COACHING AT WORK CONFERENCE – DAY 2: 26 NOVEMBER 2020
British Transport Police (BTP) has made huge strides in embedding a coaching culture over the last two years, increasing senior leaders’ understanding of coaching and their buy-in, among others.
The extent to which BTP meets a range of criteria describing a coaching culture has risen overall from 44.65% to 62.03% between March 2018 and November 2020, according to the diagnostic tool, Embark Coaching Culture, developed by coaching provider Unlimited Potential.
The tool measures progress along nine coaching culture dimensions in three employee groups: general workforce, junior-middle managers, and senior management. The dimensions include the level of senior buy-in and the extent of coach training, both areas in which BTP is excelling.
Results were shared on 14 December at a virtual round table event on coaching culture for emergency services personnel interested in developing organisational coaching cultures. The event was organised by Unlimited Potential and BTP’s lead for coaching and mentoring, Sandra Wilson, and its champion for coaching and mentoring, Detective Chief Superintendent, Paul Furnell.
The diagnostic reveals gaps and where organisations need to shift their attention. BTP has reached “saturation” with its coach training, for example, so needs to stop investing in that for now, said Unlimited Potential managing director, Tim Hawkes. It needs to focus on areas including boosting coaching-style conversations with customers or the equivalent, deepening managers’ ability to understand how to use coaching skills, and stepping up reward and recognition for those using coaching. “The organisation is beginning to embrace coaching as ‘something we do round here’…BTP has done a really good job here. It’s [now] all about surgical interventions to move things forward,” said Hawkes.
- At Coaching at Work’s annual conference, BTP shared the success story of its Mastering your Power Coach Training programme, delivered by Salma Shah to boost diversity and inclusion. Shah and BTP talent manager, people and culture Katherine Chowdry, said that for coaching to appeal to all BTP’s employees, it needed a diverse coaching pool and that “employees see coaches that represent them and understand barriers to success”.
In April 2020, the percentage of BTP coaches from a BAME background stood at nearly 14%. By early November, it had risen to 27%.