Occupational psychologists can add value to coaching in several ways: 1. Their understanding of psychological principles and models allows them to uncover deeper issues and help clients think differently than non-psychologist coaches. 2. They tend to take a conversational approach using open-ended questions rather than rigid models or tools, helping clients gain self-insight. 3. When working with low self-esteem or confidence, psychologists establish trust and evaluate whether issues are suitable before exploring personal topics to aid understanding without causing harm.

1. Knowledge Sharing
Session
How do Occupational
Psychologists add value...
in coaching?
Facilitators:
Darren Perks, C.Psychol., HPC Registered, AC Accredited Coach
Hannah Azizollah, C.Psychol., HPC Registered

2. Knowledge Sharing Sessions
 Knowledge Sharing Sessions focus on bringing together practising
occupational psychologists so we are able to learn from each other
and share knowledge
 This series represents a different focus – identifying what we do as
occupational psychologists that adds value:
 What do we do that differentiates us as occupational psychologists
from other professional business practitioners?
 How do we integrate theory into practice?
 Integrating academic research into our practice
 Knowledge sharing sessions will focus on key areas that you identify
as critical to your work – we aim to integrate our findings into the
Science & Practitioner Committee of the DOP

3. Session Overview
 Introductions
 Plenary 1: How do occupational psychologists add value to the
coaching experience – to the individual and the organisation?
 What models, approaches, tools do you use?
 What is the value/potential drawbacks of their use?
 How do you evaluate your work?
 Research Input: how are we as psychologists perceived?
 Plenary 2: Coaching in Practice
 How do you approach coaching an individual with low self-
esteem/confidence?
 Wrap up: next steps and close

4. Introductions
Name
Experience of coaching
Expectations
Something interesting about yourself...

5. Knowledge Sharing
Session
How do Occupational
Psychologists add value...
in coaching?

6. So, do Occupational Psychologists add value?
‘It seems that many occupational psychology practices are
questionable. Search the web for ‘chartered occupational psychologist’
and you’ll find a wide array of services which have no or very mixed
empirical support, including emotional intelligence measurement and
training, coaching, talent management, stress management...in such a
competitive market clients call the shots...they are usually even less
interested in evaluating interventions or engaging with the evidence for
them’
Rob Briner ‘The Psychologist’ November 2011

7. So, do Occupational Psychologists add value?
‘In too many cases they [coaches] have not fully understood the
performance-related psychological principles on which coaching is
based. Without this understanding they may go through the motions of
coaching, or use the behaviours associated with coaching, such as
questioning, but fail to achieve the intended results’
Whitmore (1992:2)
’There have been concerns expressed that inappropriately trained
coaches tend to conduct atheoretical, one-size-fits-all coaching
interventions and may cause harm to clients....in contrast,
psychologists who are coaches are viewed in a far more credible
light and this is particularly the case for executive-developmental
coaching’
Grant (2007)

8. Plenary session: How do we add value?
Many people from varying backgrounds offer coaching to help
individuals and organisations improve performance including HR
professionals, Occupational Psychologists, Line Managers, Joe Bloggs
who attended a 2 day course on coaching.
 In your group discuss:
 How do we as Occupational Psychologists add value to the coaching
experience to both the individual and the organisation?
 What models, approaches, tools do you use? (Comment on their value
and drawbacks)
 Capture your responses to the above on flipchart and present back to
the group
 Time: 25 minutes

9. Knowledge Sharing
Session
How do Occupational
Psychologists add value...
Research Input

10. Research Input: Do psychologists add value?
 University of London
 PhD Thesis: Focus on executives views of their coaching experience
Research Questions:
1. Why does Executive Coaching happen?
2. What is Executive Coaching?
3. What happens in Executive Coaching?
4. How is Executive Coaching evaluated
Data gathered from 26 interviews with executives who had received
one on-one external coaching within the last 5 years from a cross-
section of companies and countries

