Having worked in employee engagement for many years, I recently trained to be a coach.
I became evangelical about coaching very quickly. I received coaching as part of my training, and then saw the impact of my coaching on others. It convinced me that coaching can have a transformative impact in the workplace.
And so I am surprised that it’s not more common in organisations today, especially given the challenges many companies face.
When companies do embrace coaching, it’s often restricted to the executive team. And whilst I am sure this brings huge benefits, I’m also convinced these benefits could be magnified by rolling coaching out more widely. It is often said that employees leave their managers, not their company, and so investing in management development is essential, and coaching is the most effective development I have experienced.
Middle managers within an organisation are often referred to as “the squeezed middle” due to the struggles of managing a busy day job alongside people management responsibilities.
A recent CIPD report found that this population are the most likely to feel overloaded and under excessive pressure. They are also the most concerned about their mental health. That same report showed that senior leaders were most likely to suffer from a poor work life balance. Excessive pressure and working hours over a prolonged period risk managers’ physical and mental health and reduces management effectiveness.
Coaching can help managers to make positive changes. It can have a transformational impact on a wide range of managers and leaders, not just the Executive team.
With a coach to guide, support and challenge them, I have seen managers reflect, achieve clarity and identify their most important priorities. They make changes and fulfil their potential in ways that would not have seemed possible without the support of a coach.
In the latest global coaching survey by the ICF, 99% of respondents claimed they were satisfied with their coaching experience. The most commonly cited benefits were improved communication, relationships with others and improved work life balance.
These are improvements that many managers and leaders would love to achieve. There is no doubt that raising the performance of the management cohort would lead to significant improvements in employee engagement, retention and performance across an organisation. Bringing benefits that businesses cannot afford to miss out on. Coaching is undoubtedly an investment worth making.
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