Frequently Asked Questions

A number of frequently asked questions and relvant answers are outlined below.

Topic Areas

The Coaching Pool Partnership
Commitment Required and Cost
Training to become a Coach
Coaching People
On-going Support for Coaches
Evaluation and Quality Assurance of the Programme
Other Questions

The Coaching Pool Partnership

1. Is the programme funded?

The People and Leadership Team who coordinate the training and deployment of coaches was funded up until March 2010, from monies devolved through the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership. From March existing and new partners wishing to join the partnership will be required to pay a subscription fee. Please click here for futher details: JOIN THE POOL

2. How is the Coaching Pool managed and coordinated?

The Coaching Pool Partnership is currently made up of 20 organisations; each organisation has a representative that sits on the Operational Project Group. The group steers the direction of the Partnership and develops the policies, procedures and practices that govern its operation.

The day to day activities, associated with maintaining, supporting and developing the Partnership are managed and carried out by the People and Leadership Team. The Team is employed by the West Midlands Leaders Councils, on behalf of the partner organisations.

3. Is the programme unique?

The programme was the first of its kind on such a scale in the public sector. Since the programme began, other organisations have used our example to start similar programmes across the country. The project has proved to be a very exciting and ground breaking project and that employees have been keen to be a part of it.

4. Have the Organisation' senior management signed up to the coaching pool?

Yes, any organisation signed up to the pool is required to produce a letter to this effect.

Commitment Required and Cost

5. What is the time commitment?

As a coach, we ask that you make a commitment to be available for 25 hours a year to carry out coaching. This might sound like a large commitment, but the 25 hours include all your preparation, write-up and travelling time associated with coaching.

You will also be expected to attend a minimum of 2 days supervision each year.

6. Will there be any other expenses for employees, other than the time required to coach employees in other organisations?

Yes, there are training and joining fees associated with becoming a coach for the pool. These are detailed within the application packs.

There will also be some additional costs associated with travel expenses. As part of the reciprocal nature of this project (e.g. coaches being trained and deployed in other partners organisation's, free of charge), all organisation's are asked to cover the costs incurred by their own employees, who are coaches. In turn, when employees in your organisation receive coaching, there will be no cost at the point of delivery for that employee or their manager.

7. What if I work part-time? Will the time commitment be reduced accordingly?

We ask all or coaches to commit to a minimum of 25 hours a year coaching related activity, however, if you work part time, this commitment can be more flexible to make a reasonable adjustment for the hours you are contracted to work. In this situation each organisation will be responsible for agreeing with you a minimum commitment, you should discuss this with your organisational representative, before submitting an application.

Training to Become a Coach

If you already hold a suitable coaching qualification you will not be expected to complete the training as detailed below, however you will be required to go through a recruitment process to assess your suitability to become part of the pool.

9. What is an ILM Qualification?

The ILM is the Institute of Leadership and Management. They are a national qualification awarding body and award qualifications in the area of leadership and management.

The qualification you will be completing is the ILM Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching and Mentoring.

10. What is the pass rate for the ILM course?

The pass rate for candidates who complete the course is very high, around 90%. There are three main reasons why people don't pass the course. Firstly they don't complete the programme, as changes in their job or life means they are unable to attend, so they drop out. This affects a small proportion of people. A second group are people who don't complete the assessments. The third group are people fail to complete the assignments to the required standard; about 10%. In these cases we will continue to offer support to people to help them resubmit. Our experience is that nearly 99% of people who have resubmitted pass on the second occasion.

11. What does 'executive coach' mean? Will I only be coaching 'executives'? What level of employee will I be coaching?

The title of the award 'executive coaching' relates to the fact that this is a higher level qualification (set at post graduate level) and aims to help people develop the coaching skills to coach senior people in organisations; executives.

The coaching pool is there to support any managers/supervisors within the partner organisations who it is felt could improve their performance through coaching. Therefore you could be coaching any 'level' of employee, by completing the 'executive' coaching qualification; it will give us greater flexibility to cover all employees within an organisation.

12. Is there any re-testing to retain the qualification?

No, the award is like a degree or any other certificate. It is not a certificate of competence to practice but a confirmation that the person has reached a required standard at a point in time.

However, to remain part of the coaching pool you are expected to complete at least 10 hours of CPD (continued professional development) per year.

13. What happens if I realise coaching isn't for me or the tutor realises I am unsuitable to coach part way through the course or after the course is complete?

