By Anne Scoular
Is coaching recession-proof?
The OECD’s grim projections last November warned of worse ahead, but coaching has proved resilient and coaches are pretty positive about 2010, our survey of more than 500 shows. Some 56 per cent expect growth in their practice, with 18.4 per cent anticipating an uplift of more than 20 per cent, against 9.2 per cent seeing a downturn.
Are coaches too optimistic? No, it seems not. They cite the key issues likely to affect their income in the next 12 months as: need to market and network (17.3 per cent); quantifying ROI (3.4 per cent); motivation/attitude (4.6 per cent); gaining a new accreditation/qualification (2.2 per cent), and changing my coaching model (1.8 per cent).
Despite noise about budget cuts, organisations have kept buying and coaches have kept earning; 27.8 per cent have earned less, but 36.3 per cent have earned more since our 2008 survey, including 11.7 per cent for whom 2009 was a bumper year, with earnings up by more than 20 per cent.
The impact of the recession
Asked, “Has the credit crunch adversely affected your income?”, 44 per cent said no; 37 per cent yes. On why they have been affected, 48 per cent said “coaching budgets being cut or frozen”; “clients more reluctant to commit to programmes” (11 per cent) or “putting more pressure on the coach to demonstrate ROI or prove value” (7.5 per cent).
One hears a lot about organisations switching to inhouse coaches, but the survey doesn’t bear this out: only 2 per cent reported this as a factor. Even more fascinatingly, only a tiny 1.5 per cent reported rates being cut. There’s even evidence that self-funding of business coaching is up.
Coach earnings
The inexorable upward march in earnings we flagged last year has scarcely paused for breath. We know from experience with our Meyler Campbell Business Coach Programme that it takes about two years to get to target earnings. So in calculating the modal average we disregarded the 22.9 per cent earning less than £5,000.
Modal average earnings fell in the £30-50,000 category, but with a long upward tail: 9.4 per cent earned £50,000- £75,000; 5.9 per cent £75,000 -£100,000 and 3.7 per cent £100,000- £200,000. Considering coaching typically represents only 34.3 per cent of respondents’ total earnings, one begins to understand the sector’s growth.
Who succeeds?
What’s the difference between those whose earnings have gone up, and those who have suffered? It was hard to tease this out from the data, but in practice the key seems to be non-coaching activity. Those who have been coaching for years, often ‘don’t need to’ undertake marketing activities. But when their few key organisational contacts retire, it can suddenly be over.
By contrast, in our Meyler Campbell community, coaches switch to a new – often ‘third-stage’ – career, making sure they train with the organisation that gives them a network in their target market. They articulate their differentiators and strengths, and network consistently.
Serious, accredited training is becoming the norm – 39.1 per cent of respondents had trained in an eight to 24-month programme accredited by an external body; 31.1 per cent on an academically accredited course.
What’s in demand?
Unsurprisingly in tough times, it’s performance-critical tasks that come up. The top five are: improving performance, skills or attitude (88.7 per cent); transforming individual performance (84.1 per cent); supporting major transitions (69.3 per cent); coaching an organisational leader (67 per cent) and team development and performance (58.6 per cent).
How this is delivered is largely unchanged since last year: 99.8 per cent work one-to-one; 69.1 per cent by phone; 50.2 per cent collect further data about the client; and 49.8 per cent use psychometrics. Web-based coaching is also now on the radar (6.8 per cent).
Anne Scoular is managing director of Meyler Campbell. The Meyler Campbell Annual Business of Coaching Survey 2009 was conducted online by Steve Maslin & Associates.
- ‘2008 Business of Coaching Survey’, Coaching At Work,September 2008.
- For more on fees, see ‘Three-quarters of coaches have alternative incomes, says survey’ and on coaching in the recession, see ‘Coaches weather recession’.
Volume 5, Issue 1