Building Strong

Coaching Cultures
for the Future
TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 3
Definitions of Key Terms 5
The Building Blocks of Strong Coaching Cultures 6
Finding and Training Coach Practitioners and Managers/ 11
Leaders Who Use Coaching Skills
Implementing Coaching and Evaluating Success 15
Looking Toward the Future 18
Conclusion 20
Appendices 21
End Notes 21
About the Research 22
Survey Respondent Demographics 24
About the Research Partners 26

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For the sixth consecutive year, the Human Capital Institute (HCI) and the
International Coach Federation (ICF) partnered to research coaching
cultures in organizations. Since 2014, HCI and ICF’s research collaboration
has benchmarked the criteria for strong coaching cultures and explored
topics including coaching and employee engagement, training and
professional development for managers and leaders using coaching
skills, coaching and leadership development for millennials and first-time
people managers, and coaching and change management. This year’s
research is designed as an update to prior studies, with an emphasis
on the activities associated with building a strong coaching culture;
namely, program design and implementation, professional development
for internal coaches and managers/leaders using coaching skills, and
evaluation of coaching impact.

There was a total of 366 participants in this study, which included

Human Resources (HR), Learning and Development (L&D), and Talent
Management (TM) professionals.

Key research findings include:

Manager/leaders using coaching expand access to coaching

modalities.
Thirty-two percent of organizations use internal coach practitioners,
external coach practitioners and managers/leaders using coaching
skills simultaneously. More than four in five (83%) organizations plan
to expand the scope of their managers/leaders using coaching skills
during the next five years.

Most organizations turn to coaching for employee development

and performance management.
When asked how coaching activities are used to address their
organizations’ goals and strategies, the top three cited purposes
were leadership development (55%), talent development (51%) and
performance management conversations (49%).

Trust and credibility are essential factors for selecting coaches.

Organizations primarily use referrals from trusted individuals or
consulting firms to select a professional coach. Previous coaching
experience and credentials and certifications are the most important
qualifications for external coach practitioners.

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 3

“Providing leaders with Coaching is a visible activity appearing in the budgets of many

coaching and tools/ organizations.

resources to be effective Overall, one in four (25%) organizations have a dedicated line
item for coaching in their training budget. The organizations that
coaches is key to facilitating
participated in this study allocated 21% of their overall training
the development of a learning
budget for coaching initiatives.
organization to grow
Developing coaching skills is an ongoing process.
and change in support
Organizations with strong coaching cultures tend to offer more
of long-term engagement
resources for coaches and managers/leaders using coaching skills
and performance of its
(e.g., ongoing practice supervision, coaching resources, templates)
employees.”
and ensure that their internal coach practitioners and managers/
—Survey Respondent leaders using coaching skills have obtained more coach-specific
training hours. Most respondents indicated that their organizations
would benefit from additional technology and training resources for
coaching in their organizations.

Evaluating the impact of coaching is an ongoing challenge for

organizations.
Most respondents say their organizations do not incorporate any
evaluation methods or tools for coaching. This inability to measure
coaching impact was considered one of the main obstacles to
building a strong coaching culture. However, this study found that a
strong coaching culture is correlated with some of the indicators of
a high-performing organization, including employer brand attraction,
high-performer retention and senior leadership bench strength.

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 4

Definitions of Key Terms
Coaching: partnering with coachee(s) in a thought-provoking and
creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and
professional potential.

Professional coach practitioner: someone who provides an ongoing

partnership designed to help coachees produce fulfilling results in their
personal and professional lives. The coach’s job is to provide support to
enhance the skills, resources and creativity that the coachee already has.

Internal coach: a professional coach practitioner, who is employed

within an organization and has specific coaching responsibilities
identified in their job description.

External coach: a professional coach practitioner, who is either self-

employed or partners with other professional coaches, to form a
coaching business.

Manager/leader using coaching skills: a leader who uses coaching

knowledge, approaches and skills to create awareness and support
behavior change.

