Coaching take-up in the UK is the highest ever, says a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
More than four-fifths (82 per cent) of organisations use coaching although only a third evaluate it, according to the CIPD’s 12th annual Learning and Talent Development (L&TD) survey unveiled at the CIPD’s annual HRD conference on 21-22 April.
The most effective L&TD practices are coaching by line managers (51 per cent) and in-house development programmes (56 per cent). Coaching by line managers is used by more than 56 per cent of respondents.
The three most effective activities to manage talent are: coaching (39 per cent), in-house development programmes (32 per cent) and high-potential development schemes (31 per cent).
For almost half of the respondents (46 per cent), the biggest organisational change affecting L&TD over the next five years will be a greater integration between coaching, organisational development (OD) and performance management to drive organisational change. For 37 per cent, it will be greater responsibility devolved to line managers.
“What emerges is a dynamic and shifting picture with real opportunities for L&TD to benefit from the new emphasis on talent and the integration of coaching, OD and knowledge management into compelling change and agility programmes,” says the report.
There are indicators of strong connections between a coaching and mentoring culture and wider L&TD, according to the report. Employers who are not using coaching see more skills gaps in school leavers, university graduates and employees joining from other organisations.
The skills that employers say they must focus on to meet their business objectives in two years’ time are: leadership (65 per cent), frontline people management (55 per cent) and business acumen/commercial awareness (51 per cent).
Employers not using coaching see significantly more skills gaps in business acumen/commercial awareness and work ethic for all three groups and significantly more gaps in IT skills and specialist skills in school and university leavers.
Evaluation needs to be a future priority for practitioners or the real value of coaching could be obscured, warns the report.
“No learning and talent development intervention is beyond measurement although it is vital to ensure that this evaluation is meaningful,” it says.
No evaluation “is the worst kind of evaluation” – even a focus group of coaches and sponsors or some means of capturing and grading statements from coaching clients is better than nothing, says the report.
Systems rely mainly on the collection of post-course evaluations (58 per cent), individuals’ testimonies (56 per cent), on assessing the impact on business key performance indicators of coaching (44 per cent) and measuring the return on expectation (40 per cent).
Some 71 per cent of organisations either frequently or occasionally discuss with line managers and coaches their expectations of coaching when considering the intervention.
Sixty-nine per cent assess the likelihood that individuals or teams will benefit from coaching before starting any intervention.
A third frequently discuss the progress of individual coaching interventions at appraisal and performance reviews, while 18 per cent frequently collect and analyse data about the progress of coaching at agreed intervals.
The high take-up suggests that many L&TD interventions are being rebranded, as was suggested by the CIPD’s interim survey, Taking the Temperature of Coaching, which was published last year.
Coaching at Work, Volume 5, Issue 4