A growing number of HR professionals are turning to executive
coaches for help in dealing with the stresses of budget cutbacks
and job insecurity, as well as the "survivor syndrome"
experienced by those who remain after layoffs.
According to the Philadelphia-based Hay Group, between 25
percent and 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies hire
executive coaches for their employees. Although the exact
number of coaches working with HR executives has not been
tracked, experts within the coaching field say the number
is increasing each year.
While executive coaches can work with HR professionals at
every level, experts agree that they are most useful to senior
human resource executives.
"There are plenty of training resources for people just
starting out. But, for those who are moving up, there are
very few," says Richard Ashworth, president of Rochester,
NY-based Strategic HR Counseling and former HR manager at
Johnson & Johnson and Eastman Kodak.
Being coached allows HR professionals to bring firsthand
experience to larger-scale formal coaching initiatives at
their organizations. Over the past decade, coaching for managers
has become a recruiting and retention tool, with HR creating
and managing the program.
"Coaching helps HR professionals 'walk the talk'
of coaching," says David Lasiter, founder and president
of the Washington, DC-based Leadership Advantage. "It's
one thing to talk up the value and benefits of coaching to
others and another thing altogether to have the experience
of being coached. It gives HR professionals more credibility
with their customers if they can speak to the value it had
for them, rather than sound like they are promoting another
program."
"Coaching HR" HR Magazine October 2002
