Accreditation for Training
Training for coaches is unregulated. Over the years, researchers have identified as many as 400 coach training schools and sixteen trade associations that accredit them. Private schools have been around for fifteen years or more. Over the last five years, universities have joined the game.
For many years, privately-owned schools were the only option for executive coaches who wished to be trained and certified. In many cases, there are close relationships between coach training programs and the organizations who certify them.
Even among universities, there is no standard method for evaluating and offering coach training.
An executive coach in the UK notes: “There are a number of awarding bodies – ICF, IIC, ICI, Association of Coaching etc. Key members should get together to create recognition between accreditations and to share openly the practices and resources which are available. It is time we moved away from competition and into collaboration.”
Is any particular certification going to dominate? There is a shift underway. Among executive coaches, the ICF is by far the favorite among veterans, those with five or more years of service. University programs have caught up with the ICF’s popularity among newer coaches. However, one third of our surveyed coaches offer “no opinion” as to who is most qualified to accredit a training program.
The general market hasn’t come to a verdict at all. Asked who is most qualified to certify a coach training program, our HR and business leaders, clients and purchasers of coaching, come up with a resounding “I don’t know.” Almost 80 % have no opinion. Universities and the ICF are tied at 6%, and it goes downhill from there.
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