ABOUT COACHING PROGRAMMES
It is often said that an effective coach provides an independent
pair of ears with whom a senior individual can talk about
the issues they may be unable to discuss with others
inside the organisation. Because of the nature of this unique
relationship, confidentiality and trust are key.
Some ground rules and a coaching agreement need to exist between
all parties involved: the person from within the organisation who
initiated the coaching programme, known as the sponsor (usually the
client's employer, line-manager, or HR manager), the coach and the
individual being coached (referred to here as the client).
Occasionally, if there is no sponsor, for example for self-employed
individuals, the agreement is simply between the coach and the
coaching client.
The coach's role is to support, without judgement, and challenge
the individual to perform at a higher level and believes:
- No matter how people currently perform, we all have the ability
to perform even better in aspects of our working lives
- People are their own best resource
- People are not defined by their current
behaviour. Coaching focusses on behaviours (which can be changed)
not personalities.
How do the coaching sessions work?
A typical "basic" programme consists of 6 x 1 hour
coaching discussions over a period of 90 - 100
working days. Because of the bespoke nature of CIEC coaching,
alternative options are always available, for example, beginning
the programme with a feedback exercise to raise self-awareness, or
a LAB profile to elicit the client's motivation patterns in work.
(For more information on LAB profiling visit
www.WordsThatChangeMinds.com
)
Each individual needs to come to coaching with some identified
areas to work on, in order to affect behavioural
changes. Ideally, these will have been discussed and agreed
with the sponsor / line manager (see above). During the first
coaching discussion these areas are explored, prioritised and
turned into clear goals linked to Measurable Objectives
(MO's).
At the end of each coaching discussion the client goes away
with a self-determined action plan, for completion prior to the
next meeting.
In order to keep on track and to assess progress, the coaching
client completes a mid-point review half way
through the coaching programme and a final review
at the end. Together the coach and client review the goals and
MO's, along with recommendations for the way forward.
Both reviews are shared with the sponsor (typically the
line-manager) with prior agreement from the client. It is important
to note that the detailed content of the coaching discussions
remains confidential between the coach and the individual.
However, any trends identified will be presented back to the
organisation, if prior agreement is given from the
client.
At the mid-point of the programme, the sponsor is also asked
for feedback on the client's progress in terms of behavioural
changes relating to the MO's set out at the start. This
enables the coach, the client and the sponsor to monitor the
quality of the coaching and the progress being made, ensuring
ROI.
The Benefits of Coaching
Although every individual, and organisation, is unique,
experience has taught us that certain themes frequently arise,
which coaching is able to
address:
- Communication and inter-personal relationships
- Conflict with colleagues or clients
- Work load, time-management and delegation (and often, all
3!)
- Lack of clarity around expectations
- Confidence
The benefits you can expect, through using an
external (as opposed to in-house) coach include:
- Improved staff morale and retention
- Reduced staff absences, by addressing the work/life
balance
- Improved communication by using a coaching approach to problem
solving
- Empowering employees to pro-actively resolve issues which are
affecting the team's performance
- Improved performance through goal-setting, planning and
prioritising
- Increased productivity, directly affecting the bottom-line of
your business
- Improved decision-making on a daily basis
A study of 1000 companies using Executive coaches, reported
the following findings:
- 77% reported improved working relationships
- 67% reported an improvement in team work
- 53% reported increased productivity
- 52% reported a reduction in conflict
- 32% reported an increase in retention of senior staff
A separate study carried out by the International Coaching
Federation, which surveyed 11,000 corporate coaching clients, found
that a staggering 98.5% said that their investment, regardless of
what it cost, was "well worth it"!
Much of Tracey's coaching focusses on raising
self-awareness, enabling clients to make significant changes in
behaviour, often with dramatic effect.
As Robin Sharma, author of "The Greatness Guide"
said,
"Self-awareness precedes choice, and choice precedes
results."
Until we are really aware of the impact our actions have,
how can we make choices which will positively improve our
performance? The process of increasing our self awareness,
through candid feedback can be uncomfortable at
times. However, the ability to adapt our behaviour and thereby
our impact on others, is key to leadership.