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 5

 THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF STRONG COACHING
CULTURES
In order to achieve a strong coaching culture, it is important for
organizational stakeholders to be very thoughtful during the design
stage and, ideally, draw from any industry best practices that they
can identify. Over the past six years, HCI and ICF have studied how
organizations build a strong coaching culture in which the development
of all employees through coaching is a priority.

Responding organizations who met at least five of the criteria in the

coaching culture composite were determined to have strong coaching
cultures (Figure 1). Strong coaching cultures comprised 11% of the
organizations that participated.1

FIGURE 1 Strong coaching culture composite (Percentage of respondents

indicating the presence of each criterion)

Strongly/somewhat agree that

employees value coaching 78%
C Strongly/somewhat agree that senior
executives value coaching 75%
43%
Managers/leaders and/or internal
coaches received accredited coach-
specific training

Have all three coaching modalities at their

organization (internal coach practitioners,
external coach practitioners and
managers/leaders using coaching skills)
32%
25%
T
BUDGE
.......
.....$
Coaching is a fixture in the organization
with a dedicated line item in the budget
Coaching $
$
$
$
$
$
$

All employees in the organization

have an equal opportunity to receive
coaching from a professional coach
practitioner
23%
BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 6
 Since 2014, managers and leaders using coaching skills continues to be
the most commonly deployed coaching modality for organizations that
have participated in this research. Over the prior six years, the average
frequencies for offering the coaching modalities are as follows:

External coach practitioners (60%)

Internal coach practitioners (57%)
Managers/leaders using coaching skills (82%)

When asked how these offerings might be differentiated in the future,

83% of respondents plan to increase the use of managers/leaders using
coaching skills within the next five years (Figure 2).

FIGURE 2 What are your organization’s plans for this modality within the next
five years?

External coach practitioners

(n = 267) 28% 58% 14%

Internal coach practitioners

(n = 281) 66% 31% 3%

Managers/leaders using coaching

skills (n = 327)
83% 16% 1%

Expand scope Maintain scope Reduce scope

One of the hallmarks of a strong coaching culture is that the organization

will leverage all three coaching modalities simultaneously to achieve its
goals. It could be said that this combination of modalities balances the
perceived benefits and drawbacks of each. From the organizations with
all three modalities present, those respondents reported the top three
advantages and disadvantages for each (Figure 3).

According to the survey respondents, the chief advantages of external

coach practitioners are the frequency with which they can provide
coaching, their ability to coach executives and their accessibility to the
organization. On the other hand, respondents see external coaches’
limited knowledge of organizational politics, their lack of preexisting
trust with employees and their potentially limited ability to coach teams
as key disadvantages of the modality.

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 7

 Respondents cite internal coaches’ and managers/leaders using coaching
skills’ knowledge of organizational culture as a significant advantage
of the modalities. They cite cost as another advantage. However,
respondents felt that both internal modalities were comparatively
disadvantaged by a lack of coach training/coaching experience, poor
role clarity, inability to coach executives and/or maintain confidentiality.

FIGURE 3 What are the top three advantages and disadvantages of each
modality? (Organizations with all three modalities only, n = 115.)

Disadvantages Advantages

Development of coaching culture

Knowledge of organizational
culture
Alignment with organization’s
mission and vision

Frequency of coaching

Accessible resource
to the organization

Preexisting trust with employees

Knowledge of organizational
politics

Ability to coach teams

Cost

Knowledge of organization’s
personnel and operations

Exposure to entire workforce

Role clarity

Maintaining confidentiality

Level of coach training/experience

Ability to coach executives

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

External coach Internal coach Managers/leaders

practitioner practitioner using coaching skills

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 8

 While HR, talent development and L&D practitioners may see the
value of coaching, scaling coaching can become an obstacle from
their perspective. Twenty-three percent of overall respondents (and
63% of those in organizations with strong coaching cultures) report
that everyone has an equal opportunity to receive coaching from a
professional coach practitioner. Smaller organizations are more likely
to offer access for all employees.2 While larger organizations are
more likely to use internal coach practitioners3 and external coach
practitioners4 and have all three coaching modalities present,5 less
than 9% of organizations with 5,000 employees or more have equal
opportunity for coaching by a professional coach practitioner. In contrast,
28% of organizations with fewer than 100 employees offer this benefit.

