The coaching profession is constantly expanding and becoming an essential pillar in our uncertain and volatile world! This is a conclusion from the latest study conducted by the International Coaching Federation and PWC among 20 000 persons in 160 countries.

On the one hand, there is a growing demand from leaders, on the other hand, companies are looking for more agility and accountability to engage and empower their employees. Consequently, more and more managers are training themselves in the posture and tools of coaching in order to be able to best support these profound transformations that companies are going through.

 The typical coaching client is a decision maker (over 70%): a manager (27%), a project leader (25%) or a team leader (8%).He / she is predominantly between 35 and 44 years old (37%); the client’s average age has clearly decreased very recently. Google studies among their employees have shown that the vast majority of young hires expect to be coached to advance in their career. Offering coaching to young talents is seen as a factor of retention!  

Being “certified as a Coach » by a professional federation like ICF is very important for clients; 81% of coaches confirm this criterion is essential. It is a guarantee of seriousness, professionalism and ethics. Indeed, at ICF, to become certified Coach is a very demanding process: to be trained through an accredited coaching course and to demonstrate hours of practice according to the target level (more than 2,500 at Master level, i.e. about 10 years of practice). 

According to the 2020 ICF-PWC study, another major trend is emerging: the number of managers and HR who use coaching skills is increasing very regularly everywhere. In large companies these skills are essential components of leadership competencies models and more and more in the « tech industry » the young entrepreneurs use coaching skills to be more efficient and innovative.

Coaching reconnects here with its primary mission: to reveal talents and develop creativity.93% of these leaders using the postures and technical tools of coaching have received professional coaching training beforehand, and the vast majority (79%) have gone through a training organization accredited by ICF or another of the major world federations of coaching to receive this training. 

What are the benefits for managers, HR and companies to develop their coaching skills? 

Management has definitely left the era of « Taylorism » as the « top-down » approach no longer works with the young generations. Companies need urgently to develop managerial agility and meaningful leadership! Let’s listen to some of the managers and HRs who have integrated coaching skills in their practice:

“… As I questioned and listened more, I observed that I received a lot more feedback and that it helped me to progress. (…) This clearly contributes to increase trust and to develop our learning community …  » A Country Manager 

“Training in coaching is a major contribution to the change of mindset we want to see! It is a real turning point in terms of mentality and posture, a step taken towards another way of being, essential in a learning organization. (… ) All our managers should follow such a course. » An HRD Europe  

« The training in coaching has made it easier for me to guide the decisions of my Executive Committee thanks to questioning rather than expressing of my vision and my convictions.  » An Executive Director 

In this context, it is natural for the coaching business to develop: + 36% compared to 2015, with a total of 77,700 listed coaches working throughout the world. Coaches are mainly involved in leadership development (30%), managerial coaching (16%) and, increasingly, collective coaching of teams and organizations (16%). Coaching adapts to its clients with a marked rejuvenation of coaches: those under 44 years represent 25% of all coaches, against less than 5% a few years ago. Finally, coaching is being done more and more… remotely. Even if this is not new, the trend has accelerated over the past 5 years and platforms represent 48% now (24% in 2015).

The covid crisis will amplify these trends. In these times of uncertainty, there is an urgent need to reinvent oneself and to be innovative… Coaching has a major role to play!

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