Alison Carter

Principal Research Fellow

BA, MBA, DBA, FCIPD

Alison joined IES as a Principal Researcher in 1998. In 2010 she became a Principal Associate alongside consultancy assignments in the US, Europe and Australia, before re-joining IES in 2016. Alison writes, speaks and consults on a range of leadership development, change and coaching issues. Her current research includes exploring the leadership/productivity link and identifying outcomes from career coaching, but it is evaluating the impact of workplace coaching programmes for which she is recognised as an international expert.

Alison set up IES’s coaching research work back in 2001 after publishing one of the first exploratory studies in the UK into the executive coaching process. She directed further studies on introducing coaching capability; methods for coaching evaluation; team coaching; the impact of coaching on employee engagement and well-being; barriers to successful outcomes from coaching; mindfulness; change-ready change-capable teams; virtual coaching; job design and, more recently; the impact of networking, peer to peer and experiential methods in leadership development provision. She was a founding Director of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), Co-Chair of the 2nd Harvard International Coaching Research Forum, judge on Opportunity Now gender equality awards for employers.

Previously Alison worked in a range of HR, learning & development and senior management roles in the NHS and IBM (UK). She has an MBA from Henley Management College and a professional doctorate. Alison is also a Chartered Fellow of CIPD and member of the Academy of Management.

CV Details

Group coaching: an effective intervention to support workers?, Zofia Bajorek, Alison Carter, Institute for Employment Studies , Dec 2025

Webinar recording & slides: Moving organisations from change-vulnerable to change-smart, Alison Carter, Institute for Employment Studies , Nov 2025

Working Carers: helping carers get into work, and stay in work, Arundhati Dave, Emily Kramers, Dominic Hewitt, Alison Carter, Harry Fox, Nick Litsardopoulos, Jane Mansour, IES, May 2025

Career Coaching: A case study in evaluating impact, Alison Carter, Wendy Hirsh, Institute for Employment Studies, Sep 2024

Outcomes from employer-sponsored career development, Megan Edwards, Alison Carter, NHS England, Jun 2024

Primary care worker wellbeing 2020-2023, Kate Alexander, Megan Edwards, Beth Mason, Alison Carter, Institute for Employment Studies, Dec 2023

Wellbeing through job design, Sally Wilson, Alison Carter, Institute for Employment Studies, Sep 2022

Lessons from Lockdown: No going back, Jonny Gifford, Zoe Gallagher, Stephen Bevan, Alison Carter, Zofia Bajorek, Work After Lockdown, Mar 2022

Coaching for wellbeing: Infographic, Alison Carter, Beth Mason, NHS England and NHS Improvement, Dec 2021

Coaching in virtual spaces: Video, audio and text-based, Alison Carter, Kate Alexander, Morwenna Byford, Institute for Employment Studies, Aug 2021

The impact and effectiveness of leadership development activities for senior leaders, Megan Edwards, Jenny Holmes, Alison Carter, National Leadership Centre, Jun 2021

Infographic: Coaching effectiveness, Alison Carter, Institute for Employment Studies, Oct 2020

Infographic: Coaching in virtual spaces, Alison Carter, Kate Alexander, Morwenna Byford, Institute for Employment Studies, Oct 2020

Slides: Coaching effectiveness in virtual spaces, Alison Carter, Institute for Employment Studies, Oct 2020

Infographic: Coaching in virtual spaces, Alison Carter, Kate Alexander, Institute for Employment Studies, Oct 2020

Exploring coachability, Alex Martin, Alison Carter, Institute for Employment Studies, Jan 2020

Infographic: Realistic Job Previews, Alison Carter, Health Education England, Nov 2019

Health Coaching: Innovation and Adoption, Megan Edwards, Alison Carter, Kate Arnill Graham, NHS Leadership Academy, Jun 2019

Reflections and insights from a place-based approach to implementing coaching, Alison Carter, NHS Gloucestershire Commissioning Care Group, Jun 2019

