The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s annual survey report Learning and Talent Development 2011 has recently been made available for download via their website.  One interesting trend highlights how organisations are increasingly turning to their learning and development specialists for organisation development/change management support.

This is not a new trend of course.  Many learning and development ‘old hands’ would argue that learning and in particular, management development, have always been highly effective enablers, both for instigating and supporting organisational improvement.  And, or course, many organisation development specialists, myself included, have discovered coaching because, ultimately, organisational performance improvement is about facilitating managers in finding the most effective, efficient way to deliver value to their organisation.

What is particularly interesting in this case, however, is the report’s finding that “greater integration between coaching, organisational development and performance management to drive change is the most commonly anticipated major change affecting learning and development over the next two years”. 

I do agree with this finding.  However, I also feel that the coaching element has some way to grow before it can truly be utilised as an organisational development catalyst.  This is because effective, lasting organisational change has to be reinforced by performance measurement.  Without measurement, change initiatives lose meaning and focus.  Their purpose becomes lost and the organisation slowly slips back into its previous state.

So, whilst I will readily admit that coaching a really useful tool in the change agent’s armoury, my feeling is that until coaching really picks up the gauntlet of evaluation and measurement, it will only ever be an optional extra rather than achieving its full potential in becoming a key delivery platform for effective, long-lasting organisational change.
 

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