The State of Coaching and Mentoring 2023

Coaching and mentoring continue to be essential components of most workforce development strategies. Done well, it has a demonstrable impact on both the individual and organizational level. And our own past two research studies on coaching and mentoring (The State of Coaching and Mentoring 2021 and 2022) showed considerable differences in both individual and organizational performance between those organizations that had highly effective coaches and mentors versus those that did not.

Looking into the near future, the importance of coaching and mentoring will likely only increase in importance, in part due to a different looming priority: the need for massive upskilling and reskilling. And, in the HR Research Institute’s recent report, The Future of Upskilling and Employee Learning 2023, coaching and mentoring is considered the second most effective training and development method for upskilling/reskilling our workforce.

In this report we take a deeper look at the factors and practices that fuel or hinder effective coaching. Some of the topics we cover include:

• HR professionals’ perceptions of the importance of coaching and mentoring, both now and in the near future
• the primary drivers of increased focus on coaching and mentoring
• key barriers to successful coaching/mentoring efforts
• some of the key differences between coaching and mentoring
• the competencies, or lack thereof, of today’s coaches and mentors
• who actually serves as a coach and mentor in organizations

the use of technology for coaching and/or mentoring efforts

• the impact of coaching/mentoring on individual and organizational performance

In addition, we explore trends in coaching and mentoring over the past three years using data from our 2021, 2022, and 2023 State of Coaching and Mentoring research.

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