One way to strengthen a coaching culture is to increase access to

managers and leaders who use coaching skills with their team members.
Another option is to build the business case for coaching. Budget and
senior leaders’ support are the most-cited obstacles to building a strong
coaching culture (Figure 4). Budget for coaching can be used to find
and train professional coach practitioners, managers and leaders.

FIGURE 4 What do you perceive as potential obstacles to building a strong

coaching culture inside an organization? (Select your top three
obstacles.)

Lack of budget for

coaching activities
52%

Limited support from

senior leaders
45%

Inability to measure
impact of coaching
38%

Poor stakeholder communication

about coaching
34%

Inability to change
organizational culture
33%

Lack of time to organize

the coaching
29%

Inability to tie coaching to

organization’s strategy
21%

Concerns over individual/

organizational confidentiality
10%

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 9

 Among the key learnings from this ongoing research is that coaching
initiatives are most successful when they are aligned with the strategic
goals for the organization. This allows coaching to remain a process
that will maximize the personal and professional potential of the
workforce. Organizations’ top two reasons for investing in coaching
activities are leadership development (55%) and talent development
(51%). There’s a significant gap between the third- and fourth-most-
cited reasons for investing in coaching: 49% of respondents said their
organizations use coaching in performance management conversations
with employees, while 28% said they use coaching as a means of
increasing employee engagement (Figure 5).

FIGURE 5 How are coaching activities used to address your organization’s goals
and strategies? (Select your top three. n = 336)

As a component of our leadership

development program
55%

As a development opportunity
for employees
51%

In performance management
conversations with employees
49%

To increase employee engagement 28%

To strengthen team dynamics 24%

To onboard employees who are new

to the organization/new to a role
21%

To increase employee retention 15%

To help improve customer

service/engagement
12%

In conjunction with a change

management initiative
11%

To increase sales/profitability 11%

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 10

 FINDING AND TRAINING COACH PRACTITIONERS
AND MANAGERS/LEADERS WHO USE COACHING
SKILLS
When the organization is ready to begin supporting coaching activities,
the coaching program manager likely will be faced with a series of
decisions. Beyond deciding which coaching modalities to utilize, the
organization may need to develop its internal coaching capacity while
also onboarding one or more external coach practitioners.

Respondents to this study rely heavily upon their networks to find

their professional coaches. Organizations use referrals from trusted
individuals (38%) or consulting firms (29%) to select a professional
coach (Figure 6). Twenty-six percent of respondents’ organizations train
their own coaches internally.

FIGURE 6 Which of the following methods are used by your organization when
selecting a professional coach? (Select all that apply.)

We rely on referrals from

trusted individuals
38%

We use consulting firms that

source coaches for us
29%

We train our own coaches internally 26%

We conduct targeted searches on a

platform designed to find coaches 11%

We allow our employees to

choose their own coaches 9%

We conduct targeted searches on

the internet (i.e., Google, LinkedIn) 9%

We post the opportunity

on various job boards 3%

Other 11%

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 11

 When asked to indicate the most critical considerations for coach
selection, respondents cited previous coaching experience and credentials
and certifications as the most important qualifications for external coach
practitioners (Figure 7). Those who represented smaller organizations
are more likely to consider the coaching method (e.g., in-person,
telephone, virtual).6 Educational background, geography, functional-
area knowledge, standard rate and coach-specific training appear to be
less important criteria for selecting external coach practitioners.

