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Overview: High productivity
is key to business success. So how do you improve productivity? Try engaging a
coach for your employees.
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Takeouts:
- Although sometimes regarded
with suspicion, coaching as an industry is continuing to mature and result in
improved profitability through development of key staff;
- Care
must be taken in selecting a coach to ensure the 'fit' exists between the coach's
service, the individual's needs for skill development, and the business goals
required to maximise Return On Investment.
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Keeping the
skills of staff up-to-date can be a significant challenge. The conventional
approach to skills development involves sending staff to off-site training courses.
But research is increasingly showing that training alone delivers only marginal
increases in staff productivity.[1] Perhaps as a result,
the concept of coaching has gained much attention as a means of bridging the gap
between potential and actual performance. But what is coaching? What can be coached?
When should it be used? And how do you assess what kind of coach is right for
your organisation?
What is Coaching? Put
simply, coaching is the process of imparting encouragement and skills to succeed
in a task.[2] A sub-set of mentoring, a coach is a mentor
who knows how to do something well, and then passes on those skills to a mentoree
who is required to learn them. The role of a coach is to motivate people to perform,
usually challenging them beyond what they thought possible. Coaches go beyond
teaching or imparting knowledge to focus on the correct application of skills
an individual requires to function more effectively. The
concept of coaching has been around for many years in the sporting arena, but
has only gained widespread profile in the corporate world in the last five to
ten years. Today, a number of prominent organisations in Australian such as Lion
Nathan, Ray White, Telstra, BHP Billiton, Westpac, MasterCard International and
the Department of Defence all utilise executive coaches to help support and motivate
their employees to higher levels of productivity. In the USA the use of executive
coaches is equally high, with a 2003 Hay Group study showing that between 25%
and 40% of Fortune 500 companies currently use executive coaches. What
Can Be Coached? There are almost
as many varieties of coaching as there are coaches, and the techniques they employ
can be drawn from such diverse fields as sports psychology, consulting, training
and even methods considered more 'new age' such as game-play.[3]
However, with the research on coaching's effectiveness often published by coaching
organisations themselves to boost their own profile, and recognising that coaching
coaches is considered one of the most lucrative parts of the industry, and independent
verification of the effectiveness of the coaching process can be a challenge.
Regardless of the scientific basis,
what all varieties of coaching have in common in the corporate arena is that they
tend to focus on a one-to-one relationship. Whether coaching technical information
to help improve day-to-day performance, working on 'soft skills' like emotional
intelligence to develop better interpersonal relationships, or being a confidential
sounding board for sensitive issues, the core dynamic is between a coach and their
trainee in a relationship of mutual trust. When
to Use Coaching Coaching normally
stems from two drivers: reaction to a recognised business issue where a staff
member clearly lacks the ability to perform; or in anticipation of a future situation
an employee may face. Obviously, being able to anticipate staff members' needs
and plan for them is the preferred approach. But despite this the reality is that
the majority of organisations do not develop detailed staff training plans until
they are of a size to afford at least a part-time human resource staff member.
Instead coaches tend to be called in because of a staff weakness which is already
costing the business. Sometimes situations have deteriorated to the point where
jobs, and even business units, are under threat.
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for Coaching i) Establish clear
boundaries. By the very nature of the relationship, often the coach and employee
will become close, therefore it is very important to establish clear boundaries
prior to coaching commencing. This is especially important for senior executives,
where requests for coaches are increasingly being included as part of their salary
packages.
ii) Find the right coach. When selecting a coach, it
is crucial to first identify the skill gap(s) that exist and then engage a coach
with the required experience to address these gaps.[4]
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Asked for a conservative estimate of the monetary payoff from the coaching
they got, these managers described an average return of about six times what the
coaching had cost their companies.
Fortune Magazine, "Executive
Coaching - With Returns a CFO Could Love"
| | | iii)
Be Sensitive. Engaging a coach for staff development should be approached
with sensitivity and ideally through a standard staff review process. Coaching
of any kind can be confronting - particularly in the area of interpersonal skills.
A coaching relationship is far more likely to succeed if the staff member recognises
for themself that they have areas requiring growth. And irrespective of whether
the need for coaching stems from a proactive or reactive need, the focus of any
coaching engagement should be around the positive benefits associated with acquiring
new skills. Getting 'Buy in' To
help a staff member embrace coaching, they should be involved in the following
steps: 1. Clarifying the
challenge or task, the skills required to succeed and how success will be measured;
2. Actively sourcing potential coaches;
3. Establishing a 'growth contract',
outlining expectations, what will be done to achieve them, and how long coaching
should initially last. This
will increase the chance of the employee owning and committing to the process. Conclusion At
different stages of one's career, it could be argued that everyone needs a coach
- someone who is given permission to tell the truth (even when the truth hurts),
and a person who is able to pass on the skills that enable success. While debate
on whether coaching is worth the investment is commonplace, the marketplace continues
to mature, and coaching providers are continuously refining their approach to
better deliver on their stated intent.
References:
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About Regent Recruitment
Regent Recruitment is a recruitment consultancy that assists leading Australian
employers to attract and retain talented staff on a contract, temporary or permanent
basis. Whether we are filling one permanent role or recruiting contract staff
for a 400-seat call centre, we deliver an exceptional recruitment service.
Unlike other recruitment consultancies, Regent
Recruitment is unique in that it combines the capabilities of a large-scale multinational
recruitment operation with exceptional service levels typically only associated
with small boutique agencies.
How
can we assist you?
We would welcome the opportunity to have a confidential
meeting to discuss your staffing needs in more detail. If
you are interested, in the first instance please call Howard Mereine, General
Manager, on (03) 9909 7150 or e-mail Howard at hmereine@regentrecruitment.com.au. We
look forward to speaking with you.
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This article was licenced by Regent Recruitment for the Regent
Recruitment client newsletter.
Written by Nathanael Small, and edited by Paul Quinn, Quinntessential Marketing
Consulting Pty Ltd.
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The
views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do
not necessarily reflect the view of Regent Personnel Pty Ltd.
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