Umbrella company contractors should consider themselves lucky not to have to undergo the sort of company training that many PAYE employees undergo, which often has no underlying purpose.
Although UK organisations spend multi-millions on coaching, almost 15% admit they do not evaluate the return on their investment. Worse still, 68% do not use coaching to address corporate objectives.
These startling figures come from a recent survey conducted by Hays Recruitment and LeaderShape, an expert coach/mentor. The research found that nearly three quarters of coach-mentoring programmes are for individual development, either to develop talent or address personal concerns, rather than addressing business needs. Despite this, over 50% of UK companies want to increase their provision of business coaching.
One major concern highlighted by the survey is the lack of development support for the trainers. 73% of firms use internal ’employee’ coach-mentors and yet 28% of mentors and 16% of coaches receive no support or training and 29% of group/team facilitators are untrained.
Chris McCarthy from Hays Recruitment said that too many companies are leaving it up to individuals to decide their training or mentoring, and in several instances there is no reference to the needs of the business. Companies are not checking the standard of the programmes and in many cases do not seem interested in the outcome. Whilst it is extremely important to offer support to people when they begin a new role, it needs to be carried out by people who understand exactly what is required.
Chris Gulliver, from LeaderShape, points out that the lack of direction and training given to coach-mentors means companies’ are wasting both time and money. Internal providers should be fully trained in coach-mentoring (just like their interim & freelance counterparts), and outcomes should be measured against business objectives if businesses want to boost success.
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Image: Burnt Out by Tonys
