Coaching: an emerging profession - or just a spanner in the HRD toolbox?
Abstract
This paper reports on a global survey that sought to identify the extent to which coaching is a distinct occupation, or task, performed within a portfolio of HR or other roles. The study also sought to ascertain the extent to which coaches identify with coaching as a profession and to explore how their professional identity (or multiple identities) are created and maintained.
... The literature on 'professional identity' covers diverse fields, including counselling and clinical psychology (Alves & Gazzola, 2011;Burns & Cruikshanks, 2017;Fisher, 2017;Mellin, Hunt, & Nichols, 2011), social work (Weiss-Gal & Welbourne, 2008), education (Brott & Myers, 1999;Cranitch, 2017;Rewolinski, 2014), the broader medical professions (Brandis, Fitzgerald, Mcphail, & Fisher, 2016;Elvey, Hassell, & Hall, 2013;Kumpusalo et al., 1994;Molleman & Rink, 2013), journalism (Aldridge & Evetts, 2003;Ferrucci & Vos, 2017;Grubenmann & Meckel, 2014;Li & Chitty, 2017), information technology (Brooks et al., 2011;Smith, 2016) and library and information sciences (Fraser-Arnott, 2017;Goertzen, 2018;Hicks, 2016). In recent years, newer professions' identity has been studied, including that of personal coaches (Gray, Saunders, Curnow, & Farrant, 2015), sign language interpreters (Harwood, 2017), evaluators (Ball, Biesheuvel, Hamilton-Baillie, & Olonisakin, 2007;Jacob & Boisvert, 2010;Levin-Rozalis & Shochot-Reich, 2009), women engineers (Plett, Hawkinson, Vanantwerp, Wilson, & Bruxvoort, 2011), archaeologists (Shaeffer, 2016), women military interrogators (Dorough-Lewis, 2017) and even massage therapists (Sullivan, 2012) and chefs (Rehn, 2012). ...
... The study drew on existing literature to design the survey questions and relied on previous quantitative studies that developed scientifically sound measuring instruments to investigate several aspects of identity as there are currently no scientifically validated cross-national studies addressing emerging professions' identity. The survey included elements of instruments used in other fields like psychology and counselling (Gazzola & Smith, 2007;Mael & Ashforth, 1992;Verling, 2014;Woo, Lu, & Bang, 2018), organisational studies (Kreiner & Ashforth, 2004), education (Aangenendt et al., 2012;Beijaard et al., 2004), medicine (Liu, Lam, & Loi, 2014;Nikendei, Ben-David, Mennin, & Huwendiek, 2016), information technology (Brooks et al., 2011) and coaching (Gray, 2011;Gray et al., 2015). ...
This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the emerging profession of Security Risk Intelligence Analysis in the private sector by exploring the individual and collective professional identity of practitioners who identify and analyse threats and risks to the security of personnel, key assets and operations of an organisation or business in the private sector. The study used a mixed-method approach for the empirical research of how practitioners across different organisational contexts and national boundaries construct and maintain their professional identity in their quest for meaningful work.
Security risk intelligence analysts in the private sector share the same individual professional identity, forming the collective professional identity's blueprint. There were some elements of difference, but none of them impacted the overall results that emerged during the study. Their professional identity is centred on their expert knowledge and ability to perform complex intellectual tasks in providing forewarning and insight into threats to the organisation or client's well-being and sustainability. They have a strong individual professional identity that reflects high levels of job satisfaction, pride and autonomy in their profession who thrive on connecting on a professional, functional level with stakeholders. Their main professional challenge related to the relative lack of understanding of their role in the private sector by various stakeholders in and outside the organisation.
Lastly, proposals are made on how the profession as a collective and individual security risk intelligence analysts can increase their professional identity and their concomitant impact on the security risk management field and the security sector.
... Passmore and Fillery-Travis (2011) make a call for more to be done to understand whether working as a coach affects leadership competences, resilience or the emotional intelligence of the coach. The CIPD also highlights the need for future research on coaching to understand how coaching contributes to line manager effectiveness (CIPD, 2012) and Gray et al. (2015) affirm the importance of coach training in their study on coach identity. ...
... This is compounded by the fact that there are many different coaching operating modes from external consultant as coach, internal coach, line manager as coach, and mentor as coach to name a few. The case for a professional identity for coaching is also discussed in the literature (Gray et al., 2015), but to date, there is no one professional association for coaches. ...
... Passmore and Fillery-Travis (2011) make a call for more to be done to understand whether working as a coach affects leadership competences, resilience or the emotional intelligence of the coach. The CIPD also highlights the need for future research on coaching to understand how coaching contributes to line manager effectiveness (CIPD, 2012) and Gray et al. (2015) affirm the importance of coach training in their study on coach identity. ...
