Research to be launched at the upcoming CIPD Coaching at Work conference has found that almost 90% of organisations polled use coaching.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says more than 500 companies were surveyed for the Taking the Temperature of Coaching report, which found that 51% of them see coaching as a key part of learning and development and consider it ‘crucial to their strategy’.
According to the survey, coaching is being used at all levels to build on good performance (23%) and improve poor performance (20%), and also in leadership development (23%).
“It is not surprising that so many are turning to coaching and mentoring to improve performance,” says Dr John McGurk, CIPD adviser, Learning and Talent. “When budgets are tightened, it’s a relatively inexpensive way to develop staff, and it also has the benefit of being tailored to an organisation’s specific needs. As well as this, coaching has great scope to improve employee engagement, empower people and boost morale at a time of great uncertainty.
“At the conference, we’ll look at how those using coaching and mentoring can make sure that they really reap the benefits throughout the organisation.
“It’s vital that coaching’s impact is measurable and tightly aligned with the business agenda, as well as helping individuals to develop. Otherwise, it runs the risk of being seen as something which only takes place in the executive suite.”
The CIPD coaching conference takes place on 24 September 2009 in London.
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Meanwhile, CIPD research among 100 HR professionals – backed by evidence from its quarterly employment outlook – indicated that transferable and flexible skills are the number one attribute sought by employers.
It claimed that evidence from both pieces of research showed that these skills were the most marketable in the current jobs market, cited as such by 45% of HR professionals polled and 47% of employment outlook respondents.
