Coaching’s dirty secret: why HR must urgently reboot its approach
Coaching promises performance gains, but poor HR processes are quietly eroding return on investment. The problem isn’t intent, it’s infrastructure
While coaching has grown into an £11bn global industry, new research suggests that organisations are wasting money by investing in it without the correct supporting processes and infrastructure in place. For HR professionals – typically responsible for organising coaching – this is an opportunity to lay the foundations to ensure coaching delivers real value.
The research, by executive coaches Dr Sam Humphrey and Clare Norman, reveals a stark disconnect between perceptions of coaching and its reality. The study surveyed 20 organisations and 69 coaches across seven sectors and six regions to understand what happens at the early stages of coaching assignments. The central finding is damning: 90 per cent of coaching clients are deemed not coaching-ready by their coaches. The result? From the outset, there is little chance of meeting expectations or achieving return on investment.
This isn’t HR’s fault, but a systemic failure. By learning from the pain points outlined in the research, HR leaders can become better coaching custodians and reclaim coaching’s genuine value: bridging the gap between potential and performance by fostering a culture of trust, accountability, and adaptive leadership that drives long-term agility and results.
