Throughout my working history I have been heavily involved in the process of tendering. It began when I was involved in setting up a consulting firm which focused on the public sector, so tendering was a weekly occurrence for me, and it has continued in each role since. I keep a daily monitor on the Irish tendering website www.etenders.gov.ie (I recommend anyone in business does) as well as international sites.
Given this background, mixed with my passion for coaching, it was with interest that I noted that Fáilte Ireland released three tenders in the fields of Business Skills, Marketing Strategy and Business Finance. The tenders were released with the aim of building a specialist panel in each area to provide Business Mentoring & Coaching Services to the organisation’s clients. I thought this was a highly progressive step from the National Tourism Development Authority, and an acknowledgement as to the recognition coaching was beginning to receive in Ireland.
When, in the past week, Fáilte Ireland released the names of the winning tenders, I perused the successful organisations with interest. To my great surprise, however, I saw that not one of the twenty five different organisations selected across the three tenders (a few of which were successful in more than one), regarded itself as a coaching organisation. In fact, whilst performing some preliminary research into the background of the individuals concerned within each organisation, I could find only one person who had any form of coaching qualification.
This caused me great concern as it was a perfect opportunity for the coaches of Ireland to get involved in substantial public sector work, but instead it went to boutique consultancies, marketing organisations and financial institutions. The Irish public sector works to stringent procurement procedures with Fáilte Ireland having a strong reputation in this area, so it makes me wonder; why are coaches not winning this business? In my eyes, there are only three possible reasons:
- The coaching industry in Ireland is still very much misunderstood
- Coaches in Ireland cannot compete with their consulting colleagues in terms of results delivery
- Coaches are not educated in the tendering process
I'd like to address these points. The first two are interlinked in my eyes and both revolve around the proverbial question: what is coaching? There are many and varied definitions out there, so many in fact that it confuses our own community, not-to-mind those outside of it. How so can we expect a government organisation to truly understand what it is they are procuring when a number of organisations tell them they can successfully coach as well as anyone?
My second point is deliberately provocative. The truth is, over the past few years I have met many incredibly talented coaches with wide and varied backgrounds who have proven they can deliver results as well as, or better than, anyone else. However, there are many individuals out there who continue to practice as coaches without the same skills, qualifications or experiences. But until we come up with set standards, are they not still coaches?
If we are not truly driving this process, the word coach will simply be bandied about for any process that is viewed as helping people. I believe it's something we as a community, and more importantly, as an industry, need to address quickly and effectively.
My third point is grounded in my experiences with tendering in general. One of the things I discovered was there is often a distinct lack of understanding, especially in the SME sector, as to how exactly the public sector tendering system actually works. This is a pity as there are distinct opportunities for effective organisations in this arena. Here at http://www.irishcoachingsolutions.ie/ we plan on publicising these tenders right here on this blog and on the website. Check back here or add us to your RSS feed for a series of posts on the public tendering process and how you can truly see it as an avenue for developing your coaching business.
Excellent article. In relation to points 1 & 3 (I am in the process of making a proposal for Skillnet monies as we speak). I think the biggest problem we have in relation to Coaching is lack of any level of standards. Although this in turn is hampered for many of us by being an area in essence that is difficult to define. It does seem that working in an unregulated field is always going to bring massive challenges.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to the tendering. From what I know of it. The actual process itself in my view is incredibly complex firstly and the competition is high. So I am not sure if I believe categorically that Coaches are uneducated in this area so much as competing with just much larger firms with much stronger brands than you or I are ever going to have.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteThat's certainly a valid post with regard to brands. A number of people have suggested the same thing to me.
One person has even asked whether IrishCoachingSolutions would act as that brand on behalf of coaches. I think it may be something that could warrant further discussion, but it principle it could work.
As for the process being hugely complex, it certainly sometimes is, but I think you'll find the Avondhu Blackwater tender I discuss in my other post incredibly accessible. When it's that vague, the importance actually is to create the structure yourself in your response.
Thanks for letting us know your thoughts,
Brian.
Thanks for this.Tender notice is process to call vendors for doing a certain job or provide certain service at a competitive price.
ReplyDeletetender online & tender management