If the tutor realises that you are unsuitable they will tell you or if you are heading in the wrong direction they will give you feedback. But for most people coaching is about learning the skills, which is a gradual process and takes weeks and months to master.

If you decide that you are unsuitable then like all qualifications or training start by having a conversation with your manager and the HR manager for your organisation. Should you decide to withdraw we will be unable to reimburse your training fees, and it is up to the discretion of your organisation whether they will require you to pay for them.

14. What does the assignment involve and how long do you have to complete it?

The assignments are very practical and involve a mix of written work and reflection on your coaching practice. It is difficult to estimate how long it would take you, but we estimate that in total the assignments (which are spread out over the course) take about 20 hours, most of this is in short blocks of 1 and 2 hours.

15. What personal skills will I gain?

We hope people will acquire a range of personal and interpersonal skills which will help them not only in their coaching but also in their work as a manager and as a professional in local government. The course covers areas such as emotional intelligence, leadership, communications and standards. So there is a good mix and the feedback from local authority managers who have been on the programme has been very positive.

16. Who should I practice coach?

It is essential that you practice your coaching skills between your various modules on the programme. You are expected to find your own 'clients' to coach and practice with; we would suggest you approach colleagues within your organisation. We would not recommend using family members or close friends as this could make it more difficult to stay focused within the session.

If you require further information your course tutor will be able to help, you should speak to them during your first session.

17. Is the coaching practice carried out in work time and how many people should we coach?

The coaching practice can be carried out with any suitable person who can discuss a work based issue - when this takes place should be agreed between yourself and the client. You should coach two or three people to gage how you are performing with different people.

18. Who will have 'ownership' of the information gathered during coaching practice sessions?

Any notes takes will the property of the coach and client only, and would not be shared with anyone. When submitting notes in relation to gaining the qualification, the coach would be required to anonymise the information so that individuals could not be identified. On completion of the qualification, the course providers will destroy the notes. The issue of data protection is explored on the programme

19. How will I find clients?

Volunteers will be sought for coaching practice, however, a more formal arrangement will be in place when coaches are qualified.

Coaching People

20. How will coaches be matched to clients?

The Coaching Pool has an online matching site where managers who are interested in receiving coaching can view coach profiles and select a coach. On making a selection the client will receive the coaches contact details and will contact the coach to make arrangements for the first session. (Coaches will also receive an email to inform them they have bee selected and to expect to be contacted).

21. What is the deal across the partner organisations - will each have the same number of employees coached?

No, the partnership works on a basis of 'what you put in is what you can get out'. Therefore each partner involved can have two employees coached for every coach they have in the pool.

Where organisations exceed their quota they have the opportunity to purchase additional coaching through the pool.

22. How will personality conflicts between coaches and clients be handled?

We recognise that sometimes, in a small number of cases, people just don't feel comfortable with their coach and vice versa. Where this is the case and the coaching relationship is not felt as productive, by either the coach or the client, we will seek to appoint another coach to that client/employee.

We will take steps to understand why this is and if it is a recurring instance for either a coach or client, we would seek to address that.

23. Do you need to like the person you coach?

Yes and no!
Certainly you need to have enough respect or empathy for the people that you want to spend time helping them to improve the way they work. The coach needs to be able to listen, avoid judging them as 'good' or 'bad' and try to focus on how the person can find a solution to their own problem rather than tell them what you (as the coach) would do.
Coaching is not about being friends or developing a friendship, instead the coach will keep a professional relationship and a professional distance from their client.

24. What is the process if either the coach or the client has a problem?

The first point of contact for either the coach or the client is the People and Leadership Team. Depending upon the nature of the problem, we will then advise upon the best course of action to resolve it.

25. How do I contract with my client? Is their line manager involved?

Yes, their line manager is recommended to be involved. It is important that at the start of your coaching session you 'contract' with your client, to ensure that ground rules are set out (e.g. what you both expect from each other) and that some 'goals' are set out. The focus of the coaching pool is to help improve employee's performance within the workplace; therefore it is crucial for their line manager to be involved, to ensure that both parties are clear on what areas of performance the employee is trying to improve.

It is recommended that their line manager is present for 30 minutes of the first session, so that they are included in this initial discussion and they are invited back at the end of the employee's final coaching session to review what has been achieved through the coaching and what the next steps for that employee are.

It is important to remember that this involvement of the employee's line manager will not require the coach to break any confidentiality with their client; it will be up to the client to disclose any of this information.

