New research has revealed that 78 per cent of managers think that coaching is a top priority in their organisations – but 63 per cent say they spend less, or a lot less, time than they should carrying out coaching.

As a result, UK employees feel more hard-done by than their US counterparts with 44 per cent saying they don’t get as much coaching as they would like compared to 37 per cent in the US.

“Managers seem to find all sorts of reasons not to coach which is peculiar given the improvement in performance it can bring ,” says Tom Barry, managing director for BlessingWhite in the UK, which carried out the research.

Excuses for not coaching include it takes too long and too many direct reports. There is also a sense of inadequacy with 29 per cent of managers reluctant to coach because they don’t have all the answers.

“They misunderstand what coaching is about,” explained Mr Barry. “Coaching isn’t something you need all the answers for – you just need the questions. Managers don’t ‘do’ coaching to people –it’s collaborative. Coaching only works if you genuinely want to help others to succeed”

But there are signs that some things are being done well – employees in the UK are more likely to receive coaching before they ask for help than their US counterparts.

And when it comes to results, 45 per cent of UK respondents said coaching had increased or significantly increased their job satisfaction with 26 per cent saying it had helped them achieve beyond what they had previously thought they could do.