This cynical headline, taken from a recent Financial Times article, is outdated; coaching works!

Actors have voice coaches, sports stars thrive on coaches and, increasingly, executives, and businesses, are achieving success through coaching. Recent research by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) suggests around 80% of large and medium-sized companies use coaching, mostly for directors but also for senior / middle managers. External and, increasingly, internal coaches are employed with well over 90% surveyed seeing advantages for their business. Medium-sized firms are still catching up and, unfortunately, all tend to confine coaching to the upper ranks whilst small businesses, which could really benefit, have hardly started.

The challenge of ever-leaner organisations means that line managers, especially, need to lead their teams to even greater productivity, while softer mentoring skills like emotional intelligence, can increase motivation and morale.

The way ahead should be to develop coaching in-house. Training line managers as coaches especially helps their development, enhance skills and commitment. Coaches can help embed structural change and underpin corporate values. In-house coaches are also highly cost effective - and they know the organisation!

Cullen Scholefield works with clients to design internal coaching infrastructures. We will establish the desired coaching model for the company, design the structure and create the competence to cascade required skills through the organisation.

Part of the strategy could include ILM qualifications - Awards or Certificates for Workplace Coaches through to post graduate level Executive Coaching and Mentoring.

Candidates can enter at whatever level their experience warrants supported by a Cullen Scholefield free individual consultation to assess the best route for qualification in terms of aspirations, career needs and personal commitments.

Coaching is a real benefit to businesses and individuals as an increasing body of evidence proves how it can develop a winning culture.