Full guidance on contracting with a client and managing the line manager involvement is available from the People and Leadership Team.

26. What are the legalities? (E.g. if the wrong advice is given)

Coaching is not about providing advice, so this issue should not come up. The coach is really there to ask challenging questions and encourage the manager (client) to explore the work issue from a number of alternative perspectives and consider different sources for finding a solution.

However, it is best practice that all coaches have the relevant insurance cover, within the code of conduct, which we ask all coaches to sign up to, there is a responsibility on the coach to ensure that they are covered by their own organisation's insurance policies.

27. What happens if there is an influx of clients (not enough coaches or vice versa)?

It is very difficult to gauge what the demand for coaches will be; the partnership leads will monitor it closely and take any action to remedy an imbalance between supply and demand.

Partner organisations each have coaching strategies to ensure promotion of coaching remains high and to encourage a continued influx of clients.

If there are not enough coaches, we will seek to start a waiting list of those to receive coaching; some coaches will also be asked to coach more than one client at a time, if they have the time and capacity to do so.

28. Will coaches only be allowed to coach outside their organisation?

No, each organisation may on occasion seek to use their coaches internally to coach employees, if it is felt an external coach is not appropriate. This commitment will be separate to that made to the coaching pool and each organisation will request the services of their coaches separately. This activity will not be coordinated through the Regional Projects Team.

29. Can they sell their skills as a product to outside customers?

No - any employee trained through the coaching pool, will not be allowed to sell their services as a coach outside of the workplace. If we become aware of any employee who is doing this, it will be the responsibility of their organisation to deal with.

30. What happens if a client specifically wants someone they know to coach them?

Each client will be able to choose a coach from a selection of profiles. We would encourage that person to choose a coach who they do not know, as this will allow them to be more open with the coach. All coaches will also be encouraged to coach employees who they do not know, so it might be the case that even if that employee requested someone they did know, the coach might feel inappropriate to coach them.

31. Do you go to the client's organisation or do they come to you?

The client can visit your organisation or you can go to them, it may be advisable to meet half way - this is negotiated between coach and client.

32. How long do you spend with each client?

This varies within each coaching relationship. The nature of Executive Coaching would typically result in 4 sessions of 2 hours but this is negotiable between client and coach.

33. Can you self coach?

Through the development of your questioning skills you will automatically start to self coach. In addition to this you can also request coaching from other members of the coaching pool.

34. Is a written contract used between coach and client?

A standard contract will not be provided, however, the pool has an evaluation process in place that can be used to support/formalise your contracting process. This will be discussed with you on becoming a coach.

On-going Support for Coaches

35. Is there any ongoing support for coaches?

Yes - it is best practice that coaches receive ongoing coaching supervision. Very few coaches actually receive supervision, as it is very expensive, but the coaching pool partnership has made sure that we have enough funding to offer all our coaches, ongoing supervision.

Coaching supervision is currently provided by OPM and Bath Consultancy Group who are the leading providers of supervision in the UK. Coaches are expected to attend 2 supervision sessions per year - one every 6 months.

Regular coach network meetings also happen across the partnership. You will need to discuss local networks available to you with your organisational representative.

36. Is there support between supervision sessions?

Yes - informal support via phone and email will be provided if required. There are also Coach Champions in each organisation who are trained to be able to support you as a coach.

37. Can you still receive coaching via the coaching pool?

Yes, coaches can request coaching via the coaching pool in the same way as all other applicants.

Evaluation and Quality Assurance of the Programme

38. What is the evaluation process of the programme?

There is an ongoing evaluation process that is used to assess the impacts of coaching and is to be used by coaches during their coaching relationship with a client. (This will be explained to coaches on being accepted into the pool).

Following the end of a coaching relationship, clients will be asked to feedback on their coaching experience and comment on how they found their coach.

Feedback from various evaluations carried out by the coaching pool partnership can be viewed by clicking the following links: Value of Coaching, Case Studies, Get a Coach DVD

39. What long term quality assurance measures and processes are in place?

There are robust quality assurance methods in place to ensure the quality of the training and supervision provided is high. Feedback from delegates will be monitored and reviewed by the pratnership leads and actions taken to make necessary improvements.

To ensure the provision of coaching remains high, coaches will be expected to attend supervision sessions. Clients will also be asked for feedback on the quality of service they received (as mentioned above)

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