Revised November 2008
This factsheet gives introductory guidance. It:
- explains what coaching is
- introduces some of the issues and gives guidance on how to tackle them
- explains the role HR plays in managing coaching activities
- includes the CIPD viewpoint.
Coaching is an increasingly popular tool for supporting personal development. Just over seven out of ten respondents in our Learning and development survey 2008 reported that they now use coaching in their organisations. 44% offer coaching to all employees whilst just under two fifths offer it to directors and senior management. Our previous surveys have sought to record the rise of coaching. Apart from a ‘blip’ in 2007, the high and stable results for coaching and mentoring show that the technique is very much here to stay. The accent of research on coaching is now on the issues of purpose and capability. Our 2008 survey, for example, also reports on the recorded purpose of coaching: just over three fifths see its main purpose as general personal development, just over half use the technique for transition support and 35% use it both as a culture change tool and to support organisational objectives.
Yet there are and remain perennial issues around coaching and mentoring. Although coaching has become a very widespread development tool, there are issues about how best to manage and deliver it in an organisational setting. These include confusion over exactly what coaching is, how best to manage the stakeholders in coaching, when coaching is, and is not, an appropriate intervention and how to work effectively with an increasingly complex and fragmented coaching industry.
What is coaching?
There is some confusion about what exactly coaching is, and how it differs from other ‘helping behaviours’ such as counselling and mentoring. Broadly speaking, the CIPD defines coaching as developing a person’s skills and knowledge so that their job performance improves, hopefully leading to the achievement of organisational objectives. It targets high performance and improvement at work, although it may also have an impact on an individual’s private life. It usually lasts for a short period and focuses on specific skills and goals.
Although there is a lack of agreement among coaching professionals about precise definitions, these are some generally agreed characteristics of coaching in organisations:
- It is essentially a non-directive form of development.
- It focuses on improving performance and developing individuals’ skills.
- Personal issues may be discussed but the emphasis is on performance at work.
- Coaching activities have both organisational and individual goals.
- It assumes that the individual is psychologically well and does not require a clinical intervention.
- It provides people with feedback on both their strengths and their weaknesses.
- It is a skilled activity which should be delivered by trained people.
It can be difficult to distinguish between coaching, mentoring and counselling. In practice, ‘mentoring’ for example is sometimes used interchangeably with ‘coaching’. Traditionally, however, mentoring in the workplace has tended to describe a relationship in which a more experienced colleague used their greater knowledge and understanding of the work or workplace to support the development of a more junior or inexperienced member of staff. For more information on mentoring, see our factsheet on that topic.
Similarly, it can be hard to draw a clear distinction between coaching and counselling, not least because many of the theoretical underpinnings of coaching are drawn from the worlds of counselling and therapy. For the purpose of managing coaching services the key distinction to be drawn is that coaching is for those who are psychologically well; a coach should be able to recognise where an individual is so distressed by personal or social issues that he or she needs to be referred to specialist counselling or other support.
For a more detailed discussion of the differences between coaching, mentoring and counselling see our recently revised guide Coaching and buying coaching services.
Developing a coaching culture
In recent CIPD research,Clutterbuck and Megginson describe a coaching culture as one where ‘coaching is the predominant style of managing and working together and where commitment to improving the organisation is embedded in a parallel commitment to improving the people’1. The issue of coaching and culture is addressed in depth in our new ground breaking study Developing coaching capability in organisations. The report found that coaching takes distinct phases in organisations starting with the initial phase through to the development of critical mass and a period of self sustaining growth known as the tipping point. These phases of coaching are all driven by the organisational context. What is the business strategy? How does the company organisation position itself? What priorities does the organisation have? Who supports coaching and mentoring? These are all key issues.
It is interesting to consider how coaching is linked with overall learning and development strategies. Of those respondents to our 2008 Learning and development survey (see link above) who use coaching, 47 % see coaching and mentoring having and impact on learning and development through management development activities. 45% achieve their learning and development objectives through performance management processes and just over a fifth use coaching to facilitate learning and development though the succession planning process.
As coaching becomes more of a long term intervention, it is important that it is properly evaluated and assessed. When asked what activities they were implementing, 42% mentioned a three-cornered review between manager, coach and coachee. 360 degree feedback was used by just under a third of respondents. The most concerning issue though is that around one fifth of organisation responding did not evaluate coaching effectiveness.
Who delivers coaching in UK organisations?
Previous CIPD research shows that coaching is increasingly seen as the responsibility of line management. Our 2008 Learning and development survey reports that 53% of respondents were increasingly asking line management to coach and mentor as part of their role and only 5% were expecting them to do it less. By contrast, coaching by external practitioners had increased in only 38% of the sample and had decreased in around a fifth. It is quite clear, therefore, that there is a trend towards using line management as the main delivery mechanism for much organisational coaching. This varies, however, from the use of some coaching behaviours or techniques to the deployment of line managers as internal coaches.
Coaching services are also delivered by external coaches, full-time and part-time internal coaches who may be line managers, or members of the HR department. Megginson and Clutterbuck have argued that it is helpful to enable internal and external coaches to share supervision arrangements and to have opportunities to discuss coaching generally. This enables external coaches to get a better understanding of the organisation and also enables them to share their perspectives on what is happening within the organisation.
