The most effective way to implement coaching approach in an organization
It is a combination of training, team coaching and individual coaching.
The training programs are usually developed so the coaching approach and skills are adopted by the managers. The follow up is then organized so the topics covered at the training are further supported and implemented in the practice. The findings of a 10 years study relate to only 20% shift, while a combination of training and coaching raises the shift to 80% of adopting the newly acquired skills. Coaching approach is supporting the managers have conversations with their employees; whish is the essence of the business transformation. Very often, external coaches are hired to excel the process of implementation of a coaching program that usually takes 6-12 months. During this period, there are intense activities with follow-ups and testing which treat the focus points of the program. For example in Canada, one of the organizations that completed this program was a bank that was initially struggling union and management related issues. After the period of 18 months conducting the coaching introduction program, the bank is now recognized to be among the 50 top employees in Canada, in the research conducted by the Hewitt International agency.
To be concise – the training that focuses on skills development gives much better results when is supported with coaching to put those skills into practice. At the end of the coaching introduction program, there is a set of very simple actions put into practice, and this is the point why training followed by coaching program gives the best results.
The challenges for this approach could be explained as follows:
- Awareness of coaching. Many managers have heard about it, yet they associate it with being more supportive with the employees, taking care. This understanding of coaching is not critically linked with performance and that is why in business sense it is not effective. The coaching programs implemented in the right sense can add to the increased productivity and we can for sure witness that 5% increase in the productivity can lead to increased profits, sometimes measured in millions of dollars.
- Authenticity of the coaching approach. Weak processes described as coaching, which in the essence still are telling people what to do are not what we are talking about here.
Powerful coaching should be distinguished from these two approaches.
Business in fact cannot be changed, it can only be transformed
Organizations usually seek for instant results from their trainings and they approach the people development programs as such. Based on the extensive over 20 years of experience working with leading companies in Canada and abroad, it can be concluded that coaching programs make the real difference. This difference is based on direct linkage of the coaching programs with the needs of the organization, leading to the defined set of outcomes: increase in sales, increase in the revenue etc. Due to the personalized approach, in which the “map-and-test” process is conducted, the key needs of the organization are detected and included in the project. The business transformation happens when the organization adopts the culture of asking the powerful questions that support the sustainable change to occur.
I would also like to mention the context of coaching as a new model of leadership that is actually among the most efficient ways to grow the high performance culture in organization. In the new era, a real leader is someone that steps out in creating a high performance culture spreading the quality of leadership throughout the whole organization, at each level. Transformation in this respect lies in the coaching approach and tools the leaders can use.
The benefits of coaching for executives
I have coached many executives rising to senior roles, early stage companies that launch new products as well as companies that are developing exit strategies for senior management. In these processes the role of the coach is invisible, as he sets a funnel of asking the right questions about greatest benefits for the organization. Business coaching is in fact a structured conversation in which great questions drive breakthrough results.
Producing high performance break through results and transformation to a truly effective coaching culture is actually much easier than we think it is. Simply begin – research, build awareness, work with great coaching partners and begin the process. The direct link of the coaching with the breakthrough results is in the interest of every executive. This link is in fact creative problem solving which makes the organization more competitive on the market. Globally, as growth appears to be flat, it is focusing organizations to build high performance systems which seem to be very important. As there are much more opportunities than ever before it may take the focus out of the context, so it takes a unique approach to see those opportunities and build an organization that can be engaged in the global level of competitiveness.
About Paul Gossen
Paul Gossen is a transformational trainer, executive breakthrough coach and successful author. In his over 20 years of experience, he was among the pioneers of the Neuro-Linguistic and Business Leadership concepts. As a technology entrepreneur and marketing strategists he has built many successful companies. Paul has worked with hundreds of companies and executives to produce extraordinary results, including effective team communication, increased individual performance and business leadership for accelerated results. He lives in Vancouver, Canada and travels worldwide as an acclaimed public speaker, trainer and breakthrough coach, his passion is business transformation.
His extensive client list includes companies such as Microsoft, Nokia, American Express Canada, Canada Post Corporation, Panasonic Canada, Unilever, IBM and many more.
