News

Coaching under the microscope

Once seen as a passing fad, coaching is growing up. The c

now facing the profession is to develop global professiona

standards. And as more and more coaches flood the market, the

challenge for individuals is to create their own niche. Dr Sabine

Dembkowski, Fiona Eldridge, professor David Lane, Wendy

Johnson, and Stephan Oberli all contribute to an examination of where coaching

hallenge

l

is at.

Executive coaching is still a relatively young profession which presents both

yone

Buyers are often confused by the number of business and executive coaches out there.

"Buyers are often confused by the number of business and executive coaches out

In an attempt to standardise coaching many organisations have created standards of

el

s for

So, who can lead the development of universally accepted standards? The profession

But so far, no universally-agreed standards have been developed and different

organisations creating slightly different ones does nothing to help. Professsor David

opportunity and challenge - at the moment 'executive coach' is a title which an

can use to describe themselves and their professional services. And unlike other

professions, there are few barriers to entry and no formal requirements.

And with no clear professional qualifications and standards how do they decide which

coach to use? The lack of defined standards can create problems for acceptance of the

profession as a whole.

there. And with no clear professional qualifications and standards how do they

decide which coach to use?"

their own, which are then used for pre contract assessments. Organisations tend to fe

more comfortable knowing that coaches in their midst have been through a proper

assessment. But there is little sharing of these standards and coaches can find

themselves going through new assessments for each organisation. Whilst the

development of standards is to be applauded it is surely a poor use of resource

each organisation to 'reinvent the wheel'.

has responded by developing competencies and standards within leading bodies such

as the International Coaching Federation, the Worldwide Association of Business

Coaches, the European Mentoring and Coaching Council and the Association for

Coaching.

Lane started the Global Convention on Coaching to develop a global standard a

individual organisations have begun to talk with each other to identify common

ground.

Coming

nd

of age: more professional services

d growth in the professionalism of

companies and individuals providing coaching. This is a sign that the coaching

contracts - setting out roles and responsibilities and clarifying expectations - to well-

ions have developed their own

internal coaching. These coaches receive varying degrees of training and supervision.

their existing day-to-day activities. In others, staff are trained as coaches and then

es,

re seen as a cost effective option for organisations -

especially for lower and middle management levels - and hence this is a trend which

aches operating at the lower levels this trend presents a potential threat

to market share and business growth and puts pressure on professional fees. However,

of new coaches into the market also puts pressure on fees, which is

most marked in coaching at the lower management levels.

ped and different

organisations creating slightly different ones does nothing to help."

h bespoke

coaching for individual clients. In particular there is a small premium market

ches

the

Over the last two years we have seen a marke

profession is maturing and also an indicator of the increasing demands of clients.

The move towards adopting professional standards ranges from providing formal

produced websites and other marketing materials.

Growing your own: internal coaching activity

In a bid to keep costs down, some large organisat

In some organisations, individuals take on coaching responsibilities in addition to

devote all their time to providing a service across the organisation and, in some cas

to external organisations as well. In this way the organisation develops an entirely

separate coaching service.

Internal coaching activities a

is likely to spread more widely. Although, internal coaches tend not to operate at

senior levels.

For external co

within organisations strongly committed to a coaching culture, external coaches are

often used as trainers and supervisors of the internal coaches and this is an emerging

area of business.

The constant flow

"So far, no universally-agreed standards have been develo

These market forces are leading towards a more tailored approach, wit

emerging for senior executives. For this group it is particularly important that coa

market themselves effectively. Their services have to be pitched at the level of

client - or to the level to which he or she aspires.

Meeting more sophisticated demands

In the early days of executive coaching it was usually sufficient for a coach to be

trained within one field of expertise. Today's market is more sophisticated. The trend

om

aches - particularly those in the premium market segment - now follow

several training programmes and understand a great variety of methods and

ticularly at masters

level, course content is drawn from multiple disciplines to produce coaches with a

ugh supervision. For example, coaches

with a psychology background choose a supervisor from the business world and vice

ession is gaining in

confidence and status and what once was regarded as a passing management fad has

mes increased challenges. For the profession as a

whole the challenge is to define, agree and monitor professional standards. For

About the authors

wski is founder and director of The Coaching Centre in London &

Cologne.

ridge co-founded The Coaching Centre and is MD in the UK. Much of her

work centres on supporting leaders across the public sector.

or the Study of

Coaching Middlesex University UK and of the Professional Development

n is president and CEO of the Worldwide Association of Business

Coaches (WABC).

EO of Lore International Institute Europe AG. He was one of the

founders of the 1st European Coach Conference and a leading member of the

is for buyers to demand a greater breadth of techniques, experience and training fr

their coaches.

In response, co

techniques. Increasingly, methods and techniques are integrated, with experienced

coaches able to work with a diversity of clients and situations.

This trend is reflected in the executive coaching field where, par

great breadth of techniques in their toolkit.

Another way of achieving integration is thro

versa. This is an increasingly valid path to ensure integration.

Where did our discussions lead us? It seems to us that the prof

become widely used and accepted.

However, with increased maturity co

individual coaches and coaching companies, the challenge will be to stay agile in

response to client demands and provide a 'different' service.

Dr Sabine Dembko

Fiona Eld

Professor David Lane is director of the International Centre f

Foundation.

Wendy Johnso

Stephan Oberli is C

International Coach Federation.

TrainingZONE 30-Apr-08