Liz Hall
The public’s awareness of coaching varies widely across the globe but on average, more than half of the general population is aware of professional coaching, according to the first set of results of a survey by the International Coach Federation (ICF).
Overall, 51 percent of 15,000 participants in the ICF Global Consumer Coaching Awareness Survey reported they were “somewhat to very aware” of professional coaching. General awareness varied by country from 92 per cent in South Africa at one end to 20 percent in Germany at the other.
ICF set out to gauge the worldwide reach of coaching, looking at how many people have been coached, how many are interested in being coached, and how many want to become coaches.
“Until now, coaches were only able to speculate about how wide our industry’s reach has become. Now we have information to show us where we are as a profession, which will help us build and sustain our industry’s future,” said ICFpresident Giovanna D’Alessio
The research was conducted for ICF by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Respondents in 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America were asked to provide feedback using online panels.
As well as benchmarking consumer awareness, the survey asked why respondents participated in coaching, their perceived importance of certification and credentials for coaches, and overall satisfaction with and feelings about their coaching experience. Other findings will soon be released.