Although there has been considerable growth in coaching as a field of practice, there is much concern about a lack of research and theory on which coaches base their practice. The key question of what coaching is remains an area of much debate. In the absence of any in-depth understanding of the coaching process, sponsors and clients of coaching have little clarity about what services they are contracting. Coaches themselves, are compelled to choose an approach that is advocated by a particular coaching school in which they are trained, or to base their practice on their own assumptions. In order to address this need to understand the coaching process, the research described in this thesis sets out to provide an in-depth exploration of the moment-by-moment interactions, between coach and client. This research design involved the multifaceted analysis of six coaching sessions with six professional coaches and clients. The sessions were video-recorded. The focus of the coaching sessions was on work-related topics. At the end of the sessions, coaches and clients were interviewed and asked to recall what stood out for them in the sessions. Later, each video-recording was shown to one of six groups of typically, six professional coaches, who were asked to comment on their observations. The spoken accounts of all participants were analysed thematically and discursively. The Inquiry also involved the use of Qmethodology, which required all participants to rank-order a series of written items, describing a coaching session. The findings suggest that for the client, the coaching process is primarily an experience in which the client’s interpersonal needs are met and which gives space and structure for the client to change perspectives. For the coach, the coaching process is a form of expert intervention in which she draws on a varied range of habitual ways of processing her experience of the client and makes in-the-moment decisions. At the level of the dyad, coach and client create a sense of meaning together that is difficult for observers to appreciate. In general, participants tended to notice the same events but evaluated them differently.

This research study focused on the coaching practices of five internal Regional Learning and Development Managers in a multimedia organisation from 2009 to 2011. Twelve written narratives were initially used to gather information from both coaches and clients about their perceptions and experiences during a coaching session. Survey questionnaires were sent to all 135 managers who had completed the Coaching Programme since its inception in 2009, to supplement the information established from the narrative stage. Three problems were identified: employed Learning and Development Managers were expected to deliver a coaching programme in the workplace for which they were ill-equipped, unqualified and inexperienced; there was a lack of tangible benchmarks to demonstrate the success of the clients’ development; and an inconsistent standard of coaching was delivered potentially compromising ethical coaching practices and behaviour. Coaching is a specialised field of people development, which can have a noticeable impact on both employee performance and on achieving business aims. ‘Internal coaching’ has evolved from a necessity to develop people within the workplace using internal resources and a limited budget. The study reflects on an example of internal coaching and discusses the successes and failures of such a practice. According to the narratives and survey it is the coach who is the key to the success of coaching and a successful coach must be trustworthy with confidential matters; objective and able to understand the culture and operations of the company; have business credibility; is independent of the person being coached and, therefore, is not their line manager. A customised blend of appropriate styles including mentoring, instruction and coaching is recommended to achieve the best results in coaching.