FIGURE 7 What criteria are most important for selecting external coach
practitioners? (Select your top three. n = 210)

Previous coaching experience 54%

Credentials and certifications 48%

Knowledge of organization’s
industry and sector
34%

Coaching themes (e.g.,

communication, teamwork, 27%
work-life balance
Coaching method (e.g., in-person,
telephone, virtual)
25%

Coach-specific training (e.g.,

number of hours, training provider)
15%

Standard rate 14%

Knowledge of coachee’s
functional area
12%

Geographic location of the coach 11%

Educational background 7%

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 12

“We are attempting to move Another distinguishing characteristic of a strong coaching culture is that
managers to a coaching managers/leaders and/or internal coaches have received accredited

mentality. What is difficult coach-specific training. Internal coach practitioners are primarily
trained by other internal coach practitioners (62%), L&D departments
is that many of the managers
(61%) and HR departments (53%). Forty-eight percent of respondents’
have not received good
organizations train internal coach practitioners from a program that was
coaching. There is a strong
accredited/approved by a professional coaching organization and 20%
education need for train from an accredited/approved university-based program (up from
what coaching is, how it 17% in 2018). In general, organizations with strong coaching cultures
works and how it helps.” utilize internal coach practitioners who have completed more coach-
—Survey Respondent specific training hours (Figure 8).

FIGURE 8 What is the average number of coach-specific training hours

completed by your internal coach practitioners?

6%
No coach-specific training
20%

22%
Between 1 and 30 hours
43%

16%
Between 31 and 59 hours
6%

31%
Between 60 and 124 hours
19%

6%
Between 125 and 199 hours
5%

19%
200 hours or more
6%

Strong coaching culture All others

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 13

 Managers/leaders using coaching skills are trained most often by
L&D departments (65%), HR departments (54%) and internal coach
practitioners (46%). Twenty-five percent of respondents’ organizations
train managers/leaders from a program that was accredited/approved
by a professional coaching organization and 13% train from an
accredited/approved university-based program. Organizations with
strong coaching cultures have managers/leaders with more coach-
specific training hours (Figure 9).

FIGURE 9 What is the average number of coach-specific training hours

completed by your managers/leaders using coaching skills?

17%
No coach-specific training
28%

45%
Between 1 and 30 hours
64%

14%
Between 31 and 59 hours
4%

14%
Between 60 and 124 hours
3%

0%
Between 125 and 199 hours
0%

10%
200 hours or more
1%

Strong coaching culture All others

Professional coach practitioners and managers/leaders who use

coaching skills need training and development opportunities to establish
and improve their skills. Respondents’ “wish lists” for ongoing coaching
skills development in their organization (Figure 10) included additional
opportunities for coach-specific training (71%), a coaching community of
practice (54%), mentor coaching (51%) and support to obtain coaching
credentials/certificates (49%).

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 14

 FIGURE 10 Which of the following things should your organization do to help
support ongoing coaching skills development? (Select all that apply.)

Provide additional opportunities for

coach-specific training
71%
Create a coaching community of
practice to share ideas
54%

Offer mentor coaching 51%

Offer support to obtain coaching
credentials/certificates
49%

Offer peer coaching 43%

Offer coaching supervision 37%

“We have measured IMPLEMENTING COACHING AND EVALUATING

a significant SUCCESS
improvement in A coaching initiative should be designed to meet the current and
engagement, retention, future needs of the organization; therefore, both short and long-term
career progression and budgeting for the coaching initiative is a vital conversation topic during
business impact with those the implementation phase.

employees who received Another hallmark of a strong coaching culture is when the organization
coaching.” develops a budget with a dedicated line item for coaching. Eighty-
three percent of organizations with strong coaching cultures have this
—Survey Respondent
compared to 17% of all others. Overall, 25% of respondents’ organizations
have coaching as a dedicated line item in their training budget. Of that
budget, organizations allocate, on average, 21% of their training budget
for coaching initiatives.

Many organizations that utilize coaching may, at some point, be asked

to consider how impactful the coaching has been to their particular
organization. A dedicated budget for coaching may depend on visibility
into the talent and business outcomes of coaching. In other words, what is
the return on the investment? High-performing organizations have better
talent and business outcomes (see pages 22-23 for a description of this
index). Among organizations with a strong coaching culture, 54% are also
classified as high-performing organizations. Among organizations without
a strong coaching culture, only 29% are also classified as high-performing
organizations and these indices are positively correlated7 (Figure 11).

