| |
|
Seminal Survey Shows Corporate America's Interest in Coaching is
Greater than EverInternational Coach Federation developing Certified
Corporate Coach credential in response.
WASHINGTON, DC, NOV. 22, 1999
More and more,
corporations across the U.S. are hiring coaches as a perk for their
top performers - the investment returns improved performance for
the individual and higher profits and a competitive edge for the
company. That's what companies reported in a survey of 4000+ corporations
this fall by the International Coach Federation and Linkage, Inc.
who were asked about their interest and involvement in corporate
coaching.
"We were happy to see that the respondents know intrinsically
that coaching is a tremendous value to a corporate culture and produces
results," said Jane Creswell, Chair of the Benchmarking Subcommittee
of the ICF's Corporate Coaching Committee, which analyzed the survey
results.
The survey revealed that the primary benefits of corporate coaching
are improved individual performance, bottom line results (including
profit), client service and competitiveness and development of people
for the next level - confidence raising, skills and self empowerment,
goal achievement, relationship improvements and retention. "Coaching
helps retain the top performers by showing them how appreciated
they are," says Creswell. "It also sends the message that
they have earned the privilege of special attention in developing
to their highest potential." Companies use both internal and
external coaches as a perk for top performers. Those that prefer
internal coaches see it as a way to leverage human resources and
reach everyone in the company, since internal coaches know the company
culture. Internal coaches, considered more practical and cost-effective
by their employers, are prized for their ability to share in-house
expertise and train managers in coaching skills.
The survey indicated that companies who hire external coaches tend
to use them for executive ranks, who perceive the outside coaches
as providing an extra level of confidentiality. Some companies held
that their organizations were too busy to develop internal coaching
or that internal coaches would just be devalued. Respondents' said
their greatest challenges to developing corporate coaching programs
are getting enterprise-wide buy-in, executive buy-in and modeling.
Impatience on the part of upper management for the time investment
required for coaching to make an impact was another significant
roadblock. Some respondents acknowledged that they don't yet know
how to deliver corporate coaching confidently or how to measure
its effectiveness.
The International Coach Federation, the largest professional association
worldwide of business and personal coaches based in Washington,
DC, has examined the survey results to determine appropriate strategies
for responding to the rapidly growing trend. "While the corporate
population is very clearly interested in learning more about coaching
- and believes it is and will be a positive influence in the corporate
world - many of them do not yet understand the current paradigm
of corporate coaching very well," says Cynder Niemela, a member
of the Benchmarking Subcommittee. "We need to begin by educating
people on what corporate coaching is and what it isn't."
As the ultimate goal in its efforts to establish greater clarity
and consistency around corporate coaching, the ICF is in the process
of developing a Certified Corporate Coach credential, which should
be available by mid-2000. "The very things that respondents
said they are wanting - standardization, a formal process to certify
corporate coaches and success stories - are exactly what the ICF
is working very diligently to provide," said Creswell. "The
ICF is committed to ensuring the integrity of the industry through
our credentialing programs, and to educating the corporate marketplace
on the effectiveness, both in time and results, that coaching provides,"
says Marcia Reynolds, ICF President. "We're pleased to finally
have tangible evidence of the power of coaching. With the increasing
time pressures, constant change, and heightened complexity in the
workplace, we expect coaching's status to rapidly escalate from
being a 'perk' to a necessary and cost-effective tool for developin
g leaders."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOV. 22, 1999 CONTACT: Dan Martinage, ICF
Executive Director
Back to TOP
Return
to Articles
|
