Key characteristics of the commercial Australian executive coach training industry

Abstract

Objectives:To identify organisations who offer executive coach training and business coach training in Australia; assessment processes, cost and duration of courses; the delineation between coaching and counselling; marketing claims made; and the qualifications of the owners and trainers.Design:A qualitative process of emergent thematic coding using information from the internet.Methods:Broad categories and themes related to the aims of the study were documented, leading to the identification of a group of core categories and a process of comparison between organisations.Results:More than half the 16 Australian executive coach-training organisations identified offered more than one type of coach training. Four offered a coach franchise. The most common accrediting bodies were the International Coach Federation or the Australian Government Vocational Training Framework. Costs of courses ranged from AUS$3245 to AUS$14,795. Marketing claims included having longevity, being the best school, setting the standard, or having global recognition. Some trainers had no qualifications at all, but the majority of trainers’ qualifications were directly relevant to the field of coaching. The majority of coaching organisations did not make a clear distinction between these two issues. Average longevity of these organisations was 6.75 years.Conclusion:The Australian executive coach and business coach training industry continues to develop. We recommend that, in order to further professionalise executive coach training, all coach trainers should be properly qualified, issues related to identification of mental illness be incorporated into executive coach training, and organisations offering coach franchising provide clear and unambiguous information to prospective clients.