Many organisations are using executive coaches to help their senior staff remain motivated, explore new ideas and manage their work life more effectively. But is this just another passing fad that has come to our shores from the USA or is it something that is here to stay and will fundamentally change how organisations develop their people.
The first thing that you may have noticed is that almost everyone and their dog now seems to be calling themselves a life, executive, performance or business coach. There are as many niches as there are coaches. But what is coaching?
Traditionally coaching, whether used within the business context or in private life, is based on a one to one relationship between the coach and the client. The focus is on what the client wishes to achieve and the gap between that desire and where they are now. Through the process of questioning the coach helps the client to focus in on what they want to be, do or have. They help the client take stock of where they are now, what resources they have and what steps they need to take to achieve their desired outcome. Coaching tends to be non-directive and this encourages the client to draw on their own resources and perhaps forgotten knowledge to move forward.
The main difference between business coaching and business mentoring is that the coach is not necessarily an expert in the business field of the person they are coaching. The coach is the expert in understanding what motivates and drives their client. Mentoring derives its name from the Greek, Mentor. The story goes that Odysseus before he was going off to one of the Greek wars asked his lifelong friend Mentor to impart his expertise and knowledge onto Odyessus’ son. Hence the term mentoring. Nowadays there is an overlap and the terms coaching and mentoring are often used to describe the same process or similar processes.
Whatever the name given to the process more and more people are working with coaches as they find it helps keep them focused, helps them take a different perspective on issues or problems, it enhances their confidence and self-belief and in a business context, improves the bottom line. A survey of Managers in Business Wire is 2001 showed a 6:1 return on investment and a survey of Metrix Global LLC(Nov 2001) in the USA showed a 529% return on investment from coaching as well as other intangible results. One of the effects of coaching is that staff retention is increased and staff perform more effectively.
How many courses do staff attend and then three months down the line they’ve not implemented what they’ve learned? How often do they come back and get bogged down in the busy ‘normal’ working environment? Coaching after training has been shown to increase retention of learning by over 60%. (John Whitmore. Coaching for Performance)
Many organisations train their line managers in coaching techniques and this is great as it helps improve communication and control and also increases staff members own confidence in their abilities. Many organisations are developing a coaching culture within their organisations. However, it is important, if using staff to coach other staff in a more ‘formal’ coaching situation, to ensure that they are not the individual’s line manager and that the discussions are confidential. The key to coaching is the confidential nature of the relationship.
Why do organisations use coaching? A CIPD report (Coaching and Buying Coaching Services by Jessica Jarvis 2004) states that some of the reasons are:
Improving individual performance
Dealing with underperformance
Improving productivity
Career planning/personal development
Growing future senior staff
Fostering a culture of learning and development
Motivating staff
Accelerating change in organisations
It goes onto list some of the benefits both to the individual and to the organisation
Individuals
Learn to solve own problems
Improved management and interpersonal skills
Have better relationships with colleagues
Have greater confidence
Has a positive impact on performance
Greater self-awareness and gain of new perspectives.
Organisations
Gain increased employee commitment and satisfaction, which can lead to improved retention
Improved productivity, quality, customer service and shareholder value
Support employees who’ve been promoted to cope with new responsibilities.
As you have read coaching can bring great benefit to organisations and is being used extensively in the private and public sectors. Many larger voluntary organisations are now using coaches, both internal and external, to help them meet the demands of the 21st century.
