How to cultivate trustworthy leaders

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Higher levels of trust are needed in the current economic atmosphere of change and uncertainty, according to research by the University of Bath and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. “Trust fills the void,” said Professor Veronica Hope-Hailey, dean of the School of Management at the University of Bath, speaking at the CIPD’s L&D Show 2014 in London in May. Changes in society, particularly in the wake of the financial crisis, have created an atmosphere of change and uncertainty where people demand more trust from their leaders, she said. Hope-Hailey carried out research among 13 organisations that maintained a culture […]

Authentic leadership helps clients reach goals

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Business coaches who possess qualities of authentic leadership (AL) are more likely to help clients reach their goals than those without, suggests research. The study, which included a survey of 96 business coaches, looked at the extent to which coaches perceive they possess the qualities of AL and how this affects coaching performance. Coaching that involves the application of AL qualities enhances the work performance, life experience, self-directed learning and personal growth of clients, according to the research. The study, by Anthony Gatling of William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, University of Nevada in the US, describes AL as […]

Becoming a Chartered Institute: is coaching ready?

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The journey towards Chartered Institute (CI) status for coaching in the UK appears to be even more challenging than previously thought, according to the Accreditation Forum’s sub-committee looking at the viability of CI status. As well as potential disadvantages, such as the UK coaching industry’s complexity, there are many potential benefits too (see box, below) and a number of possible steps towards full CI status, which may offer some of the benefits, without going the whole way, suggested the sub-committee. The committee was led by GSK’s Sally Bonneywell. Other members included UK ICF’s Joy Harcup, APECS’ Jeremy Ridge, Oxford Brookes […]

Accreditation 
forum update

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At the latest meeting of the Accreditation Forum on 19 March in London, two sub-committees reported back. One on the high-risk, yet highly important area of team coaching, the other on our progress towards UK Chartered Institute status It is still unclear what team coaching is and what skills set will be required, but it is going to become increasingly important – and it has the potential to be high risk, but high impact, too. These were some of the conclusions of a group of sponsors and professional body representatives. Led by KPMG’s Louise Buckle, a sub-committee of the Accreditation […]

Merrill Lynch offers way back

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By Liz Hall This spring sees the US rollout of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Bank’s women returner coaching programme, following its success in the UK. Concerned about the cost of losing talented female executives who leave to start a family, the bank partnered with the Executive Coaching Consultancy in 2011 to devise and run a comprehensive programme to inspire and guide women on resuming careers. Now in its third year, Returning Talent for 2014 launched this year in the UK with a conference and selection event in February, attended by 50 women. Some 20 were invited to take part […]

Coaching at Work voted top read by executive coaches

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Coaching at Work has been named one of the top three global coaching magazines for executive coaches, in Sherpa’s 9th Executive Coaching Survey 2014.

Respondents from 50 countries,
66 per cent of whom are executive coaches, were also asked to name their top five sites for associations, training and research. Their top associations were: the World Business and Executive Coach Summit; the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches; the Association of Corporate Executive Coaches; the Association for Professional Executive Coaching and Supervision, and the Association for Management Education and Development.

The top five coach training programmes were Sherpa’s university-based executive coach training; the Coaching Room; the Center for Executive Coaching, and the College of Executive Coaching. The leading research and resources websites were Sherpa’s own; the Marshall Goldsmith Library; the NeuroLeadership Institute; the Library of Professional Coaching, and the Executive Coaching Forum.

The other two named magazines were Worldwide Coaching and the International Journal of Coaching in Organisations.

Coaching at Work, Volume 9, issue 2

Sherpa study: coaches drop ROI as value measure

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Return on Investment (ROI) has been abandoned as a means to measure coaching’s effectiveness, according to research. Other trends revealed include coaching becoming even more exclusive, increasing interest in neuroscience and confidence in coaching at an all-time high, according to US-based Sherpa’s 9th Executive Coaching Survey 2014 (bit.ly/MqaNkm).

In what the researchers call a “startling discovery”, the survey showed the number of consultants who use ROI to measure coaching’s value dropped from 33 to 22 per cent this year. Only 11 per cent of executive coaches try it.