An issue which is often raised is whether managers can coach their own staff given the power relationship and the obvious need for some distance and impartiality in the coaching relationship. One leading internal coach gives her view in CIPD’s Coaching at Work Magazine. ‘While always wanting to support employees, in the past I have often judged myself unable to help because I perceived managers as problem solvers. Relinquishing this role was liberating and coaching provided the techniques to put my intentions into practice.’2
Coaching supervision
Coaching can be a challenging and sometimes lonely activity and coaches need structured opportunities to reflect on their practice. This may be in one to one or group sessions. Such opportunities can help coaches continuously to develop their skills as well as provide them with support. It can also be an important quality assurance activity for organisations and a source of organisational learning about issues being addressed in coaching sessions. CIPD guidance on coaching supervision develops some of these issues3.
Stakeholders in coaching
The primary relationship in any coaching activity is between the coach and the individual, but this is not the only important relationship. Other key stakeholders include the person representing the organisation’s interests – most frequently an HR practitioner and the individual’s manager. Both of these parties are interested in improving the individual’s performance and therefore their contribution to the organisation. The figure below explains how this works in an organisational context.
The four-cornered contract (Hay, 1995)
In situations where the manager is the coach, the other stakeholders are depicted by the central triangle of relationships. It is very important to establish guidelines on confidentiality and information flow early on to develop trust between the individual and coach, and the other multiple stakeholders.
When is coaching the best development intervention?
The first step will be the identification of some kind of learning or development need, either by the individual themselves, their line manager or some one from the HR department. Once this has been identified, the next step is for the manager and the individual to decide how best the need can be met.
Coaching is just one of a range of training and development interventions that organisations can use to meet identified learning and development needs. Its merits should be considered alongside other types of development interventions, such as training courses, mentoring or on-the-job training. Employee preferences should also be borne in mind. There is a danger that coaching can be seen as a solution for all kinds of development needs. It is important that coaching is only used when it is genuinely seen as the best way of helping an individual learn and develop. A useful decision tree tool is reproduced in the figure below.
Decision tree: is coaching an appropriate intervention?2
Some examples of situations where coaching is a suitable development tool include:
- helping competent technical experts develop better interpersonal or managerial skills
- developing an individual’s potential and providing career support
- developing a more strategic perspective after a promotion to a more senior role
- handling conflict situations so that they are resolved effectively.
It is important to remember that here are some individuals who may not respond well to coaching. This may be because their problems are best dealt with by another type of intervention, or it may be because their attitude may interfere with the effectiveness of coaching. So before coaching is begun, organisations need to assess an individual’s ‘readiness’. Some examples of situations when coaching is not an appropriate intervention are if the individual has psychological problems, they are resistant to coaching or they lack self-insight.
The role of HR in managing coaching activities
The HR department has a central role to play in designing and managing coaching within an organisation. The quality of coaching and the results it delivers depend on choosing appropriate coaches (line managers, internal or external coaches), managing relationships and evaluating success. HR practitioners need to understand when coaching is an appropriate and effective intervention in relation to other learning and development options. They need to be clear about what the different types of coaching and diagnostic tools/models are, and when each is appropriate. They need to understand how to select appropriately qualified coaches and then match them to both the organisational culture and to the needs of particular individuals. Finally, HR practitioners hold the responsibility for setting up contractual arrangements, as well as developing mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of the coaching activities.
For more guidance on all these see our Coaching and buying coaching services guide (see link above).
CIPD viewpoint
Coaching is now embedding itself as a widespread development tool. It is being used by organisations across the UK and increasingly, worldwide. However, though it is now maturing as a routine aspect of management and learning and development, there is still a lack of understanding about how best to use coaching and in what specific situations it will be most effective. It is important that HR understands when each type of coaching is appropriate and makes sure that all parties are fully equipped for their role in the coaching, whether it is as a participant, as a line manager of a participant or as the coach itself. The importance of developing coaches is crucial in this respect.
The coaching industry itself is very young, and because of this there is a lack of established standards, professional bodies and qualification frameworks. HR professionals need to ensure they have a good understanding of the coaching industry when advising their organisations about whether or not they should introduce coaching to the organisation. CIPD resources can help in this process. HR also has an important role in ensuring that coaches are supported by supervision arrangements and that effective quality assurance and evaluation arrangements are in place.
For more details of our work in this area, visit our Research projects pages.
References
- CLUTTERBUCK, D. and MEGGINSON, D. (2005) Making coaching work. London. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/bookstore
- WILKINSON, J. (2007) Managing to coach. Coaching at Work. Vol 2, No 5, Sept/October.
- CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF PERSONNEL AND DEVELOPMENT. (2006) Coaching supervision: maximising the potential of coaching. Change agenda. London: CIPD. Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/researchinsights
Further reading
CIPD members can use our Advanced Search to find additional library resources on this topic. They can also use our online journals collection to view selected journal articles online. People Management articles are available to subscribers and CIPD members on the People Management website. CIPD books in print can be ordered from our online Bookstore.
Books and reports
INCOMES DATA SERVICES. (2006) Coaching in the workplace. HR study, no 831. London: IDS.
JARVIS, J., LANE, D.A. and FILLERY-TRAVIS, A. (2006) The case for coaching: making evidence-based decisions. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/bookstore
LAMPSHIRE, J. and LEWIS, L. (2008) Coaching. CIPD toolkit. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Journal articles
CLUTTERBUCK, D. and MEGGINSON, D. (2005) How to create a coaching culture. People Management. Vol 11, No 8, 21 April. pp44-45.
Coaching at Work. Magazine and online resource. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. See more information at http://www.cipd.co.uk/coachingatwork/presales.htm
GOODGE, P. and COOMBER, J. (2007) How to get 360-degree coaching right. People Management. Vol 13, No 9, 3 May. pp44-45.
HALL, L. (2007) Costume change. People Management. Vol 13, No 7, 5 April. pp42-43.
This factsheet was written and updated by CIPD staff.