... This is compounded by the fact that there are many different coaching operating modes from external consultant as coach, internal coach, line manager as coach, and mentor as coach to name a few. The case for a professional identity for coaching is also discussed in the literature (Gray et al., 2015), but to date, there is no one professional association for coaches. ...
... Passmore and Fillery-Travis (2011) make a call for more to be done to understand whether working as a coach affects leadership competences, resilience or the emotional intelligence of the coach. The CIPD also highlights the need for future research on coaching to understand how coaching contributes to line manager effectiveness (CIPD, 2012) and Gray et al. (2015) affirm the importance of coach training in their study on coach identity. ...
... This is compounded by the fact that there are many different coaching operating modes from external consultant as coach, internal coach, line manager as coach, and mentor as coach to name a few. The case for a professional identity for coaching is also discussed in the literature (Gray et al., 2015), but to date, there is no one professional association for coaches. ...
This paper examines the extent to which a coach development programme benefits the coach beyond the boundaries of their coaching interventions. Much coaching research focuses on the impact of coaching on the coachee and the organisation; this small research project considers the impact on the coach. Alumni from a higher education coach development programme were invited to share their perspectives on their post programme coaching and organisational experiences via focus groups. Our findings suggest that a learning process that encourages self-awareness, reflexive conversations and opportunities to reflect and consider one’s coaching identity, enable coaches to apply their learning across a range of organisational scenarios, beyond their role as an internal coach. Organisational coaches report greater levels of confidence in their generic leadership roles and being perceived differently by others in their organisations, as a result of the coach development process. This study will be of interest to HRD practitioners considering an investment in developing internal coaches and to those involved in designing and delivering coach development programmes as the importance of teaching beyond coaching models and theory is demonstrated from this study. It may also help inform potential coach trainees considering embarking on a coach development programme, as the benefits can permeate all aspects of organisational performance.
... Passmore and Fillery-Travis (2011) make a call for more to be done to understand whether working as a coach affects leadership competences, resilience or the emotional intelligence of the coach. The CIPD also highlights the need for future research on coaching to understand how coaching contributes to line manager effectiveness (CIPD, 2012) and Gray et al. (2015) affirm the importance of coach training in their study on coach identity. ...
... This is compounded by the fact that there are many different coaching operating modes from external consultant as coach, internal coach, line manager as coach, and mentor as coach to name a few. The case for a professional identity for coaching is also discussed in the literature (Gray et al., 2015), but to date, there is no one professional association for coaches. ...
This study investigates the nature and changes of Human Resource Development (HRD) in two Greek banks under the challenging context of the economic crisis. It examines the latter’s impact upon HRD as it was perceived from different stakeholders and through a pre and ongoing-crisis assessment approach.
The study draws upon qualitative research data from two case study banking organizations in Greece, reporting on 76 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders (HR staff, Bank Managers, employees) undertaken in 2014, six years after the fall of Lehman Brothers.
The study contributes to academic knowledge as being the first empirical research offering a unique perspective through examining changes of HRD within a specific industry and national context (Greek banks) against a backdrop of an economic downturn. Its findings also raise important questions for HRD professionals, in both academia and practice, in relation to claims and aspirations which prevail in respect of HRD and organizational change and business transformation.
... Passmore and Fillery-Travis (2011) make a call for more to be done to understand whether working as a coach affects leadership competences, resilience or the emotional intelligence of the coach. The CIPD also highlights the need for future research on coaching to understand how coaching contributes to line manager effectiveness (CIPD, 2012) and Gray et al. (2015) affirm the importance of coach training in their study on coach identity. ...
... This is compounded by the fact that there are many different coaching operating modes from external consultant as coach, internal coach, line manager as coach, and mentor as coach to name a few. The case for a professional identity for coaching is also discussed in the literature (Gray et al., 2015), but to date, there is no one professional association for coaches. ...
This paper explores the effect of mentoring on women’s career progression in occupationally segregated sectors of employment. Specifically, it examines two professions which are polarized in their gender distribution, namely Human Resource Management (HRM), traditionally a female dominated profession and Investment Management, a male dominated profession. Utilizing an interpretative research approach and employing the use of semi-structured in-depth interviews as the research tool, thirty-two female participants were interviewed, twenty-one of whom were from HRM and eleven from Investment Management.
The findings from the study indicated that for women in HRM mentoring as a resource was seen as an enabler to career progression and a means of learning their role. Within Investment Management mentoring was considered a limited support unless it was informal and voluntary on the part of the mentor. To those who did cite it as important, it was seen from the perspective of its absence being a deterrent rather than its presence an enabler.
This study contributes to our understanding concerning the role and effectiveness of mentoring in such sectors and its use as a tool to aid the development and career progression of women. It is the first study of its kind within an Irish context.
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