(Adapted from the book 'Behavioral Coaching' by Skiffington and Zeus -released January, 2004. -With permission from the publisher McGraw-Hill Professional -New York)

To many HR professionals, coaching is just another name for what they’ve already been doing for years—helping managers and executives increase their capabilities and knowledge in developing and dealing with people. However, behavioral coaching (versus traditional coaching) is fundamentally changing the HR relationship with organization managers and executives.

However, today some HR professionals are taking on the new role of HR Coach and directly working with managers and leaders themselves. 

In large organizations there is a growing critical need to drive consistent leadership behaviors and organizational culture. Internal human resource professionals as coaches are in a unique position to understand and manage the tough issues concerning culture and people and personal leadership development. The training class should no longer be the exclusive domain for leadership development. Professional and personal development in our managers and leaders must occur in "real time" and on a need-to basis today, not in a classroom next month.

Today's skilled, certified corporate HR Coaches require: the latest behavioral coaching models and technology; access to a variety of validated, credible resources and back-up and, the available time necessary for the leader/manager to succeed.

An important factor the HR Coach brings to the coaching role is their knowledge of the organization, and the working/profile of the manager within that environment. Fundamental to the role, is trust. To assist an executive, the HR person must be extremely credible with executives. Credibility is perceived in how the coach conducts himself/herself as an impartial professional resource, development and change agent. Don’t expect to coach unless your coaching credentials are impeccable. The person participating in the coaching has to also feel you are qualified to be looking out for their best interests and maintaining objectivity and confidentiality at all times. This is one of the major reasons some HR coaches fail to attract internal clients.

In many organizations, the HR Coach also acts as the Coaching Program Manager to coordinate and unify the process of coaching in the organization. They can manage and monitor the expenditure of resources, train internal coaches, confirm the credentials of external coaches, and measure and determine the coaching results.

Many HR professionals are also engaging their own coach to assist them. In a climate of job insecurity, many internal HR people are turning to coaches to help them as they deal with their own stresses and development. 'Transition times' such as mergers, layoffs and changes in upper management are also prompting HR professionals to seek out coaches.

Being coached allows HR professionals to bring firsthand experience to formal coaching programs at their organizations. Over the past decade, organizations increasingly have offered coaching to managers as a recruiting and retention tool, with HR creating and managing the program.

Coaching helps HR 'walk the talk' of coaching. It's one thing to talk up the value and benefits of coaching to others and another thing altogether to have the experience of being coached. It gives HR professionals more credibility with their people if they can speak of the value it personally had for them, rather than sound like they are promoting another HR program 

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