More companies are turning to coaching as a means of promoting learning and development, according to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
According to the study, 71% of businesses now use coaching compared to 63% in 2007.
Two-fifths of organisations that offer coaching now do so for all their employees, with 39% offering it to directors and senior management and a third to line managers and supervisors.
The aim of coaching appears to shift according to the types of individual at which it is targeted. Of the companies that offer it to all employees, 79% do so for general personal development and 74% to help poor performance.
But when this question was put to organisations that only offer coaching to managers, the emphasis moves to part of a wider management and leadership development programme, cited by 61% of respondents.
"Coaching is not just a popular technique but an immensely powerful one for supporting personal development," said Dr John McGurk, CIPD learning, training and development adviser.
"There is no doubt that coaching is having a significant impact both on individual and organisational performance. As coaching helps people to develop, it's a perfect fit for the fast moving knowledge economy in which we operate."
The survey also revealed that the bulk of the responsibility for delivering coaching lay with line managers (36%) and to HR or learning, training, and development specialists (30%).
Over half of organisations (53%) believe that coaching by line managers is the most effective learning and development practice and nearly half (49%) anticipate that even greater responsibility will fall onto line managers in the next five years.
But the research also revealed that only 8% of companies evaluate the effectiveness of coaching via a formal annual (or other regular) evaluation process. Two in five (42%) respondents said they felt that the effectiveness of coaching was gauged by reviews of objectives conducted with line managers, coaches and coachees.
"Unless coaching is managed and designed effectively, the results may not measure up to expectations," warned McGurk.