A TOOL FOR PERFORMANCE
by Claire Dickson
I have been running a lot of corporate coaching development programmes recently. I always start with discussing the external corporate context for leadership, to help people understand what change is likely and how to start anticipating and preparing for these changes, through corporate coaching. Corporate businesses today are experiencing massive, relentless change in ever increasingly competitive corporate markets. Analysts think the future will challenge corporate businesses to go beyond both current and predictable levels of performance and productivity. To meet this challenge, an organization is to survive and thrive and learn to adapt with the market.
Change and growth are not achieved by strategies, but by people who make strategy happen. This means there is going to be constant demand for people to adapt and to learn new things, often speedily. As part of these programmes which i run, we talk a lot about using corporate coaching for developing performance. We know that nowadays, corporate leaders do not have the time or capacity to control everything and everyone anymore, especially those working in matrix corporate organizations. Many Leaders realise that to be successful, the additional corporate skills needed are to be able to delegate, to create a culture of responsibility and self-generated actions. This is where the interest in corporate coaching starts. Effective coaching is now recognized as a tool to help facilitate your team in corporate change and support learning and development initiatives.
In a recent UK survey by the Institute of Personnel and Development, nearly nine out 10 firms expect their managers to deliver corporate coaching as part of their day-to-day work. This trend is mirrored on an international scale. Unfortunately, just because there is an expectation for coaching, it doesn't mean we've developed the new skills required to "do coaching" successfully. Talk to the people, get information, working in many of today's corporate organizational facilities to get their feedback! Corporate Coaching is about working with people to show them new possibilities, help them see options and take actions previously not obvious to them. Corporate Coaching is the capability to alter or shift thinking and confidence and relook at the context within which people normally operate in corporate situations. What we do know is that good skills can make the difference between getting performance and getting excellence out of ourselves and our team. There are now numerous pieces of corporate research that can demonstrate a return on investment with corporate coaching. But, what are the real basics we need to know about corporate coaching?
Here are a few lessons:
- Clear outcomes and no bull! Knowing the outcomes for the session or end result, gives a clear goal. A good corporate coaching instructor will help find the root cause of the problem and help the individual figure out how to move forward. Often when I start working with a client on site.
- Good Listening and Good questions! This trickles down to a good system of management! Don’t think for the individual but with them.
- Assess the current reality. Many recent studies have shown that “Corporate Skills” (e.g. knowledge and corporate skills built over time) only represent 20% of the input into our performance. The remaining 80% which affects our performance comes from our "Personal Skills" . Few of us understand just how deep rooted our own behaviour patterns are, let alone how to positively change them in other people. A start in the right direction are the key corporate skills to observe, challenge and determine the performer’s needs in these behavioural areas: knowledge of what to do, how to put into practice, willingness and confidence to overcome any barriers limiting performance. We do corporate coaching to build skills and share ideas and share tools to drive performance.
- Measure and evaluate the result, based on the original goal. There needs to be follow up to encourage continuous improvement and also try to end every interaction with a "win". Corporate Coaching at the end of the day is about action, building belief and corporate skills and regular review. To retain the brightest and the best we need to build the ability to develop people, evoke performance excellence and create a culture of continuous learning. Finally, at according to NASA : - "In every field of human endeavour where performance is key, coaching is integral to helping shift an individual's mindset, approach, and behaviours to ensure more effective action and greater business success. It's all about the company and employee strengthening and growing.” Claire Dickson is an executive and transitional corporate coaching instructor and leadership trainer; she also runs self development workshops as part of her business HR Solutions. If you are interested in finding out more about her corporate coaching techniques, contact her on info@hrsolutions.cz (www.hrsolutions.cz) . Reprinted with Permission
Find out more information at the Corporate Coaching International website :
http://www.corporatecoachingintl.com/ |
