5 coaching predictions for 2023

HR Magazine spoke with Jonathan Passmore, Ph.D., SVP, Coaching at CoachHub to get his predictions for the next five big things that are likely to happen in the world of coaching in 2023. His top five trends to look out for are:

1. The coming year will bring a host of challenges for employees. All indications are that the economy will slow, inflation will rise and organizations will look for transformational change as they implement the lessons of digital and hybrid working. During continued instability, digital coaching will support organizations delivering transformational change and offer employees a well-being and support framework that replaces traditional, in-office support.
2. Organizations will recognize team and group coaching as powerful tools. Team coaching will engage multiple people with a shared purpose (e.g., accounts payable), while group coaching will include any employees in an organization.
3. With increasing tech adoption rates, now even your elderly aunt is chatting with friends on a digital platform. But this widespread comfort with technology doesn’t extend to emerging technology like AI and virtual reality (VR). While younger employees will seamlessly adopt AI and VR technologies in work activities like coaching, older workers will remain wary.
4. The coaching industry will continue working on its diversity, inclusion and belonging issues. Professional coaching bodies like the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) will engage with this issue more actively, creating more working groups and diversity panels and events. They’ll also lean on organizations to educate their coaches on these issues and improve the profession’s diversity.
5. Coaching will help organisations support neurodiversity in the workplace, starting with encouraging managers to recognize that each employee is different and identifying what support they need. One-on-one coaches can also help neurodiverse employees understand how others experience them and help them use their diverse perspectives to the best effect.