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 15

 FIGURE 11 Percentage classified as high-performing organization

Strong coaching culture 54%

All other organizations 29%

In particular, some of the indicators of a high-performing organization

including senior leadership bench strength, high-performer retention and
employer brand attraction have statistically significant differences between
organizations with strong coaching cultures and all others (Figure 12 and
Figure 13).

FIGURE 12 How have the following talent and organizational outcomes changed
at your organization over the past two years? (Percentage “Slightly
Higher” and “Much Higher”)

Investments in employee 75%

development 61%

Percentage of internal hires/ 70%

promotions (internal mobility) 49%
Percentage of employees assessed 63%
ready for senior leadership
positions (bench strength) 8 33%

62%
Quality of hire metrics
43%

Percentage of high- 62%

performers retained9 28%
Percentage of diverse 60%
(minority, gender, age,
backgrounds) hires 49%

Employee engagement 50%

survey scores 47%

Strong coaching culture All Others

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 16

 FIGURE 13 Compared to your industry competitors, how has your organization
fared in the following business dimensions over the past two years?
(Percentage “Above Average” and “One of the Best”)

85%
Customer satisfaction
67%

81%
Regulatory compliance
67%

Employer of choice 77%

(talent attraction)10 49%

65%
Profitability
56%

63%
Shareholder value
54%

63%
Labor productivity
45%

63%
Large-scale strategic change
51%

New product/service development/ 60%

delivery 55%

Strong coaching culture All Others

Although impact measurement may help obtain senior leader support

and budget allocation, many respondents struggle to measure and
articulate the impact of coaching. There does not appear to be a “one
size fits all” solution for measuring coaching impact, as the possibilities
are largely influenced by the overall culture of the organization
and their relative thirst for this information. In this survey, 38% of
respondents report the inability to measure the impact of coaching
as a potential obstacle to building a strong coaching culture inside an
organization (Figure 4).

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 17

LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE
Perhaps unsurprisingly, organizations with strong coaching cultures offer
more coaching resources (Figure 14). The most common resources for
coaching are those which help support ongoing practice development
and/or supervision for internal coaches, standardized templates and
processes for coaching, credentials or certifications for internal coaches,
and professional guidance on how to build a strong coaching culture.

Among all respondents, there is a high demand for guidance, technology

and training. Nearly 70% of respondents reported that their organization
lacked professional guidance on building a strong coaching culture, but
that they need this. Sixty-four percent of respondents said they don’t offer
but need ongoing practice development and/or supervision for internal
coaches, and 63% said they don’t offer but need standardized templates
and processes for their coaching activities.

Respondents also had the chance to express their sentiments around

the intersection of coaching and technology. Currently, few organizations
use technologies for sourcing coaches (27%), maintaining coachee
privacy (37%) or measuring the impact of coaching (23%).

As the workforce continues to become more technology-dependent,

coaching will remain a uniquely human activity with the ability to
maximize the personal and professional potential of people. One-fourth
of respondents agreed that artificial intelligence will help organizations
enhance their coaching activities. However, fewer than 10% of respondents
agreed that artificial intelligence will one day replace coaches.

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 18

 FIGURE 14 What resources are available at your organization?