The most popular measurement (28%) among external coaches of the value of executive coaching is 360 feedback, taken before and after coaching, a method pioneered by Marshall Goldsmith. Other methods included wellbeing and engagement (21%) and performance reviews (20%), the most popular among internal coaches. In fourth place is the newest measure on the market, Sherpa’s Impact on Business measure (13%). ROI trailed, and Effectiveness of Learning (Kirkpatrick) came in last (7%), except in Australia, where it came in first.

Coaches and leaders in Europe, Africa, North and South America see the application of neuroscience in coaching as the industry’s most important trend. Some 76 per cent of executive coaches say it should have a role.

Executive coaching is once again becoming the province of senior leaders and top executives. The number of organisations that reserve coaching for top executives only is growing, year by year, with a six-year ‘winning streak’.

The survey also found the number of organisations with coaching skills programmes has fallen for the first time. It attributes this, in part, to problems with coaching definitions – some equate it with training, for example, including the US Office of Personnel Management: “Coaching, in its simplest form, means to train, tutor or give instruction.”

However, confidence in coaching is higher than ever, according to Sherpa’s Coaching Confidence Index. To calculate the index, Sherpa considers rates charged by executive coaches, the number of clients they serve, predictions about demand for coaching and the amount of time executive coaches spend in marketing their services, among other factors. This year’s index has leapt to a record high of 166 (2006 = 100).

Internationally, the credibility of coaching is highest in Brazil. Canada saw a 10 per cent gain in “very high” responses this year. China also saw steady progress, with judgments of “mediocre” virtually disappearing. Japan saw a big move from “somewhat high” valuations into the “very high”. Germany kept last year’s levels of positive opinion, as did the US, UK and South Africa.

Coaching’s credibility is reaching new heights. Those who say it is “somewhat high” or “very high” jumped to 90 per cent in our 2012 report, and again in 2013, improving in 2014, to 93 per cent.

Over the years, coaching has shifted away from problem-solving towards pro-active leadership development. The latest report highlights a deepening of this. It also found male coaches are more likely than women to work with people in need of leadership development, while female coaches are more likely than men to work with individuals in transition.

 

Coaching at Work, Volume 9, issue 2

UEL awards UK first MA in Career Coaching

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A former student at the University of East London (UEL) School of Psychology has gained an MA in Career Coaching – the first of its kind in the UK. Meanwhile, one of the modules within UEL’s MSc in Coaching Psychology, Coaching for Career and Professional Development, has just been validated as a CPD module, which means practising coaches can sign up without committing to the full MSc. The module covers aspects such as how people make career decisions, what factors make people successful at work and what leads to job satisfaction. The former student, Hiba Davis, has now started career […]

Employers getting it wrong in career progression schemes for women

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by Liz Hall Many employers are barking up the wrong tree in their initiatives to promote women’s career progression, suggests research. Despite an increase in women on boards, the number of women being promoted into executive roles to replace them has fallen and businesses are failing to take the right steps to resolve this imbalance, suggests Ines Wichert from Kenexa’s Smarter Workforce Institute. Dr. Wichert, senior psychologist at the Institute’s Women in Leadership hub carried out research among 1,145 UK male and female employees, showing that what women want in terms of their career isn’t necessarily what ‘really works’ to […]

NEWS: mixed feelings about chartered institute

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The profession is divided about whether we need a chartered institute of coaching in the UK – our question on this in the annual Coaching at Work Readers’ Survey 2013 stirred up strong responses.
Forty per cent of respondents came out in favour of setting up an institute, 33 per cent were against and 27 per cent did not know.
Forming a chartered institute came third on the list of priorities for 2014 (24%), after becoming more aligned with business (36%), followed by evaluation/return on investment (33%).
Accreditation was down to number four (22%), with supervision and playing a stronger role in sustainability coming in joint fifth.
Meanwhile, a spin-off from the Coaching at Work-led Accreditation Forum, the Chartered Institute of Coaching sub-committee, has started exploring demand and viability for such an institute. Some coaching sponsors, including GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), KPMG, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and News International, members of the forum, are keen to see one set up.