Around a third of organisations spent between US$50,000 and US$250,000 on coaching in the financial year ending June 2010, while 16 per cent spent more and 51 per cent, less, according to global research by the NeuroLeadership Group.
Of the big spenders, 81 per cent had 5,000 or more staff, said the report, Global Trends in the Use of Coaching in the Workplace.
Some 79 per cent had a coaching programme in place, while 55 per cent of the 363 respondents had a clear strategy – mostly a blend of external and internal coaching (76 per cent).
Around 57 per cent said they were thinking and planning one to four years ahead. Strategy was focused on performance, transition, culture and leadership, while coaching programmes were directly linked to growth, performance, productivity, retention and development of high-potential employees, support for senior leaders and developing leadership.
There were regional variations. Coaching skills programmes for managers/leaders were less popular in North American businesses than formal coaching from internal and external coaches. In Latin America, external coaching forms the largest part of strategies, while in South Asia, coaching skills training is not widely used.
Internal coaching is more common than external coaching in Africa and Asia, while in Europe, it is used much less than coaching skills programmes and external coaching.
North America had the most organisations with a clear strategy (59 per cent) while those from South Asia and the Middle East were least likely to have a clear strategy – 27 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively.
The paper was presented by co-author David Rock, founder of Results Coaching Systems, at the Executive Coaching Conference in New York on 29-30 March.
The research was carried out last year, but has yet to be published.
Coaching at Work, Volume 6, Issue 5