Coaching has a long history which can be traced back to Socrates, who believed that individuals learn best when they have ownership of a situation and take some form of personal responsibility for the outcome. Despite this long history the potential for coaching as an organisational development approach has only been recognised in the last few decades.
Effective coaching can have a positive impact on an organisation. It can produce improved relationships and teamwork between staff at different levels. Employees have increased job satisfaction, which improves productivity and quality and there is an overall improved use of people skills and resources as well as greater flexibility and adaptability to change. A CIPD study in 2004 found that 99% of 500 respondents agreed that coaching could produce tangible benefits both to individuals and organisations.
Additionally:
- 93% agreed that coaching and mentoring are key mechanisms for transferring learning from training courses back to the workplace
- 92% agreed that coaching can have a positive impact on the bottom line
- 96% agreed coaching is an effective way to promote learning in the organisation
So what does it take to be an effective coach?
The main objective of coaching is to develop the person being coached. This can be achieved through increasing self-confidence, identifying suitable topics for coaching and developing planned tasks as part of job knowledge. All accredited coaches know very clearly that coaching is not about telling some-one what to do and how to do it, it is about the coachee working through and making commitments to change across key professional and personal changes for themselves. Occasionally it involves overseeing what is being done and advising how to do it better.
Research[1] has shown that coaches need to be patient, detached, supportive, interested, perceptive, aware, self-aware and attentive. They must also have knowledge, credibility and authority. Coaches need a range of communication skills and research has shown that coaches feel it is not necessarily the skills that are important, but rather the way the skills are used.
Being an effective coachee
Coachees can gain a huge amount from an effective coaching relationship. It not only helps improve their performance and their effective use of skills and abilities, it can also help to increase job satisfaction and motivation.
Selecting a coach
Research into coach selection found a number of selection criteria for choosing a coach including coaching experience, track record, personal style, culture fit, structured approach, costs, professional standards and memberships, knowledge of organisation, ‘issue’ fit and line management and industry experience. When deciding on a coach, the organisation and the person coached must assess the individual’s development needs and, from this, develop a desired coach profile that includes both individual and organisational requirements. The matching of coachee and coach is critical to its success.
Summary
Coaching is now a significant part of organisational and individual development approaches. Research is already showing the significant benefits of effective coaching.
[1] This article is taken from Research into Leadership Literature Review: coaching effectiveness – a summary. Dr Sandra Fielden, Centre for Diversity and Work Psychology, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester. 2005