III. Coaching Partnership
What can Coaching provide?
In an organization that has a coaching culture, interactions and conversations are different. The following describes what a Coaching Climate looks like:
- Emphasis on development, learning and growth.
- Employees suggest solutions and share what they have learned.
- There is accountability; people take responsibility for their actions.
- Employees feel empowered and readily step up to the plate knowing that their peers will help and support them to succeed.
- It is a culture where people have the skills, and permission, to have timely, relevant conversations about growth, development, performance, tasks, and goals.
- It is a feedback rich culture.
Who is Coaching for?
- Employees who have been rated poorly on their annual Performance Review
- Employees experiencing a lack of progress with a specific role
- Any staff recommended by management for a coaching intervention
- Employees who are experiencing difficulties coping with changes resulting from the organization’s Transformation.
- Leaders, managers, supervisors, and mentors who:
- Realize that they need to improve their performance but require more than the acquisition of new knowledge or the development of new skills
- Are open to participating in a rigorous and honest self-appraisal
- Are willing to ask for help and realize that someone else can assist them in becoming more effective
- Are willing to devote the time and effort to work with the coach to make changes over a period of months
- Are willing to trust another person and talk about their strengths and challenges
Who are the Coaches?
Internal Coaching
Internal coaching is a facilitative one on one, mutually designed coaching relationship between an ABC Ltd. trained coach and an employee.
External Coach
External coaching is a facilitative one on one, mutually designed coaching relationship between an employee and a trained coach hired from outside of ABC Ltd.
Supervisory Coaching
Leaders, managers, supervisors, and mentors should possess basic coaching skills and incorporate coaching conversations in their daily work.
Characteristics of Effective Coaches
Many organizations have adopted the competencies identified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) where the coach must meet ethical guidelines of the profession. Other competencies include the ability to:
- Establish a coaching agreement
- Establish a trusting relationship with the client via maintenance of confidentiality, empathy, and use of self
- Model effective behaviors by being fully present, attentive, and spontaneous
- Engage the client through active listening and providing a clear sounding board as well as pertinent feedback.
- Ask pertinent and powerful questions that stimulate new ways of thinking as well as new ways of being.
- Be a direct communicator
- Create and raise personal awareness
- Design and create action plans and action behaviours
- Develop plans and establish goals with the coachee
- Manage the progress of the coachee and hold them accountable for their action
Benefits of a Coaching partnership
Coachee
- Improved motivation and effectiveness
- Improved self confidence
- Career planning
- Support through difficult times
- Constructive feedback
- Awareness of limited thinking
- Shifting perspectives in beliefs and fears
- Discovery of hidden talents and skills
- Creation of individual vision and mission statements
- Awareness of patterns that keep one stuck, and how to change to new habits that serve oneself
- Setting , clarifying and prioritizing goals that are achievable
- Work – Life balance and self care
- Gaining an accountability partner
- Improve communication skills
Coach
- Increase insights into yourself and others
- Peer recognition
- Increased skills in developing others
- Improved motivation and job satisfaction
- Opportunity to help others
Organization
- Get extra performance out of good people
- Get experienced people through a particular problem
- Increased productivity and effectiveness
- Assists in culture change, transitioning from the old to the new culture
- Reduction in employee turnover
- Building better relationships with Stakeholders through improved listening and communication skills