Large-scale survey of trust and safety in coaching supervision: Some evidence that we are doing it right

Abstract

Objectives:There is increasing interest in supervision across the executive and workplace coaching professions, and so it is worth exploring whether promised benefits can be demonstrated. A large-scale empirical survey was conducted into the satisfaction, trust and vulnerability of coaching supervisees. Results are compared with those that have been achieved in other areas of supervision such as occupational therapy and counselling supervision.Design:We employed a cross-sectional design focused on relatively experienced coaches, directed at large numbers so as to measure differences within the population. We inquired into satisfaction and trust in general terms, and we also asked more specifically about the most worrying, concerning or shameful episode in the coach’s practice over the last few years, whether this episode had been brought to supervision and if the ensuing supervision had been helpful.Methods:The sampling strategy was snowballing out from our own experienced coach networks, with help from European professional organisations. The web-based questionnaire was short, easy to use and entirely confidential with no requirement to leave any personal data. Five hundred and eighteen full responses were received on the questionnaire, from 356 female and 162 male coaches from 32 countries. Statistical properties of the responses were computed and two-sample t-tests and non-parametric (Mann-Whitney) U-tests were conducted to look at the influence of gender, age, experience, nationality, amount and nature (i.e. group versus individual) of supervision on satisfaction and trust scores.Results:The results show that these experienced coaches are considerably safer, more satisfied and more trusting of their supervisor than was found in comparable research in counselling and psychotherapy. Significant differences were found in the appreciation of supervision by men and women, and also with supervisee age and relative exposure to supervision.Conclusions:With this sample of relatively senior coaches it appears that highly trusting and satisfactory supervision relationships are emerging, perhaps thanks to current practice where most coaches self-select and engage supervisors out of the proceeds of their own work. Nevertheless, even in this sample there are still just under eight per cent occurrences of insufficient trust and safety around really worrying episodes. There are also demonstrable differences within the overall diversity of the profession.