barriers to effective coaching

8/18/2019 Barriers to Effective Coaching

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There are many claims about the benets and practice of coaching.Most research reects the views of thecoaches rather than those coached. The

International Coaching EffectivenessResearch Study (2013) made a number ofclaims about coaching. As researchers,we decided to test empirically theseclaims.

Our survey was different from otherspreviously conducted as we decided togather responses only from coachees.In addition our survey was not limitedto coaching initiatives where all thecoaches use the same theoreticalapproach or where all the coachees arefrom the same company, industry sector

or country. Our study aimed to be aninternational collaboration allowing forcoachee perspectives from around theworld and from different business andcoaching contexts.

The members of the internationalresearch team were drawn from theInstitute for Employment Studies(UK) and College of Business, Law &Governance at James Cook University(Queensland). The research team

collaborated with coaching associations,universities, employers and networksaround the globe: in particular theyhelped us by marketing the link to our

survey amongst coachees.The results from our survey offers a rare

view from the coachee perspective whichhas conrmed that, for the vast majorityof coachees, coaching is a success. Wesurveyed 644 industry professionalsfrom 34 countries during 2013 14 whohad received, or were currently receiving,coaching. Some 89% of coachees foundcoaching worthwhile; just 11% said it was oflimited use or no use.

The study showed interesting barriersto effective coaching. We found that

84% of coachees said they had faced barriers along the way, with uncleardevelopment goals or lack of agreementwith their coach as the most frequently-mentioned barrier.

The rst claim about coaching weexplored was the widespread beliefamongst coaches that barriers arenothing to worry about: barriers are just issues that become part of thecoaching conversation, and the coach

BARRIERS TOEFFECTIVECOACHINGASSESSMENTBY DR ALISON CARTERAND DR ANNA BLACKMAN

References Blackman A, Carter A & Hay R, 2014, “Initialndings from International CoachingEffectiveness study”, in Lindall P & MegginsonD (Eds) Book of Conference proceedings fromthe 4th EMCC Research conference, EuropeanMentoring and Coaching Council.

Figure 1

Source: IES/JCU 2014


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helps the coachee to overcome them.We asked our coachee respondentsif they felt they had faced signicantdifficulties during coaching and if so

what they were. We conducted statisticaltests to identify which barriers, if any,could predict less successful coachingoutcomes.

BarriersFacing barriers is very common with84% of coachees reporting barriersand 16% facing no barriers. Individual barriers encountered can be groupedinto six main barrier categories:• 30% of barriers related to coachees’

own readiness and engagement;

• 29% coaching model used;• 14% organisation culture or

unsupportive boss;• 10% coach’s manner or skills;• 9% external events;• 5% coaching relationship/

incompatibility;• 3% “other”.The top ve most common individual barriers are shown in Figure 1. Uncleardevelopment goals is the biggest issue, but we do not know if this lack of clarityis mainly an organisation issue (eg poor

communication between employeeand their boss, or changing priorities),mainly a coach issue (eg poor or rigidgoal setting process), or a combinationof both.

Barriers differed for coachees fromdifferent regions: for coachees outsideEurope, Australia and New Zealand itwas personal issues affecting readinessfor coaching that were the mostprevalent. This included “the timingwas not right” with respondents givingexamples such as “too late in my career”or “going on maternity leave”. Forcoachees in the UK, Australia and NewZealand issues affecting their ability toengage were more common, such as“emotions getting in the way” and“feeling defensive”.

Most coachees overcame barriers as89% reported that their coaching waseffective. Was there a statistical link between the 11% reporting limited/no

success and the barriers they faced? Wefound two predictors of limited success:difficulties with the coach; and a difficultorganisational culture – in particular an

unsupportive boss. Women were muchmore likely than men to report that anunsupportive boss had impacted ontheir coaching outcomes with 40% of allwomen respondents and only 26% ofmen reporting this.

Features of a good coachOur ndings challenge another myth/assumption that industry experienceis not necessary in a coach. Accordingto coachees responding to our survey,the three most important factors for

a coach are to have experience in thecoachee’s industry, to be honest, and tocommunicate clearly. This contradictsthe views of many coaches in surveys by International Coach Federation andothers who say that a coach is notmeant to have to an expert in thecoachee’s eld and that industryexperience is not important.

