What is Coaching for Workplace?

9 February 2021

The word ‘coach‘ originated from the Hungarian word ‘korci‘ – horse-drawn wagon. It means a carriage transports you from one destination to a new destination. In the same context, coaching is a process that a Coach (person who provide coaching service) enables a Coachee (person who receive coaching service) move from his current life situation to a new situation that he wanted.

The History of Coaching
Coaching has started way back since 1885 in the sports arena. Athletes were trained, guided, encouraged, and given feedback to improve their performance. Later in 1976, Timothy Gallwey, a tennis captain turned coach, introduced the inner game concept of sports coaching to corporate leaders and managers. Since then, professional coaching (executive coaching) is introduced in the corporate world for its remarkable success in human development and performance improvement.

Find out why sports coaching and professional coaching are different.

After years of studying and working with Timothy Gallwey, the late Sir John Withmore and Bob Kriegel worked together and introduced the more refined coaching approach and process to organisations.

In 1992, Sir John Withmore published a book called ‘Coaching for Performance‘ and introduced the G.R.O.W. coaching model which become a favourite performance improvement tool for the managers and even coaches globally. For a long time, Sir John is regarded as the pioneer of coaching in the workplace. His works and contributions were well recognized by the coaching community. In 2007, he was honoured with the President’s Award by International Coaching Federation (ICF). He is considered as one of the leading figures in the international coaching community.

ICF was founded in 1995. The body is a leading global organization advocating high standards of professional coaching and code of ethics. All the members are well-trained, qualified coaches In 2017, ICF has recorded almost 30,000 members in 138 countries; by far the largest non-profit organisation of professional coaching in the world.

Coaching Awareness
How aware of professional coaching is the general public and Organisations today?

The recent report of 2017 ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study with sample size of 27,134 respondents across 30 countries revealed that:

• 66% of all respondents indicated that they were very or somewhat aware of the field of Professional Business and/or Life Coaching; compared to 58% awareness in 2014 and 51% awareness back in 2010.
• Millennials (1983 – 1996) showed the highest awareness of coaching, with 73% indicating that they were very or somewhat aware; followed by Generation X (1965 – 1982) with 69% indicating that they were very or somewhat aware of coaching; compared to Generation Z (1997 – present) with 63% indication for the same level of coaching awareness.
• The top three motivations for seeking coaching were optimizing individual / team work performance, improve communication skills, and increase productivity.

You can find out more information about the report here.

Whether it is individual or group, coaching is the way to go to build work-life integration, increase work performance , better communication skills, or increase productivity. Coaching creates sense of ownership and helps the Coachee be self-accountable for greater performance.