Why is Coaching a Priority for Talent and Learning Executives?

What is coaching in the workplace?

According to Parsloe, Coaching is a ‘process that enables Learning and Development to occur, and thus performance to improve.’ (Parsloe, 1999).

Coaching refers to an interaction between two people – a coach, and a coachee, with sessions specifically aimed at performance development. It places emphasis on empowerment, enhancing a coachee’s understanding of their own performance; building their confidence and, in turn, their ability to manage and develop themselves.

In this blog, we’ll explore why coaching is so high on the agenda for L&D, Talent, and Executive Development.

Why are learning, talent, and leadership execs so interested in coaching right now?

For businesses, the recent increase in economic and global uncertainty and ambiguity has called on them to adapt with agility and speed if they want to outpace disruption.

That includes the Global Heads of Learning, Talent, and Leadership who attended iVentiv events over the last year. Before each event, we sent them a questionnaire about their priorities. In the iVentiv Pulse Report, you can see the collated stats from every senior executive who completed those questionnaires. They show that:

For the 578 respondents from 435 companies that completed the questionnaire, 17% identified coaching as a key area for their function
That was especially true in the US: 23% of respondents in the US, 19% in the UK, and 11% in the rest of Europe selected coaching as a priority
Leadership development was the most selected focus overall, especially for leaders who are interested in coaching: respondents selecting leadership, notably, were much more likely to select coaching as one of their priorities
In their comments, they talked about needing to develop “leadership capability” and a “culture of feedback and coaching to elevate talent”

There are several reasons why coaching might be on the minds of so many:

Personalized development: Coaching provides a personalised approach to development, allowing individuals to work on specific goals and challenges in a one-on-one setting. This personalised approach can be especially beneficial for executives who may have unique leadership styles or specific development needs.
Growing demand: Coaching has become increasingly popular in recent years (in the US alone, the coaching industry has grown by 30% in five years), and many executives may be interested in exploring this trend to stay competitive and meet the demands of their organisation.
Focus on soft skills: Soft skills such as communication, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal relationships are becoming increasingly important in the workplace, and coaching can be an effective way to develop these skills.
Remote work: With the rise of remote work, coaching can provide a valuable way for executives to stay connected with their teams and maintain a sense of community and support.
Employee retention: Coaching can also be used as a tool to retain top talent by showing a commitment to employee development and growth.

Jay Moore, Global Learning and Culture Leader, GE references the importance of coaching at GE, how the company ‘spends a great deal of time with our most senior leaders for them to be better coaches’ and how it ‘continues to be a needed and necessary skill for leaders’. In essence, it is the tailored approach to development that coaching offers, that can help executives improve their leadership skills and achieve their goals, making it an attractive option for learning, talent, and leadership executives to invest in.

How is coaching done effectively?

It’s easy to see why coaching might be appealing for learning and talent execs. Leadership is high on the agenda and the widespread understanding that learning from others and learning in work is more effective than classroom teaching means that HR teams are looking to develop talent in a more hands on way.

Enter coaching. The key thing that many L&D, Talent and Exec Development teams like about coaching is that it is entirely non-directive; coaches are encouraged to limit the giving of advice and to instead focus on assisting coachees in finding their own solutions to problems.

The theory is that through short, sharp meetings that talk about key goals, progress, and future actions, coaching maximises a coachee’s performance through learning, rather than teaching. It’s an approach designed to develop a coachee’s ability to take responsibility for, not only their own development, but also their performance.

Downey’s (1999) Spectrum of Coaching Skills suggests a number of key attributes of the non-directive coaching approach that sit on the ‘pull’ end of the spectrum (helping someone to solve their own problems):

Asking questions to raise awareness
Active listening
Paraphrasing
Summarising
Reflecting

By engaging in each of these activities, the coachee gains a sense of autonomy over their own performance, and develops an understanding of what it is they need to do to improve it.