Mindfulness in the Military, Alison Carter, The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, May 2019

Slides: Changing together: Change tools for teams (2), Alison Carter, Megan Edwards, IES, Mar 2019

Slides: Changing together: Change tools for teams (1), Alison Carter, Megan Edwards, IES, Mar 2019

Changing together: Change tools for teams, Sharon Varney, Alison Carter, Megan Edwards, IES, Mar 2019

Infographic: Change Capable Teams, Alison Carter, IES, Mar 2019

Slides: Developing change-ready, change-capable organisations, Alison Carter, Senior Salaries Review Body, Oct 2018

Change capability in the agile organisation, Alison Carter, Sharon Varney, ies, Jul 2018

Slides: HR's role in integrating mindfulness and compassion to improve our organisational systems and culture, Alison Carter, ies, Sep 2017

Infographic: Mindfulness for strategic change, Alison Carter, Equality and Human Rights Commission, Apr 2017

Strategic change-readiness for organisations, Alison Carter, Department for Education, Mar 2017

Mindfulness in organisations, Alison Carter, Kate Spiegelhalter, ies, Nov 2016

Better Conversation: A guide to health coaching, Alison Carter, Health Education East of England, Sep 2016

What makes a coach effective?, Alison Carter, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, Aug 2016

Slides: Integrating ethics into organisational culture and leadership practice, Alison Carter, Institute for Employment Studies, Jun 2016

Slides 'Ethics in HR', Alison Carter, IES, Dec 2015

The Case for Health Coaching, Alison Carter, Private: Penny Tamkin, Sally Wilson, Health Education East of England, Jul 2015

Event programme: 'Reflective Practice' skills:, Alison Carter, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), Apr 2015

Slides: 'Reflective Practice' skills, Alison Carter, CROME, University of Brighton, Apr 2015

Slides: Workplace applications of mindfulness, Alison Carter, ies, Mar 2015

Slides: What are the pros and cons of mindfulness at work?, Alison Carter, UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), Mar 2015

Leveraging coaching for organisational change, Alison Carter, IES, Mar 2015

Ethical dilemmas in HR practice, Alison Carter, IES, Mar 2015

Slides: Update on IES Coaching Research, Alison Carter, Oct 2014

Slides: Barriers to coaching outcomes, Alison Carter, IES, Jul 2014

Barriers to successful outcomes from coaching, Alison Carter, Cabinet Office, Jul 2014

Slides: Barriers to coaching outcomes, Alison Carter, IES, Jul 2014

Coaching for effectiveness, Alison Carter, Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, Jun 2014

Impact of coaching on employee well-being, engagement and job satisfaction, Alison Carter, Health and Safety Executive, Jan 2014

Impact of coaching, Alison Carter, Crafts Council, Aug 2012

Slides: Outstanding Leadership of Teams: a focus on the team aspect, Alison Carter, IES, Feb 2012

Obtaining Customer Feedback on HR, Alison Carter, Wendy Hirsh, Mary Mercer, Peter Reilly, IES, Aug 2011

From financial to clinical? Perceptions and conversations in NHS boardrooms, Alison Carter, NHS West Midlands/Burdett Trust for Nursing, May 2011

Evaluation of West Midlands Regional Coaching Pool, Alison Carter, IES, Aug 2009

Increasing business benefits from in-house coaching schemes, Alison Carter, IES, Jun 2009

What Customers Want From HR, Wendy Hirsh, Alison Carter, Jonny Gifford, IES, Aug 2008

Learning and Development 2020 - Interim findings February 2008, Alison Carter, Department for Education and Employment, Apr 2008

Evaluation of Coaching in the NHS, Alison Carter, NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, Mar 2008

Practical Methods for Evaluating Coaching, Alison Carter, IES, Oct 2006

360 Degree Feedback, Alison Carter, IES, Mar 2005

Providing Coaching Internally, Alison Carter, IES, Feb 2005

Building Coaching Capability, Alison Carter, Institute for Employment Studies, Dec 2004