Ongoing practice development

67%
and/or supervision for our
internal coaches 24%

Standardized templates and 59%

processes for our coaching
activities 29%

Professional coaching credentials 56%

or certifications for our internal
coaches 19%

Professional guidance on building 56%

a strong coaching culture 19%

Coaching industry thought leaders 49%

(education, networking events) 19%

Professional accreditation for our 39%

internal coach-specific training 14%

Industry research or case studies 38%

on the impact of coaching 25%

Technology that organizes the 36%

scheduling, billing, or evaluation
of coaching 7%

Online tool that can evaluate 30%

accredited providers for coach-
specific training 6%

Industry recognition/awards for 23%

building a strong coaching culture 7%

Online tool that can evaluate and 21%

prequalify professional coaches 6%

Strong coaching culture All Others

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 19

 CONCLUSION In an era where retaining high-performing talent and maintaining bench
strength are strategic imperatives for HR and talent development,
the value of a strong coaching culture is undeniable. However,
recognizing the value of coaching is only the first step in the journey.
As we approach a new decade and examine past research on building
coaching cultures, several findings remain constant. Among those
are the desire for organizations to develop their own internal capacity
for the training and delivery of coaching. Perhaps because manager/
leaders using coaching skills remains the most commonly utilized
modality, those occupying the HR, talent management and learning and
development functions in their organizations want to expand, train and
support managers and leaders to use coaching skills.

Because budget and senior leaders’ support are the most-cited obstacles
to a strong coaching culture, it will be vital for talent development and
HR professionals to become students of organizational strategy, and
clearly demonstrate the relationship between coaching activities and the
pursuit of mission, vision and strategic goals. Only by clearly mapping
coaching onto strategy and evaluating the metrics that matter for their
organization can the architects of coaching programs gain the support
necessary to move from the presence of coaching to the construction
of a robust, impactful coaching culture.

Learn More

To understand how coaching has been used to address areas in

strategic talent management and leadership, check out HCI and ICF’s
previous research studies.

HCI Research n #HCIresearch HCI Research

Building a
Building a Coaching Culture
Coaching Culture for
with Millennial Leaders
Change Management

Building a Coaching Culture Building a Coaching Culture

with Managers and Leaders
In partnership with In partnership with SIGNATURE
Human Capital Institute
The Global Association
for Strategic Talent Management
Human Capital Institute
The Global Association
for Strategic Talent Management
SERIES
AN HCI INSIGHT PARTNERSHIP

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 20

 APPENDICES

Endnotes 1. A mean of 16% for the HCI-ICF studies’ years 2014-2019.

2. r s = -.24, p < .01

3. r s = .17, p < .01

4. r s = .31, p < .01

5. r s = .23, p < .01

6. x 2 = 9.91, v = .222, p < .01

7. Strong coaching culture and high-performing organization index,

r = .18, p < .01

8. x 2 = 13.84, v = .220, p < .05

9. x 2 = 22.05, v = .271, p < .01

10. x 2 = 13.466, v = .212, p < .01

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 21

About the Research This research report was developed in partnership between the
Human Capital Institute (HCI) and International Coach Federation
(ICF). Between May 20 and July 8, 2019, a survey was distributed via
email to HCI members who opted into the HCI Survey Panel and the
L&D Community, and to professional coach practitioners and HR and
L&D contacts on ICF’s mailing list. HCI and ICF also promoted survey
participation on their social media channels.

After removing duplicate entries, external coach practitioners, internal

coach practitioners, and those who are not a professional in L&D, HR or
talent management, we analyzed 366 completed questionnaires.

The questionnaire for this research report was divided into five sections.

The first section determined what subsequent questions the

respondent would receive in the questionnaire. If the respondent
indicated that he or she was an external coach practitioner (n = 243),
an internal coach practitioner (n = 130), a manager or leader (n = 92),
a manager or leader who uses coaching skills (n = 161) or an individual
contributor (n = 49), it was explained that the survey was geared
toward individuals who are employed within an organization as an HR
professional, talent management professional or L&D professional.
He or she was asked to share the questionnaire with the appropriate
contact and received no further questions. Respondents who indicated
that they work in HR, talent management, or learning and development
(regardless of whether they use coaching skills) were guided to the
second section. If the respondent selected that none of the above
applied (n = 30), he or she was directed out of the questionnaire.

The second section contained questions on individual and

organizational demographics. It included items that assessed talent
and organizational outcomes. HCI researchers developed an index
of seven talent outcomes (investments in training, internal mobility,
employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, quality of hire,
retention and leadership bench strength) and eight critical business
performance indicators (large-scale strategic change, customer
satisfaction, regulatory compliance, talent attraction, innovation,
profitability, shareholder value and labor productivity) for evaluating the
relative strength and weakness of respondents’ organizations. These
inventories are composed of items with five-point rating scales.