More important characteristicsfor a coach to have according tocoaches include integrity, condence,credibility, experience in coaching,

knowledge, acute perception, sound judgement and being able to resolveconicts. Our ndings imply that coachcredibility in the eyes of coachees will be acknowledged only if the coach isseen to be knowledgeable and haveexperience in the eld or industry.

Other ndingsAs well as offering insights into barriers,our study empirically conrmed whateveryone already “knew”: coaching works!The process of being coached is tough,and not all employees expect that. Ourresults suggested that coachees mustput in the effort to be able to achieve theresults desired. We found that only 46%of coaches consider that they put “a lot” ofeffort into their coaching. Coachees alsoneed to be committed to the coachingprocess and condent that they will beable to achieve the outcomes they haveset for themselves.

Our results also suggested thatsupport from both the organisationand family is important for a successfulcoaching experience. As half of

respondents were self-employed it wasinteresting to see that support was stillcritical in the effectiveness of coachingwhether it came from organisationor home environments. This can berelated back to the basic human needsof wanting to feel recognised for thechoices we make and for these to be supported in an honest and safeenvironment.

As researchers we also wonderedwhether the coaching context madea difference. Fourteen percent of our

respondents said they had an internalcoach and 86% said that their coach wasexternal. Both groups said their coachingwas effective with 90% of those with anexternal coach reporting their coachingwas effective and only slightly less (88%)of those with an internal coach reportingit to be effective. Eight per cent of ourrespondents said it was mandatory forthem to participate in coaching whilstfor the rest it was a voluntary decision.We found that almost 90% those whoparticipated in coaching mandatorily

were willing to participate in coachingagain. Although extrinsically motivatedto participate in coaching ie they weremade or paid to attend, the rewardfrom coaching, self-achievementand organisation recognition wasintrinsically felt enough to motivate themandatory coachee to participate again.

ImplicationsFor coaching scheme organisers wesuggest/re-affirm a few dos and don’ts forimproving the coaching experience ofyour employees.Do:• Expect managers to provide clarity

and honesty about the reasons fornomination and what they want fromthe coaching outcomes.

• Ask employees for a description oftheir coach’s style and approach whenthey have nished: this will help futureemployees select coaches.


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• Brief employees on what to expectfrom coaching and assess whetherthey are ready. This is especiallyimportant for employees residing

outside Australia/New Zealand/UK.Don’t:• Insist that all coachees set goals at the

outset.• Ignore coaches if they describe

problems with their coach or boss.These two factors limit coachingeffectiveness and action is required!

• Offer just one coach or one coachingmodel. Choice is preferable.

For coaches, we suggest/re-affirm thefollowing for helping the organisation(s)

you work with and allowing a possibilityof greater impact and sophistication tocoaching engagements.Do:• Encourage engagement by your

coachees’ bosses. They are keystakeholders in any coaching process,

enabling transfer of learning fromcoaching back into daily work andsupporting changes that their coachedstaff want to make.

• Encourage organisational learningfrom all the coaching you do: forexample suggest regular coach get-togethers to identify opportunities andchallenges across the organisation.

Don’t:• Rely rigidly on setting SMART goals.

Experienced coaches keep in mindthe advantages and limitations in theircoaching practice of goal pursuit.

• Ignore an assessment of anorganisation’s readiness for coaching(as well as employee readiness). A

difficult organisational culture canlimit coaching effectiveness.

Next steps for the researchDuring 2015 we plan to present ourresults to management scholars in theUS and around the world. Meanwhile the

research team are delving deeper into thesurvey data exploring what else makes adifference to coachees. Currently we areanalysing other differences arising from

work context, coaching context and thepersonal characteristics of coachees. Weare committed to sharing our ndingson an on-going basis with practitionersto provide evidence for coaches,organisations paying for coaching andcoachees seeking information onusing coaching.

Dr Alison Carter is an Associate Fellowat Institute for Employment Studies inUK and was co-chair of the 2nd HarvardInternational Coaching Research Forum.

Contact via [email protected]

Dr Anna Blackman is a Senior Lecturerin the College of Business Law andGovernance at James Cook University inTownsville, Australia. Contact via anna. [email protected]

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