Resourcing the Training and Development Function, Alison Carter, Wendy Hirsh, IES, Oct 2002

The Trainer as Executive Coach, Alison Carter, IES, Aug 2002

New Directions in Management Development, Wendy Hirsh, Alison Carter, IES, May 2002

Management Development, Wendy Hirsh, Alison Carter, IES, Aug 2001

Executive Coaching: Inspiring Performance at Work, Alison Carter, IES, May 2001

Employee Returns: Linking HR Performance Indicators to Business Strategy, Alison Carter, Dilys Robinson, IES, Feb 2000

The Human Resource Function Audit, Peter Reilly, Alison Carter, Private: Penny Tamkin, Dilys Robinson, IES, Sep 1999

Effectiveness of an Employee Wellbeing Coaching Programme Delivered Across Primary Healthcare in England, Carter A, Mason B, Bajorek Z, International Journal of Human Resource Development: Practice, Policy and Research, 9(1), p.5-18, June 2025

Evaluating career coaching for employed adults, Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling, 54(1), 87-102, April 2025

Job design needs a health check, Carter A & Wilson S, HR Magazine, December 2022

Extending the Transformative Potential of Mindfulness Through Team Mindfulness Training, Integrating Individual With Collective Mindfulness, in a High-Stress Military Setting Tobias Mortlock J, Carter A and Querstret D (2022), Frontiers in Psychology Journal, 13:867110. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.867110

Excellence in Coaching: Theory, Tools and Techniques to Achieve Outstanding Coaching Performance (4th Edition), Chapter: Evaluating Coaching, Carter A, Peterson D, Passmore J (ed.) February 2021

Coaching in Asia Pacific from the perspective of the coachee Lee S, Blackman A, Carter A, Coaching and Mentoring in the Asia Pacific, Routledge, London, January 2018

Health coaching for the NHS Carter A, Newman P, Coaching at Work, Vol. 12 No. 4, June 2017

Insights from research - Collective practice, Tobias J, Carter A, The International Journal for Mindfulness and Compassion at Work, No. 1, May 2017

Perspectives on effective coaching by those who have been coached, Carter A, Blackman A, Hicks B, Williams M, Hay R, International Journal of Training and Development, Wiley, Vol. 21, No. 1, March 2017

Barriers to effective coaching assessment Carter A, Blackman A, Training & Development, The Australian Institute of Training and Development, February 2015

Coaching programmes in work settings Carter A, in Wegener R, Loebbert M, Fritze A (eds.), Coaching-Praxisfelder: Forschung und Praxis im Dialog, Springer VS, Germany, August 2013

Team coaching Carter A, Hawkins P, in Passmore J, Peterson D B, Freire T (Eds), The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Coaching and Mentoring, First Edition, Wiley Blackwell, London, December 2012

Quality Assured Mortlock S, Carter A, Coaching at Work magazine, UK, November 2012

Board blind spots: a method for exposing what boards can't see Carter A, Developing organisations: evolution and revolution, Association for Management Education and Development (AMED), Vol, 18 No. 4, Winter 2011

Making the boardroom the place to improve patient experience, Carter A, Gray S, Health Service Journal, November 2011

Improving patient experience Carter A, Gray S, Health Service Journal, November 2011

The Journey to World Class HR and OD Carter A, Doherty K, Health Service Journal, December 2010

Evaluating Coaching Carter A, Peterson D, Passmore J (ed.), Excellence in Coaching: 2nd Edition, Kogan Page, July 2010

Why has coaching held up in recession as discretionary development activity has been cut?, Carter A, Human Resources, March 2010

Business benefits from coaching and why employers don't get enough of them Carter A, Coaching At Work, CIPD, November 2009

How to ... Evaluate coaching programmes Carter A, Chapman M, Coaching at Work, CIPD, Vol. 4 Issue 2, May 2009

Executive Decisions Carter A, The HR and Training Journal, PCSA International, Issue 3, June 2008