Although it may seem that all of the responsibility to successfully develop employees falls on the coach, the prevailing wisdom is that there is also significant responsibility on the coachee to ensure they achieve their goals, retain knowledge, and apply their experiences.

David Kolb suggests that while the coach’s role is to assist coachees to move around the experiential learning cycle, it is up to the coachee to actively participate in the process, take responsibility for their own decisions, complete agreed actions, reflect on and review experiences, and manage their own ongoing development. That constant emphasis on practical application to real tasks and real business goals seems to be making coaching all the more appealing.

What are the benefits of coaching?

Learning leaders agree that the overall goal of a coaching session is for the coachee to gain a greater understanding of their own work and how that contributes to the organisation. For many, it not only helps to further learning and solidify it, it gives the coachee dedicated time to focus on performance development, making them more satisfied with and effective in their role.

And the benefits are wide-ranging:

Stress reduction
Increased motivation
Increased confidence
Increased self-awareness and self-management skills.

For the organisation, coaching builds better working relationships in that issues are shared in an environment that is psychologically safe, it enhances the transfer of learning to the workplace as well as the retention of knowledge within the organisation.

However, while this suggests that effective coaching has a crucial part to play in organisations, coaching advocates also argue that there are barriers that prevent it from being as effective as it could be:

Lack of top-down support
Resentment felt by those not involved in the scheme or the perception of favouritism
The blurring of role boundaries
Leadership and management styles of the organisation – a smaller organisation, for instance, may have more directive approaches to leadership and management, which make the introduction of a different ‘style’ more difficult
Cost
Coachee commitment

Are you implementing coaching in your organisation? Is it one of your top priorities? Read more about this and the other top priorities for decision makers in learning, talent, and leadership, in the iVentiv Pulse 2023 Report.

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In an age of constant change, Zurich Insurance has embraced a skills-based approach as a core strategy to future-proof its workforce and drive business success.

In an interview with iVentiv, Adrian Stäubli, former Group Head of Skills Development Solutions at Zurich Insurance, highlighted Zurich’s commitment to identifying, developing, and deploying skills across its global workforce.

This model isn’t just a tool— to Adrian it’s a "secret ingredient" that touches every aspect of employee development, from career progression to job design, setting Zurich apart as a truly agile and resilient organisation.

Watch our interview now to see how Adrian embraced skills, and how it’s transformed Zurich’s employee experience.

The power of partnership: how iVentiv and HEC Paris drive Executive Development together

In the ever-evolving world of executive education and corporate learning, partnerships are key to success. iVentiv has nurtured a long-standing relationship with HEC Paris, a prestigious European business school that was founded in 1888, since 2010 and has become a leading institution in Executive Development. Through this collaboration, HEC Paris has not only elevated its presence within the corporate learning community but has also provided valuable insights and support to iVentiv’s events worldwide.

Join us as we dive into the partnership between iVentiv and HEC Paris, how it's bloomed over the years, and where it will go next.

What Makes an Effective Learning and Development Team Event?

In today’s complex global landscape, even the most experienced L&D executives face a persistent challenge: ensuring alignment and collaboration within large Learning & Development teams spread across geographies, business units, and time zones.

Too often, L&D functions in multinational companies operate in silos. Teams set objectives independently, repeat each other’s work unknowingly, or miss opportunities to scale successful initiatives. Despite good intentions, the lack of structured knowledge-sharing and alignment can hinder progress, dilute impact, and ultimately affect how well organisations respond to change.

So, how do you create an event designed to build a strong, connected L&D team that learns from each other and works towards a shared vision? Read on to find out.

10 Questions to Ask Before Planning an Internal Event

Whether you’re launching a new initiative, or planning a team-building day, internal corporate events need more than just good food and a decent venue. Without the right strategic groundwork, even the most beautifully executed event can fall flat.

Instead, before diving into logistics, you should pause and ask the foundational questions that shape a purposeful, effective experience.

This guide explores the key questions to ask before you start planning an internal event to help you clarify objectives, understand your audience, and align the event with your broader organisational goals. Read more.

