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Frequently Asked Questions
Programme Basics Coaching is an efficient, high-impact process in which a coach and a client work together to determine a client’s own answers and action steps, allowing the individual not only to solve immediate issues, but also develop the capacity to keep improving in sustainable ways. Coaching facilitates thinking, creativity, and problem solving in the workplace. Coaching can strengthen leadership skills, provide career support, increase staff engagement, improve wellbeing, reinforce learning experiences and help increase positive behaviour among staff. The purpose of the Programme is to offer career support and other types of support to staff in an effective, low-cost manner. Staff can get help with a range of professional issues by meeting with other staff who are trained and/or certified in conducting a coaching process. Another purpose is to give staff with coaching certification/training a chance to deepen their skills. As such, the Programme offers developmental activities for all participants. Coaching is for staff who would like help with a specific challenge or goal in their professional lives through a series of structured coaching conversations designed to stimulate their problem-solving skills. Mentoring can also involve problem-solving conversations, but the flow of mentoring dialogues is more fluid and informal; mentors might ask questions but also share personal experiences and even advise their mentees. Counselling is for staff who seek psycho-social support, for example because they are feeling anxious or depressed. Mediation and conflict resolution services such as the Ombudsman’s Office offer information and guidance to staff about what options are available for resolving conflicts with others. One-to-one coaching is available. Coaches in our network possess expertise in one or more of the following areas:
When you review the profiles of available coaches, you will be able to select coaches with expertise in areas relevant to you. Secretariat staff or former Secretariat staff who have either acquired a coaching certification affiliated with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) OR have completed formal ICF-certified training can register as a coach. Their credentials will be reviewed before by the UN Coaching programme project team before they are accepted. Coaches must have completed a formal coaching training that is certified by the International Coaching Federation. These trainings have intense curricula of 50 or more hours that include live coaching practice sessions with feedback sessions afterwards from observers. Staff with coaching certification must upload their credentials when registering for the programme. Staff who have completed formal coaching training must upload training certificates. Then the UN Coaching programme project team in HR reviews the credentials and determines each coach’s eligibility to participate. Yes, participants in coach and client roles can consider their participation as a developmental activity. Supervisor approval is not required to participate as a coach or as a client. We do recommend, however, that participants in both roles let their supervisors know of their participation. If managers/supervisors are aware of this additional work-related activity they are more likely to recognize and appreciate the contribution and to formally acknowledge it in performance evaluations. No, the coaching is offered free of charge. The matching process is client-led. Clients register for the programme on the Together platform and can then search among the available coach profiles and request to start a coaching series with them. To edit your profile, click 'Profile' and then go to My Programs > Find the programme 'UN Coaching Programme' > then select the pencil icon. The questionnaire will be displayed on the screen. You can edit your profile one question at a time. Be sure to press ‘Save’ (blue button) when you are finished. When you are in the Together platform, go to the Home tab, then scroll down to ‘UN Coaching Programme’, click on your coach/client name/picture and click on the ‘End pairing’ button near the coach/client name While we prefer that you use the Together platform for scheduling so that we can track the number of sessions held, you may choose to use Outlook, Teams or another software for scheduling. If you schedule sessions outside the platform, please be sure to return to the platform at some point and mark your sessions as done. To do this, go the Home tab and scroll down to ‘UN Coaching Programme’ Click the name/picture of the client/coach, then scroll down to “Session Plan” and select the sessions that you have completed and click “Mark as done.” You will be prompted to provide feedback for the sessions. When you are in the Together platform, go to the Home tab, then scroll down to ‘UN Coaching Programme.’ Click on your coach/client name/picture, scroll down to the ‘Session Plan’ and select the sessions that you have completed and click ‘Mark as done.’ You will be prompted to provide feedback for the sessions.
Coaching Relationship We ask clients to register for the programme only if they can commit to select a coach and go through the full coaching process which involves an introduction meeting and 5 monthly coaching sessions of 45 minutes each. We ask coaches to register only if they can commit to work with at least one (maximum of three) clients and conduct one introduction meeting and 5 monthly coaching sessions of 45 minutes each (per client). In the initial pilot programme which will run from February – July 2023, we encourage coaches and clients to have an initial introduction meeting followed by 5 monthly coaching sessions. Coaches must agree to keep all information shared in coaching sessions to themselves. Their commitment to this practice is verified as part of their registration process on the programme’s online platform. Confidentiality is fundamental to ensuring trust on the part of the client in the coaching relationship.
For Coaches At this time there is a pilot programme that will run from February to July 2023. If you are interested in registering as a coach, please email us at peercoaching@un.org. Coaches will be required to attend monthly “supervision” sessions led by an experienced and certified coach. In these online meetings, participants can share about struggles or challenges they have faced with their clients and receive feedback. On the Together platform, coaches are able to enter the number of clients that they can take on. The minimum is one and the maximum is three. Coaches are expected to finish any coaching series that they begin with clients. You would need to complete a training programme that is ICF-certified. You may write to us with specific questions at peercoaching@un.org.
For Clients At this time there is a pilot programme that will run from February to July 2023. If you are interested in registering as a client, please email us at peercoaching@un.org. All UN Secretariat staff serving on temporary, fixed-term, continuing or permanent appointments are eligible to be clients. But there are a limited number of spots available in each seasonal cohort. Other categories of personnel (consultants, individual contractors, UNVs, interns, military personnel, etc.) are not eligible for now. If you are interested in registering, please email us at peercoaching@un.org. If you are interested in registering, please email us at peercoaching@un.org. Clients can easily search for coaches inside or outside of their entity on the Together platform. There are filters that enable clients to search by entity, gender, job network and more.
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