phase of EZRA's ongoing investment in learning and development research, following the launch of EZRA Measure, a behavioral science-based assessment tool that for the first time in the professional coaching industry makes it possible to trace and quantify behavioral competency growth of users.

"The world of work has dramatically changed, leaving organizations facing acute pressure to drive performance and forcing employees to reevaluate how they want to structure their work lives," said Keenan. "At the start of the pandemic, demand for coaching skyrocketed as employers looked for ways to retain, engage and support employees in new work environments. Now, leaders are also having to navigate a host of unprecedented economic and workforce challenges and are looking for more accessible coaching support than what has traditionally been available. As more organizations embrace our mission to democratize coaching and deeper investments are made to prove and improve its impact, we have an opportunity to revolutionize how we learn and grow on the job." EZRA Labs' early work will apply existing behavioral science models to coaching – a practice typically seen in fields such as healthcare and public policy – to adapt employee behaviors to improve agility and better respond to unexpected challenges.

To mark this launch, EZRA Labs has released "Why Coaching Works," a report outlining how coaching can drive behavioral change in the workplace. Key highlights include:

• Why not all feedback is effective and how to maximize its impact by focusing on what worked well versus what didn't.
• How unconscious assumptions about our performance hold us back from meeting our full potential at work and the psychology behind how to change these kinds of limiting beliefs.
• The role a coach plays in building a sense of accountability.
• How coaching bridges the "knowing-doing gap", by drawing on the three proven ingredients for behavior change: motivation, the right knowledge and skills, and prompts to apply it.
• How an EZRA coaching program delivered an 18% increase in productivity among coachees compared to a control group at a major global bank.

In addition to the launch of EZRA Labs, EZRA will also expand its existing partnership with NYU's School of Professional Studies sponsoring three research fellows to deliver new findings on the effectiveness of coaching and how it can be improved. "Through the EZRA Scholars program, we're providing students with the resources to propel the industry forward through advancements in insights and measurement to empirically validate that coaching is a valuable method for affecting positive change in the workplace," said Dr. Woody Woodward, Clinical Assistant Professor and Program Lead, Master of Science in Executive Coaching and Organizational Consulting, NYU.

"EZRA Labs will allow us to reinvent and reimagine coaching as a strategic instrument for accelerating organizational change", said Jack Prevezer COO & Co-Founder at EZRA. "By blending 1:1 coaching with applied behavioral science, we are unlocking new avenues of professional development not just for the top percentage of employees but for all talent who traditionally don't have access to coaching."

EZRA Labs will begin to produce quarterly research insights to bring new, scientific understanding to the professional development industry about how to best drive learning outcomes for employees at whatever career stage they're in.

A leading global virtual coaching provider, EZRA delivers individualized leadership coaching to advance and develop workers at every level – because coaching should be accessible to everyone, not just to the C-suite. Through its global network of over 2,000 world-class accredited coaches, EZRA has already helped thousands of companies and teams across 87 countries quantifiably improve performance, employee retention, and promotion rates. Companies using EZRA today include AstraZeneca, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Kraft Heinz, Spotify and Thomson Reuters. EZRA was established in 2019 and operates within The Adecco Group and LHH families.

To learn more about EZRA, visit: https://helloezra.com/

Media contact: 
Sachin Persaud
PR Manager
sachin.persaud@helloezra.com