Individual cases of people and organisations utilising professional coaching continue to receive attention in a variety of media outlets, by professional associations and elsewhere. What was once perhaps viewed as a passing fad by some over 10 years ago is sustaining its popularity and growing its share of marketplace believers.
Recently, the International Coach Federation (ICF), a professional association of coaches and resource for those seeking a coach, set out to benchmark the global general awareness of professional coaching with its Global Consumer Awareness Study conducted by the International Survey Unit of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Overall, 51 percent of 15,000 participants surveyed reported they were ìsomewhat to very awareî of professional coaching. Respondents in 20 countries located throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America were asked to provide feedback using online panels which were validated to be nationally representative for those aged 25 and up.
In addition to benchmarking consumer awareness, the study also asked respondents key questions regarding reasons for why they participated in a coaching partnership and overall satisfaction with and feelings about their coaching experience. More than two-fifths (42.6 percent) of respondents who had experienced coaching chose optimising individual/team performance as their motivation for being coached. Expanding professional career opportunities and improving business management strategies rounded out the top three areas in which professional coaching is being used most often, according to the study. The vast majority, 83 percent, of survey respondents who had experienced professional coaching reported having either a somewhat or very satisfactory experience with their coaching engagement.
If you look at two groups recently recognised by the ICF for their use of coaching- Genentech, Inc. and Norway-based TINE Group- it means different things. In the case of Genentech, a leading biotech company acquired by the Roche Group in 2009, CIO Todd Pierce had a vision of implementing a cutting-edge approach to coaching through the companyís Personal Excellence Program (PEP) which today has offered coaching to more than 400 employees at every level within the IT department in the companyís headquarters office in South San Francisco, California, United States.
Private dairy group TINE is using coaching as a tool to improve leadership within the company. Since 2005, at the wishes of CEO Hanne Refsholt, 400 managers have been through a program that teaches them a coaching leadership style and offers individual coaching. TINE has extended coaching even further by initiating a coaching program for their advisors of farmers- 350 advisors have received coach training to work with farmers more effectively.
With the intention to ìcreate a culture of coaching and developmentî, Genentechís PEP has succeeded in increasing employee productivity through increased collaboration and customer satisfaction, improving employee communication and making a significant, measurable business impact. PEP is conservatively producing an estimated $1.5 to $2 for every dollar spent to deliver PEP.
TINE attributes increased global competition- TINE is expanding business abroad to have subsidiaries in England, other Scandinavian countries and the US-improved leadership styles and better customer relations to their coaching program. Coaching has also assisted the company in achieving a reduction of short time sick-leave, a 45 percent reduction was seen at one facility, and improving employee retention rates.
For more information on professional coaching and tips for selecting a coach, visit Coachfederation.org/works