Alison Carter

BA, MBA, DBA, FCIPD

staff photo

Principal Research Fellow

alison.carter@employment-studies.co.uk

+44(0)1273 763 406

Alison joined IES as a Principal Research Fellow in 1998. In 2010 she became a Principal Associate alongside consultancy assignments in the United States, Europe and Australia, before re-joining IES in 2016. She writes, speaks and consults on a range of HR, change and leadership development issues. Her current research includes mindfulness and organisation readiness for change, but it is her evaluation of training and development programmes at work (especially coaching) 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 and, more recently;  organisational support for coachees. 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 and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the International Journal for Mindfulness and Compassion at Work.

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

Research publications

Articles and chapters

Conference appearances

  • 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
  • Changing Together: Change Tools for Teams, Carter A, on-line Development Workshop for HR & OD Country Leads, Plan International, March 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
  • 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 stakeholder workshops, Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory, Tidworth, November 2017
  • 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], December 2016
  • 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], November 2016
  • 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], November 2016
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Barriers to coaching effectiveness, Carter A, Blackman A, Sydney Network Forum, Australian Human Resources Institute, Learning Plan, Sydney, Australia, May 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
  • Barriers to coaching effectiveness, Carter A, Blackman A, Townsville Network Forum, Australian Human Resources Institute, Choice Training, Townsville, 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, Webinar, Queens University of Charlitte, Charlotte, USA, 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • What do customers want from HR?, Hirsh W, Carter A, CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition 2008, CIPD, Harrogate, 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, North West Employers’ Organisation (NWEO), Leyland Conference Centre, Preston, February 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
  • The Executive Coaching Process, Carter A, European Mentoring Conference, Association of Management Education and Development (AMED), Robinson College, 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

Projects