Further information
Association for Coaching
www.associationforcoaching.com
British Psychological Society
www.bps.org.uk
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
www.cipd.co.uk
European Mentoring and Coaching Council
www.emccouncil.org
Institute for Employment Studies
www.employment-studies.co.uk
International Coach Federation
www.coachfederation.org
Further reading and practical resources are available at
This discussion started on the 4 November and is open until the 9th December 2005.
Sports coaches, occupational psychologists, counsellors, clinical psychologists, HR professionals, business experts, existing employees coaches come in all shapes and sizes. And let us not forget the cowboys.
Add to this the confusion about what constitutes coaching and how it differs from counselling and mentoring, and it is not surprising that many organisations struggle to choose a suitable coach.
The first step, says Paul Fairhurst, principal consultant with research body and coach supplier the Institute for Employment Studies, is to work out exactly what you hope to achieve from any coaching activity. “The important thing is that organisations know what they want from a coach,” he says.
From there, they need to decide whether to go for an internal or external coach (see panel, right). This is a decision in which cost plays a key part. An external coach can cost anything from £100 to £150 a session if supplied by a “one-man band”, meaning that a typical six-month programme would cost about £1,000. For a well-known coach working with a board member, this figure could top 20 per cent of annual salary. Fairhurst puts the market rate at about £3,000 to £3,500 for a programme.
With coaching increasingly offered to all sorts of employees, rather than being restricted to senior executives, cost is clearly an important factor in opting to train line managers as coaches. But there are many benefits to going external, including that of an independent perspective, as Fairhurst points out.
Large organisations that regularly use external coaches are increasingly using fairly stringent criteria to make their choices. According to research by the University of Central England and Origin Consulting in 2004, cited in the CIPD’s Coaching and Buying Coaching Services, they are looking for things such as the right cultural fit and personal style. A positive track record, a structured approach, relevant qualifications, adherence to professional standards and evidence of supervision also top the bill. Some organisations, including the NHS, are setting up pools of coaches who meet their criteria and can be drawn on for specific needs.
When selecting a coach, the CIPD recommends in its guide that organisations consider a range of
areas such as:
- appropriate coaching experience
- relevant industry experience
- references
- the background of the coach
- supervision
- breadth of tools and techniques
- understanding of boundaries
- relevant qualifications/training
- membership of a professional body
- professional indemnity insurance
- personal characteristics
Assessing quality
There are serious concerns that the rapid expansion in the market has resulted in the appearance of a number of “cowboy” operators without any special training or accreditation. There are also worries that such people can become involved in areas of individuals’ personal lives where – without the proper training – they can do more harm than good.
The European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), which promotes good practice, is one of the bodies, along with the CIPD, seeking to address the lack of regulation and accreditation. The EMCC has researched a set of competencies, which it unveiled at the Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring conference in June (see launch issue, page 11).
Jessica Jarvis, CIPD adviser, learning, training and development, urges HR professionals to be rigorous in their selection criteria. They should check whether coaches are members of professional bodies, whether they are required to abide by a code of ethics, the extent to which they are supervised and whether they have processes for evaluating progress and dealing with complaints.
Joan O’Connor, responsible for leadership development in the corporate investment banking arm of ABN Amro, says that when selecting coaches she is “looking for credibility”. She wants evidence of relevant and substantial experience and coaching qualifications. She starts by interviewing to see if prospective coaches can “really demonstrate that this is something they have been doing for some time and are successful at”.
As Gladeana McMahon, head of coaching at City coaching provider Fairplace and head of media relations for the Association for Coaching, points out, the important thing is to “get the right person for the right job”.
Tips for selecting a coach
- Do they belong to a professional body and are they supervised?
- What is their coaching experience and are they qualified?
- Has the coach got a track record of success?
- Do they have relevant business or industry experience?
- Does the coach have a clear coaching process?
- Do they use proven coaching models and approaches?
- Does the coach ask you to clarify what you want or expect from the coaching process?
- How do they monitor progress and quality?
- What are their rapport skills like?
- Does the coach fit in with your organisation?
Produced by Helen Chapman of Unicus for the Association for Coaching
Internal or external?
- External coaches are best when you want to:
- provide sensitive feedback to senior business leaders;
- bring in specialised expertise from a wide variety of organisational and industry situations;
- avoid “conflict of interest” or breach of confidentiality;
- provide a wider range of ideas and experience;
- be perceived as objective.
- Internal coaches are best when:
- knowledge of company culture and politics is critical;
- easy availability is needed;
- you want to build up high levels of personal trust over a long period of time;
- you want to keep a tight rein on costs.