Coaching

WHAT IS COACHING?

Coaching is a form of development in which a person called a coach supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal. The learner is sometimes called a coachee. Occasionally, coaching may mean an informal relationship between two people, of whom one has more experience and expertise than the other and offers advice and guidance as the latter learns.

Coaching is a useful way of developing people´s skills and abilities, and of boosting performance. It can also help deal with issues and challenges before they become major problems. In some organizations, coaching is still seen as a corrective tool, used only when things have gone wrong. But in many companies, coaching is considered to be a positive and proven approach for helping others explore their goals and ambitions, and then achieve them.

WHY YOU NEED IT?

Job roles are changing at an ever-increasing rate. Traditional training programmes are often too inflexible or generic to deal with these fast moving requirements. In these instances, one-to-one coaching allows a flexible, adaptive ‘just-in-time’ approach to skills development.

What differentiates it is that like any good personal or professional development intervention it is based on an assessment of need in relation to the job-role, delivered in a structured (but highly flexible) manner, and generates measurable learning and performance outcomes. This form of skills training is likely to focus purely on the skills required to perform the job function even though it may adopt a facilitative coaching approach instead of a ´telling´ or directive style.

GOALS OF COACHING

• Facilitate the exploration of needs, motivations, desires, skills and thought processes to assist the individual in making real, lasting change.
• Use questioning techniques to facilitate client’s own thought processes in order to identify solutions and actions rather than takes a wholly directive approach
• Support the client in setting appropriate goals and methods of assessing progress in relation to these goals
• Observe, listen and ask questions to understand the client’s situation
• Creatively apply tools and techniques which may include one-to-one training, facilitating, counselling & networking.
• Encourage a commitment to action and the development of lasting personal growth & change.
• Maintain unconditional positive regard for the client, which means that the coach is at all times supportive and non-judgemental of the client, their views, lifestyle and aspirations.
• Ensure that clients develop personal competencies and do not develop unhealthy dependencies on the coaching or mentoring relationship.
• Evaluate the outcomes of the process, using objective measures wherever possible to ensure the relationship is successful and the client is achieving their personal goals.
• Encourage clients to continually improve competencies and to develop new developmental alliances where necessary to achieve their goals.
• Work within their area of personal competence.
• Possess qualifications and experience in the areas that skills-transfer coaching is offered.
• Manage the relationship to ensure the client receives the appropriate level of service and that programmes are neither too short, nor too long.
  

TYPES OF COACHING SERVICES

• Business and Executive Coaching: Business coaching is a type of human resource development. It provides positive support, feedback and advice on an individual or group basis to improve personal effectiveness in the business setting. Coaches help their clients advance towards specific professional goals. These include career transition, interpersonal and professional communication, performance management, organizational effectiveness, managing career and personal changes, developing executive presence, enhancing strategic thinking, dealing effectively with conflict, and building an effective team within an organization. Many research studies suggest that executive coaching has a positive impact on workplace performance.
• On-Board Coaching: According to studies, more than 50% of seniors starting in a new position are terminated, resign or perform below expectations within their first 18 months. The risk of failure is even higher when the person has been brought on to manage a change initiative, turnaround or merger. When a hire does not succeed, the costs can be substantial. These costs do not include the loss of morale, momentum and growth opportunities for the company. Our “on-boarding” is designed to reduce risks and costs by intervening to identify and address potential challenges faced by new executives and to increase their productivity by accelerating and supporting successful assimilation.
• Mentoring: The common thread uniting all types of coaching & mentoring is that these services offer a vehicle for analysis, reflection and action that ultimately enable the client to achieve success in one more areas of their life or work. Mentoring is off-line help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking. There are many similarities between coaching and mentoring. Mentoring, particularly in its traditional sense, enables an individual to follow in the path of an older and wiser colleague or advisor who can pass on knowledge, experience and open doors to otherwise out-of-reach opportunities.