Coaching is increasingly popular as a means of promoting learning and development and has moved up the agenda.
This is according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) 10th annual survey which shows how coaching within organisations has moved beyond being ‘the latest fad’ to adding real benefits.
Almost three-quarters of UK employers currently use coaching in their organisations, a figure that compares to 63% when the waters were tested in 2007. A similar proportion (72%) of respondents find coaching to be an effective tool.
General personal development (79%) and helping poor performance (74%) are cited as the most common purposes for which coaching is used, whereas with organisations that only offer coaching to managers, the emphasis shifts towards its positioning as part of a wider management and leadership development programme (61%).
The survey finds more than two fifths of organisations now offer coaching to all employees, 39% offer it to directors and senior management and a third offer it to senior managers and line managers/supervisors.
Dr John McGurk, CIPD learning, training and development adviser, commented: “Coaching is not just a popular technique but an immensely powerful one for supporting personal development. There is no doubt that coaching is having a significant impact both on individual and organisational performance. As coaching helps people to develop, it’s a perfect fit for the fast moving knowledge economy in which we operate.”
The survey highlights that the bulk of the responsibility for delivering coaching lies with line managers coaching those who report to them (36%) and to HR and/or learning, training, and development specialists (30%). Over half of organisations (53%) believe that coaching by line managers is the most effective learning and development practice and 49% anticipate that even greater responsibility will fall onto line managers in the next five years.
Worryingly, only 8% evaluate the effectiveness of coaching via a formal annual (or other regular) evaluation process. Two in five respondents feel that the effectiveness of coaching is gauged by reviews of objectives conducted with line managers, coaches and coachees.
