Why are employers only getting 50% from their coach investment and how can they maximise it further? Ginny Baillie reports
A recently appointed head of learning said to me something I’ve heard many times before. ‘I’m trying to understand what we’re doing with coaches across the business and it’s all over the place. We’ve got coaches falling out of cupboards, some on retainers for years, others available for some leaders but not all, depending on P&Ls, I’ve literally no idea what’s going on.’
This has likely happened for two reasons:
1. Organisations have got into the habit of outsourcing management issues: ‘we’ll get them a coach’. Once that’s done, they forget about it, maybe enquire from time to time how it’s going. They don’t see it as a genuine support for the business, just that one individual.
2. The leader independently asks for it and wants to use someone they’ve worked with before, or have sourced themselves, and they’re looking for sign-off. They get it because of who they are or there’s budget, but the organisation’s involvement ends there.
This works well for the client and for the coach but what about you, the organisation: what’s in it for you? There’ll be localised improvement with the client and their team and there’s more you could be getting from that investment.
If you’ve got several coaches working across your business, know this: they’ve got knowledge and insights on your people and the organisation in ways you don’t. You can and should be leveraging this knowledge, partnering with the coaches’ experience.
A reframe is needed about what coaches can be to a business. It requires organisations recognise them as part of their system and pay attention to their work. Even as independents they’re still part of the system, albeit different to full-time employees. This core recognition is essential. You want your people to feel connected, informed and valued to do their best work – the coaches connected to your business are no different.
Too often coaches have to operate in a vacuum; they do their coaching work but they aren’t included. In 26 years of working in organisations I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been invited to either share themes or be briefed on what’s going on in the business. It’s like a wide-open goal in the Football Premiership with the ball sitting in front of it and everyone is just strolling by.
It can feel seductive to use engagement surveys tell them how their business is. These can be great measures, however, employ them in partnership with the people who are hearing the truth from everyone they work with. Coaches can see patterns in the business looking in from outside, they’re literally outside of the systems and this lens can be valuable to business.
If you have coaches working across the business or you’re considering putting together a coach pool, here are some ideas.
Review your coaching pool
- You need representation across the board – neurodiverse, gender, LGBTQIA+, race, specialism, experience, skills – have you got that?
- When was the last time you spoke to any of them? Coaches are learning all the time – it’s their air. How much do you know about what they can do? Create space for them to let you know what’s new in product and thinking.
- Have you got the right amount in the pool? If coaches are not getting any work from you, they’ll be putting their energies into places that are. Support them by matching the pool to the demand from the business. It’s exciting for a coach to become part of a pool, so don’t blow it by not giving them any clients. We all get that times can be quiet, keep them informed.
Create a framework with the coaches to harvest themes
- The coaches connect maybe twice a year to discuss themes coming up with their clients without anyone from the business being present. This layer of confidentiality is essential: you know who the coaches are working with so the information would breach ethics if you were there.
- Coaches share what they see coming up. They discover if any other coaches are noticing them, develop these into themes where appropriate, and collate and then present them to you.
- You have insight to support your people and business strategy development.
Keep the coaches informed
- This might look like a day a year where everyone comes together, meets key people in the business, hears important business objectives, and get to meet each other and talk in groups about change approaches and strategies. This doesn’t have to be a paid event but expenses and a good lunch are a nice touch!
- Online sessions or comms for any key business developments, ie, news of restructuring where there’ll be redundancies across the businesses. Helping coaches get ahead of key business announcements can support the work they’re doing. Coaches can get blindsided by very fresh news that’s impacting their client which they didn’t know about.
- Help the coaches know the key people in the business and what they might be interested to know about.
- Let them know about the vision for the business, key values and anything else you want them to be appraised of in their work.
A couple of extra points. Treat all your coaches equally. If you have a group job to put together, offer them the fee – don’t get people to pitch individually. Many coaches will want to be involved in something with peers in a company they’re working for. This is because many of us work independently and welcome being part of a team supporting a company’s evolution.
Lastly, co-create, partner with your coaches. Be candid with what’s going on (they can sign an NDA) and you’ll find they have strong ideas, are generous and can be incredible thinking partners towards the right initiatives for your people.
- Ginny Baillie is a coach and the founder of Drum, held thinking spaces for leaders
- www.leaderdrums.com