Why Customer Education Matters

In today’s competitive, hyper-informed market, you can’t win customer loyalty with a strong product or slick branding alone. Instead, you need trust, relevance, and a consistent demonstration that you understand your customers' needs.

That’s where customer education events come in.

These aren’t just glorified sales pitches. They’re strategic opportunities to deliver value, deepen relationships, and build communities around your offering.
When done well, these events don’t just teach; they transform customers into advocates. They help your business stay front-of-mind while giving your clients the tools and insights to succeed with your product or service at the centre of their strategy.

Curious to learn more? Read now.

The Difference Between Team Building and Team Learning

Large, global Learning and Talent teams are both a strategic advantage and a serious leadership challenge. They stretch across regions, time zones, and business units, and are expected to deliver transformation while operating in a constant state of change themselves.

For many Chief Learning Officers, the only regular opportunity to bring their teams together is the annual offsite or occasional away day.

The result often defaults into “team building”. Although icebreakers, marshmallow toothpick towers, and trust falls are activities that might boost morale, they rarely help a learning professional facing the practical pressures of AI adoption, skills taxonomies, or strategic workforce planning.

Global teams need more than a bonding experience. They need shared language, shared strategy, and shared confidence to deliver.

They need knowledge transfer, not just camaraderie.

They need team learning.

This is where the distinction matters, and this is exactly what our blog discusses. Read it now.

A Framework for Running L&D Events with Global Teams

Leading a global Learning and Development function is both a privilege and a puzzle. You have talent in every corner of the world—people who understand local markets, cultures, and business needs—who often work in silos, separated by time zones, priorities, and communication styles.

The irony is clear: the very people responsible for enabling learning across the business often struggle to learn from each other. When global L&D teams rarely connect, knowledge gets trapped, duplication creeps in, and alignment suffers.

That’s where a well-designed team event comes in. Whether virtual or in-person, a thoughtfully structured gathering can do more than boost morale—it can create alignment, build capability, and spark collaboration that carries through the rest of the year.

This blog offers a practical framework for running effective L&D events for global teams—one that transforms an annual offsite or virtual workshop into a shared learning experience with measurable business impact. Read it now.

Solving the Knowledge Silo in Global Learning Teams

In many large learning organisations, global L&D teams face a recurring challenge: knowledge silos.

Why?

Regional groups or functional departments often operate in isolation, creating, developing, and executing learning programmes with little visibility into what their peers are doing elsewhere. That isolation leads to duplicated effort, inconsistent practices, and lost opportunities for synergy.

In this blog, we’ll explore how thoughtfully designed events—virtual or in-person—can break down silos, strengthen global L&D collaboration, and foster sustained knowledge sharing across your organisation. Read it now.

Designing Events for Knowledge Sharing: Practical Techniques

In today’s workplace, knowledge is your most valuable asset, but it’s also the easiest to lose. As staff turnover rises, careers become more fluid, and hybrid work scatters teams across time zones, keeping that knowledge alive and connected has never been harder.

For anyone running a large global L&D operation, it can feel like trying to keep dozens of spinning plates in the air at once.

Yet when knowledge sharing breaks down, the costs are high: duplication of effort, inconsistent experiences, and ideas that never reach beyond the local team. The solution lies in intentionally designed knowledge sharing workshops and internal knowledge sharing events that make collaboration systematic, not accidental.

This blog explores how to design those events effectively, turning conversation into impact and connecting the dots across your global Learning organisation. Read it now.

Planning Corporate Events For Small Groups: A Complete Guide

When done right, events designed for small groups (typically between 20 and 50 participants) can lead to deeper connections, richer conversations, and more meaningful outcomes. In a world full of overstimulated conferences and overcrowded rooms, intimate gatherings offer a refreshing opportunity to slow down and engage in real dialogue.

In this guide, you’ll find out how to plan powerful small-group events with intention, from designing sessions that spark genuine collaboration, to nailing the logistics that make all the difference. Read more here.