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 22

Scores from these items are aggregated to create a composite score
that reflects the overall strength of each organization in terms of its
performance. Those scoring 56 or greater on this inventory are considered
high-performing organizations and consisted of 30% of the total.

The third section included questions about the coaching modalities

available at respondents’ organizations. If no coaching modalities
were present, the respondent skipped the rest of the questions in the
third section and questions from the fourth section were displayed.
In addition, the third section included questions about the coaching
modalities used and for whom, the frequency of coaching, budget,
training sources, coaching resources and evaluation. If the question was
specific to a type of modality, the respondent only received it if he or
she indicated that the modality was present in his or her organization.

The fourth section asked a question about obstacles to building

a strong coaching culture. The fifth section asked for additional
comments regarding the topics in the survey.

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 23

Survey Respondent Global Region Percent
Demographics North America 68%
Asia 12%
Europe 8%
Middle East and Africa 7%
Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean (combined) 5%

Number of Employees in Respondents’ Organizations Percent

> 50,000 5%
> 10,000 and ≤ 50,000 12%
> 5,000 and ≤ 10,000 10%
> 1,000 and ≤ 5,000 24%
> 500 and ≤ 1,000 14%
> 100 and ≤ 500 22%
Under 100 13%

Industry Percent
Manufacturing 13%
Finance and Insurance 12%
Other Services (except Public Administration) 12%
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 12%
Health Care and Social Assistance 11%
Government/Public Administration 10%
Educational Services 7%
Construction 4%
Information 4%
Utilities 4%
Transportation and Warehousing 3%
Retail Trade 2%
Accommodation and Food Services 1%
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and 1%
Remediation Services
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation 1%
Management of Companies and Enterprises 1%
Mining 1%
Real Estate Rental and Leasing 1%
Wholesale Trade 1%

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 24

Respondent Type Percent
HR/Talent Management/Learning & Development (Traditional) 27%
HR/Talent Management/Learning & Development (Using
73%
Coaching Skills)

Seniority Percent
I manage my own work and contribute to teams and projects. 41%
I manage my own work and lead a team of people. 20%
I lead and am responsible for other people managers below me. 8%
I am responsible for a business unit or function. 26%
I am responsible for an entire organization. 5%

Functional Area Percent

Human Resources 49%
Learning and Development 17%
Talent Management or Organizational Development 16%
Other 18%

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 25

 About the
Research Partners

Client by client, International Coach Federation (ICF) coaches help their

clients improve lives, relationships and business performance. They
make a real and measurable difference in people’s lives, which is why
we’re passionate about making sure our coaches and the institutions
that train them are well equipped to do their jobs. As the leading global
organization dedicated to advancing the coaching profession, ICF is
committed to setting high standards, providing independent certification
and building a worldwide network of trained coaching professionals.

Founded in 1995, ICF offers the only globally recognized, independent

credentialing program for coach practitioners. Achieving credentials
through ICF signifies a coach’s commitment to integrity, understanding
and mastery of coaching skills, and dedication to clients. ICF also
accredits programs that deliver coach-specific training. ICF-accredited
training programs must complete a rigorous review process and
demonstrate their alignment with ICF’s definition of coaching, Code of
Ethics and Core Competencies.

Learn more at coachfederation.org.

Human Capital Institute is the first choice for HR professionals and

organizations who have decided to accelerate their journey from
traditional, tactical specialists to strategic, high-impact business partners.

HCI seeks to educate, empower, and validate strategic talent-

management professionals to impact business results through the
acquisition of insights, skills, and tools that are contextualized through
research, practice, expert guidance, peer learning, and self-discovery.
Visit HCI.org to learn more.

BUILDING STRONG COACHING CULTURES FOR THE FUTURE | 26

 Publication date: November 12, 2019

Authors:
Jenna Filipkowski, PhD ([email protected])
Abby Heverin ([email protected])
Mark Ruth ([email protected])
1130 Main Street | Cincinnati, OH 45202
www.hci.org
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