“Regardless of how good an employer and their employee engagement initiatives may be, if their managers do not have a genuine interest in their team and provide adequate support, and coaching, the employee will not want to remain with the employer long-term.” (Fairplace Cedar, May 2012).
According to recent research by Talent Management experts at Fairplace Cedar, located in the UK, building the coaching capability of managers offers many benefits for organizations. These include a better working environment, improved engagement and retention. Additionally, at the individual level, coaching contributes to personal development and more able, effective, higher performing employees and teams. These assets are particularly critical at a time when many organizations are asking their people to do more with less.
Fairplace Cedar’s survey supports research published in the January-February (2011) double issue of Harvard Business Review, “coaching is the most effective process for building employee resiliency and loyalty.” In the same issue, HBR describes that trust of organizations and organizational leaders – – worldwide is at an all-time low, which underscores the need for a new coach-approach to managing and leading – an approach that promotes safety/trust and designed alliances for mutual success.
Today’s leaders are facing a world that is becoming dramatically more complex. They’re responsible for inspiring direct reports to perform at their peak, and accountable for outcomes. Yet, the very nature of work continues to radically transform itself – triggered by technological and business model innovation, globalization and changing expectations. If you’re like most people in your shoes, you want solutions that will guide you to stretch beyond current limitations and navigate change. Our considerable experience as workplace consultants and a mounting body or research suggests Coaching is one tool that, when employed properly, will help you do just that.
Fairplace Cedar suggests a four step process to making coaching part of the management culture:
- Start at the top – a commitment to creating a coaching culture along with the resources and support needed to make it happen depends on senior management buy-in.
- Involve front line managers – make sure people at all levels of the organization are clear about the aims of encouraging managers to adopt a coaching style of management as the “style of choice.” This is especially true for line managers who will bear much of the responsibility for ensuring any coaching initiative is implemented and sustained.
- Make a business case for coaching – it is important for highly regarded senior leaders to demonstrate how coaching drives business performance – to champion the coach-approach and create an ecosystem that allows a coaching culture to take root.
- Integrate coaching into “the way we do things around here” – a strategic approach to creating a coaching culture is required in most cases. This requires a combination of tactics to ensure coaching becomes ingrained in the organization and is successful in delivering the desired benefits. Senior management, human resources and front line managers must work together to tackle any obstacles to coaching.
By embracing a sustainable Manager-As-Coach/Leader-As-Coach culture, companies will be much more successful at improving retention, increasing engagement and be more capable of meeting the challenges of the current economic climate.
Download a copy of Fairplace Cedar’s The Manager As Coach Report here.