A case study in evaluating behavioural change from a coaching programme, Carter A, Connage T, International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching, EMCC, Vol. 5, 1, March 2007

Employers and coaching evaluation Carter A, Wolfe H, Kerrin M, International Journal of Coaching in Organizations, Vol. 3 (4), Winter January, 2005

Do it by the book Carter A, Holden E, People Management, October 2004

Practical Methods for Evaluating Coaching Carter A, The Coach and Mentor, Oxford School of Mentoring and Coaching/Total Learning Group, February 2004

Practical Methods for Evaluating Coaching, Carter A, Training Journal, Fenman, January 2004

Issues in using coaching to support multi-rater feedback, Carter A, Mattacks K, Doone J, Coaching and Mentoring International Review, Autumn September, 2003

The key role of HR business partnering in raising the profile of HR Carter A, www.askhow2.com/Bytes, askhow2, July 2003

Management Development: an employers’ view Carter A, 't' magazine, August 2002

Whither the Training Function?, Carter A, Training Journal, July 2002

The Trainer as Executive Coach, Carter A, Training Journal, Fenman, December 2001

Executive Coaching: More than the latest fashion? Carter A, CIPD Sussex branch quarterly magazine, CIPD Sussex branch, Winter December, 2000

WREN workshop

4 March 2026

Moving organisations from change vulnerable to change smart

Universities Human Resources, 12 February 2026

Moving organisations from change-vulnerable to change-smart

IES, 26 November 2025

IES Annual Conference 2025

Evaluating the impact of coaching webinar

Third Sector Forum, European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC), 15 January 2025

Unlocking Potential: How Careers Guidance Can Fuel Economic Growth

All Party Parliamentary Group for Skills, Careers & Employment, House of Lords, 11 December 2024

Evaluating Career Coaching

Carter A and Hirsh W, National Institute for Career Education and Counselling (NICEC) Seminar, 21 March 2024

Mindfulness in the military: Improving mental fitness in the UK Armed Forces using next generation Team Mindfulness training

Carter A, Emergency Responders Research Symposium, January 2020

Change Readiness: The Opportunities and Implications

Carter A, Webinar for the Henley Centre for Coaching, Henley Business School, [online], 9 July 2019

A Place-Based Approach to Implementing Coaching

Carter A, Lord C, Brown M, Parker C, Better Conversations: Using the Learning, Gloucestershire CCG, North Warehouse, Gloucester Docks, March 2019

Changing Together: Change Tools for Teams

Carter A, on-line Development Workshop for HR & OD Country Leads, Plan International, March 2019

Change-ready, change-capable teams

Carter A, Sheldon D, Amplifying our practice: Boosting organisational performance, Henley Forum Annual Conference, Henley Business School, Henley-on-Thames, March 2019

Mindfulness in the Military

Carter A, Emotional wellbeing and resilience track at Health and wellbeing @ work conference, Sterling Events, Birmingham, March 2019

From a Change-Vulnerable to a Change-Ready, Change-Capable Organisation

Carter A, From a Change-Vulnerable to a Change-Ready, Change-Capable Organisation, Managing and Developing People in a Changing World Conference, East Midlands Councils, Milton Mowbray, February 2019

Improving mental fitness, resilience and change-readiness

Carter A, Environment Agency Corporate and Environmental Incident Management Development Day, Environment Agency, Birmingham, December 2018

Keynote session: Are you ready for change?

