The Future Of Coaching: 5 Trends To Take Into Account
Just a decade ago, coaching began to emerge exceedingly, ceasing to be a concept heard practically only in the field of large companies to become used in many more areas and situations.
This takeoff in coaching was dubbed by many as ‘a passing fad’; a clearly erroneous expression seeing how coaching is still talked about today and how its upward evolution has been in recent years.
With the certainty that coaching has already reached cruising speed and that it is clear that it is here to stay, it is time to stop and reflect on what its reality will be in this next decade. Taking a look at studies on the current situation of coaching globally, such as the one published annually by ICF since 2007, we can begin to glimpse some trends in the coaching market five of which we highlight below.
1. Exponential increase in interest in coaching
As we said at the beginning of the article, at the beginning of the second decade of this century, interest in coaching began to grow exponentially and has continued to this day: from 2015 to 2019, the number of people who trained in coaching grew by 33 %, according to data from the 2020 ICF Global Coaching Study.
Predictably, This interest will continue to grow in the coming years and this is due to 2 main reasons.
Coaching has more and more scientific support and, therefore, more credibility. Universities as prestigious as Harvard, with their creation of the Institute of Coaching, provide quantifiable and measurable data on the achievements achieved with coaching processes, thus increasing confidence in a discipline that was not even considered as such by many.
Coaching is no longer only applied in companies Executive coaching, although still the most common, is no longer exclusive. Life coaching has emerged with force and is demonstrating that coaching processes can be applied in a multitude of spheres to help people in different life circumstances. Coaching will increasingly be considered a tool that anyone can resort to in case of blockages of different kinds.
2. Rise of specialization
The trend we are going to talk about now is closely related to the previous one. Because the usefulness of coaching in many areas will become increasingly clear, specialization will grow in parallel.
People who train in coaching will also specialize in very specific niches to be able to offer higher quality services. The more knowledge you have about a certain area, the better connection and understanding you can have with the coachee.
Thus, for example, in the field of life coaching that covers such a broad field, we can find more specific coaching focused on achieving good eating habits, changing jobs, supporting certain illnesses, and a long etcetera.
3. Women will gain ground
In its beginnings, being so linked to the elites of the business world and these, in turn, being a field practically exclusive to men, coaching was almost only carried out by the male gender.
Although the evolution is slow, the trend is upward in terms of the number of women who are becoming professional in coaching and that he is exercising as such. In our school, in fact, it is something that we have been observing for years since currently 80% of our total students are female.
4. Technology as an ally
The development of technology is unstoppable and coaching will use it to enhance itself Just 5 years ago, even though there was already the possibility of videoconference meetings with platforms such as Zoom or WhatsApp, there was almost 100% commitment to face-to-face coaching sessions.
However, the Coronavirus pandemic has forced the coaching processes to be online and it has been proven that the reluctance regarding them was not true. Despite the screen, the connection between the coachee and the coach is maintained and the client’s dedication and relaxation is increased by being able to carry out the sessions from the comfort of the place chosen by them.
But not only online coaching processes will grow. Training for coaches will also increasingly use streaming which will mean, in turn, an opening to the international market of coaching schools, since anyone from anywhere in the world can study coaching in the center they want.
Likewise, the connection offered by the Internet will allow an increase in the number of webinars, conferences and masterclasses on coaching to further disseminate the precepts and methodologies of the discipline.
AND We cannot talk about technology and not think about the influence that social networks will also have in the evolution of coaching in general, and in the career development of coaches in particular. They will find in them the perfect way not only to offer their services or interact with possible leads, but especially to differentiate themselves from other coaches.
Finally, one of the trends in coaching in the coming years will be that more and more professionalization will be required for the people who dedicate themselves to it. That is to say, When hiring the services of a coach, it will be a decisive factor that they have specific certifications
This trend is already beginning to be noticed and, according to data from the ICF study, in 2019, 85% of the coaches who worked as such already had a professional certification; and 74% of the percentage of previous coaches held that certification issued by a professional coaching organization.
In conclusion, coaching, far from being dead, is more alive than ever and the trends we have described here demonstrate that it will continue to be so for a long time.
Remember that The need to have a specific certification to be hired as a coach will grow If this is the profession you want to dedicate yourself to, remember that at D’Arte Human & Business School we train and help you to become a highly qualified coach. You can see all the information about our educational offer in D’Arte’s profile.
