The New Zealand Coaching & Mentoring Centre subscribes to the Global Code of Ethics For Coaches, Mentors and Supervisors, through our membership of the European Coaching & Mentoring Council (EMCC)

Executive Summary

This summary will tell you at a glance about the key areas covered by the May 2018 version of The Global Code of Ethics. This is not a substitute for the code itself – it's a reminder and overview of the contents of the code.

Working with Clients

Context & Contracting

Members must: abide by the Code of Ethics; make it available to clients and sponsors; conduct a thorough and open contracting process; and be transparent about how they work with clients.

Integrity

Members must: be honest and accurate about their qualifications, knowledge, experience, methods and potential impact; obey the law and act with honesty, integrity and transparency; and pay proper attention to attributing others' work to the originator(s) and not claim it as their own.

Confidentiality

Members must: maintain confidentiality at all times; be open and honest about confidentiality with coachees and sponsors, as well as the limits to this confidentiality; keep notes, store them securely and dispose of them properly; be clear with clients that about their supervision arrangements and describe what these mean.

Inappropriate interactions

Members must: maintain clear boundaries as far as personal relationships are concerned and avoid romantic/sexual relationships with clients/sponsors.

Conflict of interest

Members must: be alert to conflicts of interest, in particular around gaining personal advantage from the coaching relationship; be sensitive to commercial/personal conflicts of interest caused by working with one or more clients and withdraw from the relationship if a conflict arises that cannot be managed effectively.

Terminating professional relationships and on-going responsibilities

Members must: ensure that all interested parties know that both client and coach are free to withdraw from the relationship at any time; respect confidentiality and be alert to potential conflicts of interest even after the coaching relationship has finished.

Professional Conduct

Maintaining the reputation of the profession

Members must: act as responsible representatives of the profession at all times and be respectful of other members who may have divergent approaches.

Recognising equality and diversity

Members must: respect diversity and be alert to the possibility of the emergence of their own unconscious bias and the potential for inadvertent discrimination in all their communications.

Breaches of professional conduct

Members must: be aware that beaches of the code that are upheld in a complaints procedure may result in a sanction; be aware that members may challenge other members if they believe they are acting in a way not according the code of ethics.

Legal and statutory obligations and duties

Members must: stay up to date and comply with the statutory requirements in the countries in which they are coaching and should have the appropriate professional indemnity insurance.

Excellent Practice

Ability to perform

Members must: hold the qualifications, skills and experience to meet the needs of the client and operate competently; refer clients to other members/ professionals should the need arise; and ensure they are fit and well enough to practise.

On-going supervision

Members must: engage in supervision with a qualified supervisor/peer supervision group at an appropriate level of frequency; and raise potential or actual ethical concerns in supervision.

Continuing professional development

Members must: maintain and grow their coaching/mentoring competence through regular, ongoing CPD; make a contribution to the professional community appropriate to their level of expertise; and critically evaluate their own quality of work through feedback from relevant parties.