Selling to a sophisticated market
Coaching is an effective tool in career advancement but is an unregulated industry and it’s important that you choose your coach carefully. With more and more HR professionals having coaching qualifications and being familiar with the coaching process themselves, its still important to remember some of the key things to look for when outsourcing additional coaching expertise.
Picking the right coach for your company and the outcomes you are striving for are an important stage in the process. Career coaches offer a variety of options when it comes to coaching styles, with different skillsets and areas of expertise to suit different clients.
Experience is key
With increasing numbers of coaches promoting their services, you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of knowledge and expertise. There are business-focused executive coaches available, with 1000s of hours of experience. Some of them will have impressive track records in corporate line management. Many will hold widely-recognised coaching qualifications and accreditations.
Among other attributes to look out for are coaches who demonstrate their experience of using assessment tools and psychometrics. They should also have worked in a wide range of functions and sectors. Do your research to find the career coach that best matches your company’s ethos and ambitions.
It’s a matter of principles
Ideally you want to be working with a career coach who has business experience, focus and involvement. Coaching programmes need to ensure clients’ coaching goals are aligned with organisational objectives, and that these objectives are agreed with their direct manager and/or HR.
Coaching is a learning process that takes place over time and through reflection and action. It’s not something that happens instantly and shouldn’t be treated as such. You need to recognise that coaching is appropriate at any organisational level or position – no one is beyond the benefits of coaching, but choosing the right fit is imperative. In today’s complex and ambiguous business environment, career coaching offers a space to think and develop solutions outside the bubble of day-to-day life. It also offers the chance to see the bigger picture and define the principles that are important to those undergoing the coaching process.
Knowledge of the business
There is a wide range of coaching approaches, methods and tools, such as Executive Coaching, or Individual and Team Coaching. Confidentiality and coaching ethics are also of paramount importance, as are data security and privacy. Make sure that the coach you choose to work with can demonstrate the ones important to you. With so many unregulated or underqualified coaches out there, choose carefully. It’s worth checking, for example, if they adhere to the stringent Global Code of Ethics, via the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, or the International Coach Federation. The more you can find out about your career coach when selecting one, the better the outcomes will be in the long-term.
