Supervision

Supervision competences and guidance

This guidance is intended for coaches, mentors, supervisors and training providers of coaching/mentoring supervision; its purpose is to summarise the position taken by EMCC regarding some of the key questions that are frequently raised on the topic of supervision.

The EMCC Definition of Supervision

Supervision is the interaction that occurs when a mentor or coach brings their coaching or mentoring work experiences to a supervisor in order to be supported and to engage in reflective dialogue and collaborative learning for the development and benefit of the mentor or coach, their clients and their organisations. 

The Purpose of Supervision

The purpose of supervision is to enhance the wellbeing, and develop the practice of coaches and/or mentors of all levels of experience.  Supervision is considered a powerful vehicle for deep learning: its benefits extend beyond the supervisee and include their clients and sponsoring organisations.

We recognise the functions of supervision described by Hawkins and Smith (2013) as follows:

1. The Developmental Function
   Concerned with development of skills, understanding and capacities of the coach / mentor.
2. The Resourcing Function
   Providing a supportive space for the coach / mentor to process the experiences they have had when working with clients.
3. The Qualitative Function
   Concerned with quality, work standards and ethical integrity.

For more information, click here for the supervision policy

EMCC Supervision Competence Framework

EMCC supports the use of competence frameworks as part of a wider approach to the training, development and assessment of coaches, mentors and supervisors.  The EMCC Supervision Competence Framework describes the skills and behaviours we believe to be associated with good practice in supervision.

At the same time, EMCC also accepts that competence frameworks do not capture everything. For instance, qualities such as ‘personal presence’ and the ‘capacity to engage fully in the supervision relationship’ cannot be reduced, easily, to a group of capability indicators. Therefore, when considering the work of the supervisor, EMCC advocates an awareness of the whole person in addition to the skill-set that they have to offer: ‘how they are being’ is equally as important as ‘what they are doing’. Please bear this in mind when working with the EMCC Supervision Competence Framework.

EMCC has two types of supervision accreditation:

• Individual supervisors of coaching and/or mentoring – ESIA
• Providers of training for supervisors of coaching/and or mentoring – ESQA.

You can read more about ESIA here and ESQA here.

For a list of EMCC accredited supervisors, click here.