What is Coaching?
Coaching is a valuable tool utilised by professionals working in people development. Specifically, it is a highly refined set of methodologies for instructing and training individuals or groups, with the ultimate goal of achieving a specific standard or developing a certain skill set.
Through coaching courses, those involved in training staff will learn how coaching is applied within organisations in order to promote the personal development of its employees. During times of transition and culture change within a company, coaching support can be extremely useful in achieving organisational objectives.
Generally speaking, coaching entails the development of a person's skills and knowledge, resulting in performance improvement and, ideally, the fulfillment of objectives. Whether professionally or personally, coaching can have a dramatic impact. Coaching courses typically last for short periods and focus on specific skills and objectives.
Coaching employees towards better performance
Considering that coaching is ultimately about releasing people's full potential, training in coaching should be seen as an investment to an organisation, not an additional cost. Coaching in a professional setting is about helping companies and individuals to develop, maintain focus and become more efficient.
There are many elements to coaching and just as much variety in delivery methods. Coaching courses may include seminars, workshops, and supervised practice. By incorporating coaching techniques, companies and managers can create a working environment that is conducive to creativity, productivity, efficiency, and employee development.
Aspects of coaching to consider in its implementation include how to manage and deliver coaching in an organisational setting, managing the stakeholders involved and finally, recognizing when coaching is appropriate and required.
Personal coaching - goals for success
Coaching courses can help you to focus on your goals, identify your obstacles, and recognise opportunities to apply and improve your personal strengths. Personal coaching is often used by managers and employees alike to find a balance between personal and work life.
Try coaching courses to explore and unlock your potential for success. Participants of coaching courses learn valuable skills in concentration, goal-setting, follow-through and self awareness that can be directly applied to personal and professional endeavors.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a branch of coaching based on the way in which the brain processes language to create our perceived realities. In practice, NLP utilises specified communication skills to stimulate change in an individual's behaviour. NLP can be applied in both personal and organisation settings to improve relationships and interpersonal skills.
Coaching certificates
There are a number of reputable international organisations that offer certification in coaching.
ICF - International Coaching Federation
The ICF is an independent organisation that certifies individuals and accredited coaching schools. To become a certified trainer, one must complete the required hours of approved training, documented experience, recommendations, and have successfully completed the test.
ICC - International Coaching Community
The ICC is a not-for-profit organisation offering trainer certification in 18 different countries. Certifications range from introductory levels to corporate and executive coaching.
IAC - International Association of Coaching
IAC's certification is based on a candidate's completion of a nine-part training test (so-called "Coaching Masters). No prior experience is required.
INLPTA - International NLP Trainer's Association
INLPTA stands for the NLP trainers association (NLP - Neuro-linguistic programming). The organisation certifies coaches who practice and teach NLP coaching. The certification requires a specified amount of training hours and successful completion of the theoretical and practical tests.

Lucy Day is an accredited executive coach and International Coaching Federation Associate Certified Coach. Coming from a background in service transformation and behavioural change at director-level and with a wealth of experience in enabling board-level leaders, senior managers and healthcare professionals to become more effective, Lucy chose to professionalise her coaching skills with the AoEC in 2020. Now running her own practice, here Lucy talks about her experience of coach training on the Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching programme.
Read moreOVO was launched in 2009 as a market disruptor, and in 10 years grew to 1,900 employees and over 1 million customers. In 2020, SSE Energy Services joined the OVO family, and the business became the UK’s third-largest energy supply company with 6,000 employees and 5 million customers.
As part of their commitment to drive human progress through clean affordable energy for everyone, OVO is investing in coaching for its 750 people leaders. Their aim is to create an inclusive, progressive culture which will empower their people to thrive and ultimately benefit their customers across the country.
To aid this, OVO partnered with Coaching Focus in 2021 to develop a skills development and mindset-shifting programme for all 750 people leaders, named “The OVO Way of Coaching”.
OVO and Coaching Focus worked in collaboration to create a bespoke programme, that aligns with their people’s needs, ways of working and language, whilst helping achieve the wider goal of creating the inclusive and progressive culture mentioned.
Currently, around a third of the people leaders have undertaken the programme, with short-term benefits already being realised.
Read more
Which is the best Coaching qualification for me to undertake and at what level? It’s another one of those questions that often stumps us when thinking about our future development in Coaching!!
Read moreObserved success:
- Additional “mini” version of the project, deployed across the UK, USA, and Germany.
- A bespoke report of areas of great practice produced to share with all colleagues, celebrating success
- A collection of opportunities for further development which have all been individually actioned, providing different training opportunities, additional coaching topics, support materials, and further cultural change discussions at senior levels.
Observed success:
- Supplier Viewpoint scores have increased since the start of the programme
- Every Voice Matters data is used to tailor workshops and coaching discussions and tackle personal obstacles that stand in the way of achieving personal and organisational goals
- A bespoke report of areas of great practice produced to share with all colleagues, celebrating success
- A collection of opportunities for further development which have all been individually actioned, providing different training opportunities, additional coaching topics, support materials, and further cultural change discussions at senior levels.