Demand For Coaching

June 23, 2022 by Lauren Gombas

As the US economy grows, IBIS World claims it will lead itself to high disposable income and secure job opportunities. These two factors mean that people are looking for more opportunities for experiences, as well as ways to better themselves with the safety of job security and disposable income. This kind of economic upturn will provide consumers with one such opportunity; to pursue life coaching. This fact is not lost on the coaching industry, with the International Coaching Federation estimating that the coaching industry could grow to 20 billion US dollars this year.

The ICF credits a better understanding of coaching and increased accessibility as reasons for the increase. The number of coach practitioners is growing, too, as it climbed 33% from 2015 to 2019. 

Demand for Coaching by Niche

Academic Coaching 

Student retention and teacher burnout present a challenge to student success as they may lead to poor student outcomes. As an additional support across universities and secondary schools, academic coaching has increased in demand. While anecdotal in nature, Coach Training EDU alone has seen a significant uptick in colleges and universities sending entire cohorts of advisors though CTEDU’s Academic Life Coaching Program. Furthermore, CTEDU has seen an increased number of colleges and universities investing in positions such as “retention coaches” and “student success coaches,” in addition to their advising teams. 

This increased attention to developing a coaching mindset at universities has not gone unnoticed. Over the last few years, colleges and universities have seen an increased number of students utilize coaching services on campus. For example, at Stanford, undergraduate visits increased from 640 during the 2019-2020 school year to over 1,000 visits in the 2020-2021 school year. Graduate academic coaching also increased from 237 to 745 during the same period. Likewise, Kansas State University saw 2,429 academic coaching visits in 2020-2021.

These numbers are promising for the academic coaching field. As more students lean into the benefits of coaching, these numbers are likely to continue rising. 

Health & Wellness Coaching

The healthcare field is going to be in desperate need of health and wellness coaches in the near future, as it is predicted that there will be a shortage of doctors and an increase in office visits. In these circumstances, coaches can be a resource for individuals with chronic or mental illness, as their needs contribute to a large portion of the United States' medical expenditures.

As another indication of demand for health and wellness coaches, a CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) billing code, which reports medical procedure information, has been created specifically for health coaching. This is an exciting development in the health and wellness coaching industry, as patients will be able to use their insurance to cover the cost of meeting with health and wellness coaches through their healthcare provider. 

It’s worth it to note that while this information is crucial to the future of health and wellness coaching, it does not mean that health and wellness coaches should replace the work of licensed medical professionals. Instead, clients should work with a full team (medical professionals and health and wellness coaches) to get the best possible care and achieve their desired healthcare goals. 

Executive Coaching

Ten years ago, companies hired coaches to work with struggling employees. Now, executive coaching is seen not only as an effective tool to help struggling employees, but as a tool to help employees grow, develop, and feel more satisfied at work. Research shows dissatisfied employees may look to other companies if they feel as if they are not learning in their current role. With this knowledge in mind, companies are beginning to see the value of using coaching as a tool for employee satisfaction and retention. 

Similar to the trend with universities and colleges, companies are now working toward building in-house coaching teams to encourage employee success. Though anecdotal, Coach Training EDU has seen an influx in companies eager to have their people coach-trained in an effort to reap the benefits of coaching. 

Keeping Up With the Demand

As the demand grows, coaches can keep up by:

Understanding Demographic Shifts

The demographic will shift toward Millennials and Gen Z in the future, which means coaches must prepare for how to best connect with the patterns that make up these generations.

Getting Accreditation

Accreditation brings credibility to the field, as it ensures a base level of knowledge and professionalism. It also ensures that coaches have the proper training and skills to manage client success. Additionally, practitioners are required to renew their life coaching certification every three years, which enables coaches to stay competitive in the field.

Considering a Niche

As the ICF puts it, "People don’t buy “coaching.” They are looking for solutions to problems. So, coaches need a specialist area—specific problems to solve." A niche helps coaches narrow down their ideal client pool and further build credibility for your coaching practice. 

Identifying Benefits

Keeping a list of well-articulated coaching benefits can help clients further understand what to expect from their coaching sessions. This gives clients more confidence in committing to the coaching process. 

How are you preparing for the demand of coaching? We'd love to hear your ideas in our comments! 

*Disclaimer: As coaching is a newer field whose data is still changing and growing, the research mentioned in this blog is for educational purposes. Therefore, ongoing and additional research is encouraged.