Carter A, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency Annual Conference for Top 100 Leaders, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, Birmingham, July 2018

Organisational story and research: UK defence sector

Carter A, 2nd International mindfulness & compassion at work summit, Coaching at Work Magazine and the Association for Coaching in Spain, Madrid, Spain, April 2018

Change-readiness as a dynamic capability

Carter A, Henley Forum conference: Building dynamic capabilities: Knowledge, learning and change-ability, Henley Forum, Henley-on-Thames, March 2018

How to evaluate coaching within the workplace

Carter A, Health and wellbeing at work conference 2018, Sterling Events, Birmingham, March 2018

Mental fitness for transformative change

Carter A, Tobias J, Strategic Edge Through People 2040 Research Symposium, Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory, Tidworth, November 2017

Establishing an organisation culture of self-development and learning

Carter A, Local Government Association Yorkshire and Humber OD Network workshop, Local Government Assocation, Doncaster, September 2017

Strategic change readiness: Proposing a new multi-level construct

Carter A, Tobias J, Bennett J, Singer B, EAWOP 2017: Enabling Change through Work and Organizational Psychology, European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, Dublin, May 2017

Barriers and enablers to embedding change in organisations

Carter A, EAWOP 2017: Enabling Change through Work and Organizational Psychology, European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, Dublin, May 2017

Evaluating coaching

Carter A, Third sector forum, European Mentoring & Coaching Council, London, April 2017

What employees really want from coaching

Carter A, Coaching Knowledge Sharing Event, Coaching Focus, London, March 2017

Coaching for Health: Lessons from Introducing Health Coaching at Scale and Pace Across the NHS in East of England

Carter A, Coaching and Coaching Psychology: Health and Wellbeing at Work Conference 2017, Sterling Events, Birmingham, March 2017

Excellence in Coaching in Organizations: Culture Team Return

Passmore J, Lanz K, Henessey M, Tulpa K, Carter A, Association for Coaching webinar series, Association for Coaching, [Online], October 2016

Embedding change within organisations

Carter A, A new conversation: empowering patients and communities, Better Conversation, Liverpool, September 2016

Implementing health coaching at scale and pace

Carter A, 6th Annual Research Conference, European Mentoring and Coaching Council, ELTE University, Budapest, July 2016

What coachees want and other research findings

Carter A, Seminar, Coaching Focus, Co-operative Business Support Centre, Manchester, March 2016

What coachees want

Carter A, Annual Knowledge Sharing Conference, Coaching Focus, London, December 2015

Coaching for Organisational Change

Carter A, Bush M W, CPD Workshop for HR and OD leads, Health Education East of England, Cambridge, October 2015

Barriers to Coaching in Business Settings: A Study and a Categorization Framework

Carter A, Blackman A, Hicks B, Academy of Management Annual meeting, Academy of Management, Vancouver, Canada, August 2015

Features of a Coach: Perspectives from the Coachee

Blackman A, Hay R, Carter A, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Academy of Management, Vancouver, Canada, August 2015

HR Professional Development Workshop

Carter A, Blackman A, HR Professional Development Workshop, College of Business, Economics & Law at James Cook University, Cairns & Townville, Australia, May 2015

Leveraging coaching for organisational change

Carter A, Bush MW, CPD workshop, Health Education (East of England), Cambridge, April 2015

Barriers to coaching effectiveness

Carter A, Annual Knowledge Sharing Conference, Coaching Focus, London, December 2014

Health Coaching Cases: evaluation findings

Carter A, Talk differently conference - health coaching for behavioural change and patient-centred care, NHS East of England, Lynford House Hotel, Norfolk, November 2014

Barriers and how organisations are overcoming them

Carter A, NHS East of England, Tattershalls, Newmarket, September 2014

Identifying the impact from health coaching in your organisations

Carter A, NHS East of England, The Red Lion Hotel, Whittlesford Bridge, July 2014

Looking at the impact of health coaching

Carter A, NHS East of England, Suffolk Golf and Spa Hotel, Bury St Edmunds, February 2014

Impact of coaching on employee well-being

Carter A, Hicks B, 2nd European Research Conference, European Mentoring & Coaching Council, Sheffield, July 2012

Measuring the value of workplace coaching

Carter A, Coaching meets research, 2nd International Coaching Research Congress, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, North Western Switzerland, Basel, June 2012

Coaching programmes in work settings

Carter A, Coaching meets research, 2nd International Coaching Research Congress for German Speaking Europe, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, North Western Switzerland, Basel, Switzerland, June 2012

The business case for coaching

Carter A, NHS Coaching Summit, NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, Birmingham, March 2012

Co-Chair

Carter A, 2nd International Coaching Research Forum, Harvard Medical School / Institute for Employment Studies, London, October 2009

What works in coaching?

