Executive sector news

Coaching still used despite recession

1/10/2009
A survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Directors (CIPD) has found that 90% of employers use coaching as a development tool.

The CIPD's 2009 'Taking the Temperature of Coaching' survey revealed that 90% of employers are using coaching – an increase on 70% in previous surveys. It concludes that tighter training budgets have resulted in a reduction in the use of coaching – and could in fact have led to its increase.

The CIPD says that this 'training under the radar' is a reflection of less money being available for training. John McGurk, CIPD adviser, learning and talent development, said the survey may also reflect a relabeling of other management practices. Most respondents (70%) said that they have increased or maintained their coaching spend, while only 20% reported budget reductions.

Coaching procurement remains ad hoc basis for most respondents (70%), but McGurk said there had been a shift in reasons for using coaching. "Most coaching procured is for performance management and leadership development. But we found a shift away from coaching for development towards more performance-based coaching. It's a trend that's exacerbated or driven by the difficult economic environment."

The survey found that while 80% of organisations evaluate the impact of coaching, only 3% used return on investment as a measure. 8% use 'return on expectation' to measure effectiveness. Over 20% used key performance indicators and other HR metrics.