11. Research Input: Do psychologists add value?
(a) When the psychologist has a business background and
understands the business
 A key differentiator in how clients perceived the value that psychologists
add
 Not just about the title 'psychologist' or 'business psychologist'
(b) Perception that a psychologist is able to uncover deeper issues
 A number of executives indicated that it may have been better or more
effective in terms of issue resolution if they had been coached by a
psychologist, for example where an individual had been experiencing
deeper trauma this may have been surfaced by the psychologist
 A perception that in some ways a psychologist as coach may have been
better

12. A difference of approach?
Business Psychologist Business Coach
•Asking searching questions Getting clients to talk about strengths
• helping executives think differently or and areas for development
more broadly •Helping clients to identify strengths and
areas for improvement, using these as a
Reframing: focus for the session
• asking executives to think differently re
situations they were discussing – using
insightful questions
•Often the use of insightful questions is
seen by executives as adding value
where a psychologist coach was
regarded as 'brilliant'

13. A difference of approach?
Business Psychologist Business Coach
Discussion, conversation, dialogue Using models and specific
rather than any particular tools as techniques:
such, exercises, psychometrics, role •Using GROW, 'plotting a time line',
play… highlighting transition points, using
• Through discourse and conversation appreciative inquiry – helping the client
the psychologist coach would enable the to look at things from a different
client to reach a point of identifying perspective using e.g. perceptual
actions positioning and scaling (1-10)
•Specifically in the use of questioning •'drawing things and using models' as
opposed to explaining
Understanding motivation:
•Where the psychologist coach had
taken time to understand the motivation
of the client
•Being perceived to have taken time
thinking about the client linking to the
clients understanding of the psychologist
coach as 'expert'

14. A difference of approach?
‘Non-psychologists are more likely to use the GROW model, without
having any underpinning psychological theory taught to them on their
training programmes, whereas coaching psychologists report using a
wide range of therapeutic approaches that have been adopted to the
coaching arena...the GROW model is less likely to be effective when
the practitioner needs to understand the coachee who is not achieving
their coaching goals’
Palmer & Whybrow (2007)

15. Is it about 'Surfacing Understanding and Insight?'
Establish Conversation Introduce session
Establish rapport
Create coaching climate/atmosphere
Identify Topic & Goal Agree what you’ll talk about
Agree desired outcome
Distinguish conversational thread
Surface Understanding Enquiry, build mutual understanding
Enable knowledge and values to surface
& Insight Refine goals – what do they want now?
Shape agreements and Summarise ideas, options
Find specific actions if appropriate
conclusions Create a sense of the future
Completion & Close Summaries
Checks/validations
Next Steps
Source: Julie Starr (2002) The basic path of a coaching conversation

16. Knowledge Sharing
Session
How do Occupational
Psychologists add value...
raising client self esteem and
confidence?

17. Scenario: raising client self esteem and confidence
 Among one of the common areas that clients raise in coaching
 In your group discuss:
 How do you work with people whose key issue is confidence and self-
esteem?
 How would you deal with the following scenario (based on a real
example):
 During the session, you are working with your client discussing key
areas that relate to your client’s confidence and self esteem. Your client
then raises the following issue:
 ‘There are some deeper personal issues I would like to raise, is it OK
for me to talk about these with you now....?
 Capture your responses to the above on flipchart and present back to
the group
 Time: 25 minutes

18. Summary and Close
1. Do occupational psychologists add value to the coaching
experience – to the individual and the organisation?
2. How do we add value? How do we differ (if at all)?
3. Do we need to promote what we offer more? If so, how?
4. Regulation and Accreditation – where do we stand?
5. Your Feedback – was today helpful? What should we focus on
next?

19. CLOSE
Hannah Azizollah
hannah@azizollah.com
Darren Perks
darren.perks@blueyonder.co.uk
Co-convenor of the Science and
Practitioner Group of the Division of
Occupational Psychology