Carter A, West Midlands Local Government Association Coaching Conference, West Midlands Local Government Association, Wolverhampton, October 2008

Top ten research ideas

Carter A, First International Coaching Research Forum, Foundation of Coaching, Harvard, Boston, MA, September 2008

Evaluating executive coaching: the questions we ask

Carter A, Annual Meeting Symposium, Academy of Management, Anaheim, CA, USA, September 2008

How organisations evaluate coaching

Carter A, Coaches in Government Network, Civil Service, London, June 2008

Measuring the Value of Coaching

Carter A, Annual Coaching at Work Conference, CIPD, London, October 2007

Coaching-related research: an update from a UK perspective

Carter A, Research Advisory Panel Conference, Foundation of Coaching, New York, July 2007

A practical framework for evaluating coaching programmes

Carter A, Mattacks K, 13th Annual European Mentoring & Coaching Council Conference, EMCC, Cologne, Germany, November 2006

A European perspective on coaching research priorities

Carter A, Coaching Foundation Research Advisory Panel Conference, New York, USA, July 2006

Taking a Leap into the Future of HR

Carter A, 11th Annual European Mentoring & Coaching Conference, Association of Management Education & Development, Hotel Bedford, Brussels, November 2004

Developing the capacity of the HR function

Carter A, Public Sector Consortium, CMPS/CIPD/ED, Admiralty House, London, November 2004

Strategic HR Coaching Evaluation Findings

Carter A, HR Coaching Service Pilot for Local Government Conference, Employers Organisation, London, September 2004

People Strategy: What does it mean for HR

Carter A, Developing a People Strategy, East of England Regional Assembly (EERA), Wyboston Lakes Conference Centre, St Neots, February 2004

Sharpening HR’s Strategic Focus

Carter A, Developing a People Strategy, Employers Organisation for Local Government, September 2003

People Strategy: What does it mean for HR?

Carter A, Developing a People Strategy, East Midlands Regional Local Government Association (EMRLGA), Melton Mowbray, September 2003

Regional Management Development Strategy

Carter A, Management Development Network, SEEDA, Guildford Carlton, April 2003

Developing World Class Leaders

Carter A, Beech D, SEEDA seminar, SEEDA, Cobham Hilton, April 2003

Executive Coaching

Carter A, Bournemouth University Business School seminar, Bournemouth University Business School, Bournemouth, February 2003

Future of the HR Function

Carter A, Inland Revenue, Inland Revenue, Belfast, February 2003

The Executive Coaching Process

Carter A, 9th European Mentoring and Coaching Conference, EMCC/AMED, Cambridge, October 2002

Commissioning External Suppliers of Executive Development

Carter A, Executive Development Colloquium at Academy of Management Conference, Academy of Management, Denver, Colorado, USA, August 2002

New Directions in Management Development

Carter A, ALG Network of Corporate Training Managers, Association of London Government (ALG), London, July 2002

The theory and process of coaching

Carter A, Coaching and Mentoring Systems, Performance Management Forum, Le Meridien Waldorf Hotel, February 2002

Chair, Computers in Personnel Conference

Carter A, Computers in Personnel 2001, IES/CIPD, Barbican, London, June 2001

HR in the 21st Century

Carter A, HR Manager’s Conference, Ordnance Survey, Balmer Lawn Hotel, Brockenhurst, May 2001

Benchmarking: A development tool

Carter A, Benchmarking - What’s in it for me?, Opportunity Now London & South East Regional Network, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, November 2000

Role of HR Function

Carter A, Human Resources Consultative Committee (HRH), Smiths Industries, Leamington Spa, June 2000

Positioning the HR Function

Carter A, HR Sharing Learning, Rolls-Royce, Bristol, February 2000