The difference between supervising internal coaches compared to external ones

The difference between supervising internal coaches compared to external ones

As coaching has become more mainstream as a means of developing managers throughout organisations, rather than being the preserve of the aspiring high achievers, so too have many firms begun to deploy internal coaches rather than relying on external providers. Sooner or later, questions begin to emerge about the nature of supervision for these staff coaches. While the skills of an internal coach are not necessarily that different from those of external ones, the context in which they are operating means that there are many differences between the two. Power dynamics; performance pressures; the consequences of good and poor performance; the scope for boundaries to change; depth of internal knowledge;… these will all be different, and there will be many more subtle complexities that differ. How does this translate into the work of the coaching supervisor? In a comprehensive review of the scant literature on the supervision of internal coaches, Wingrove, Lai, Palmer, and Williams (2020), identify a range of benefits that coaching...
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The impact of supervision on workplace coaches

The impact of supervision on workplace coaches

A reassuring article appeared in Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice recently. The authors, Müller, Kotte and Möller, carried out an online survey of coaches working in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (110 in total; of whom 75% were self-employed.The coaches were asked about different aspects of life satisfaction (concerning their job, financial situation, and leisure time) and work-related mental strain (i.e., cognitive and emotional strain). Compared to German population norm scores (including both employed and self-employed working individuals), coaches show higher satisfaction with their job and leisure time, and less work-related mental strain. Particularly interesting though is the impact of coaching supervision on job satisfaction. For average levels of mental strain, job satisfaction is on an average level as well, whether with use of supervision or without. With increasing mental strain, however, coaches with supervision show significantly more job satisfaction than those without supervision. Although it is hard to imagine, the implication of the research is that if a...
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