Academy

Global

EN

In this blog Biran Yilancioglu explores the benefits for organisations of investing in an external coach. 

Why invest in an external coach?

There’s no denying the benefits of a coaching culture – an environment where coaching is the norm is often one where employees and leaders are engaged, motivated and productive.

But there are times when the responsibility for professional development needs to be shared. Times when individuals, even a company, will benefit far more from working with external coaches.

Here’s what an external coach can provide for your company:

Specialist skills and experience

Some leaders and managers will have received training in coaching. But they may lack the depth of expertise and experience of a certified, professional coaching practitioner who will have undergone more extensive training.

External coaches have specialist knowledge and training in the complex theories and practices of coaching and know when and how to utilise them. For example, the Process Communication Model is particularly effective in giving managers and leaders a practical framework to understand personality differences and how to engage with them more constructively. 

Particularly in situations where internal coaching leadership has been ineffective, investing in an external coach can be invaluable to reach goals, resolve conflict or settle discontent.

Another point to note is that external coaches often have a specialism. This means an organisation can seek out an external coach with the relevant industry or situational knowledge and match them with the needs of the company.

No other agenda

As a leader, you have multiple responsibilities – the company deliverables, your own performance goals, the targets of those you lead. And this is not always conducive to an effective coaching partnership with those in your organisation.

An external coach doesn’t carry the load of an internal agenda. Because they don’t drive the direction of the company or set employee targets, an external coach has the luxury of being able to focus solely on coaching – they are free of accountability, authority, company politics and preconceptions.

External coaches can be objective partners, motivated only by the aim of helping the individual understand issues and fulfil their potential. And when there is no agenda, open conversations, creativity and increased performance can emerge.

Absolute confidentiality

While discretion is expected in any coaching situation, it is more difficult to trust in absolute confidentiality when the coach has an internal role. Managers have other responsibilities and allegiances. They may be involved in decisions about promotions, pay and performance reviews. Consciously or otherwise, this could impact on their ability to maintain confidentiality and impartiality outside of the coaching partnership.

Because they are not involved in internal decisions or obliged to give feedback on conversations that take place within the coaching environment, an external coach can create an environment where trust can flourish.

Creating a safe, relaxed, confidential environment where people feel confident to talk openly about their feelings and situation, without judgement or repercussions, is essential to find a breakthrough. That’s when the power of coaching can really come alive.

The right outcome

Coaching often starts with a story of dissatisfaction. As a result, an employee may have decided there is no other way to resolve their issues but to leave the company. In this case, the employee is less likely to feel comfortable talking openly with an internal coaching leader.

An external coach, who has no investment in whether the employee leaves the company or not, can focus on finding a solution that is both right for the individual and the company.

The focus for the coach would first be to help the employee understand why they wish to leave, before helping them explore a range of solutions. Often, the employee finds a different perspective – a resolution within the company – and freely chooses to stay. But without the input of external coaching, the company could have lost that talent.

In other cases, the coaching helps the employee understand that the best solution is, in fact, to move on. It may be that they aren’t a good fit for each other and their role isn’t fulfilling the expectations of either party.

Either way, both parties can arrive at an outcome that is right for them, without the pressure of internal agendas or expectations. And in many cases, this turns out to be right for the company, too.

ROI

While the ROI of coaching services can be difficult to measure, there is increasing evidence in its favour. More and more companies worldwide are starting to see external coaching as a proactive, positive way to manage, motivate and improve the performance of their teams.

One study found that 86% of companies rate their ROI favourably for their investment in coaching, stating that they at least made their money back. What’s more, according to the International Coaching Federation (ICF) leaders who participated in coaching saw 50 – 70% increases in work performance, time management and team effectiveness.

The success of an organisation relies on the wellbeing, engagement and collaboration of its leaders. Investment in external coaches who can develop leaders without the complications of a multiple agenda, judgement or bias, will see huge benefits for your business and everyone in it.

TPC Leadership has been providing specialist external, executive coaching for leaders since 2000, working with clients across over 110 countries. Get in touch to learn more about how our coaches can reap benefits for your business.

 

It has been proven in many studies that coaching results in improvements in many areas such as:

In a study (published in the Manchester Review), which primarily investigated executives from Fortune 1000 companies, it was reported that coaching leads to:

So having a coaching culture in an organisation not only increases employee retention but can also increase bottom-line profitability.

But if you are going to make the investment in coaching for your organisation how can you ensure a return on investment?

Over the past twenty years, TPC Leadership has not only trained thousands of coaches, but we have also worked with countless organisations to ensure their internal coaching proposition delivers results.

COACHING INVESTMENT

Here are our top 10 critical success factors to ensure investment in coaching really delivers:

  1. Coaching strategy – a coaching strategy has been developed to link coaching not only to the HR and L&D strategy but also the business strategy.
  2. Definition of coaching exists – the purpose and use of coaching has been clearly defined. This includes the expected outcomes too, e.g. coaching being linked to high potential development so it is not seen as remedial. The organisation has also made a clear decision on the type of coaching they will use, e.g. external, internal or line manager as a coach.
  3. Triangular goal setting – goals for a coaching programme have been agreed between the manager, client and coach. Coaching is therefore seen to support the achievement of business goals.
  4. Learning culture – the learning culture of the organisation is strategically focused on workplace development rather than classroom so is conducive to coaching.
  5. Sponsorship – leaders of the organisation sponsor coaching activity and role model coaching behaviours; they are coached and coach others. There is also a senior figurehead sponsoring the coaching proposition.
  6. Alignment with other people processes – mentoring, development programmes, performance management, reward and talent management systems and processes have been aligned and reinforce coaching activity.
  7. Coaching framework – the organisation has developed a framework and or processes for the induction, selection, matching and evaluation of internal and external coaching activity.
  8. Resources for internal coaches are in-place – resources are in place to enable internal coaches to effectively coach in the workplace and further develop their capabilities. Examples include supervision, development centres and continuing professional development events.
  9. Coach assessment – robust and objective assessment processes are in place for internal and external coach selection.
  10. Management of coaching provision – the organisation has dedicated staff responsible for the coaching provision. These members of staff have high levels of knowledge regarding coaching practices.

If you manage a coaching provision – how many of the above do you have in place?

If your organisation wants to develop its coaching provision, get in touch and we can discuss how to move forward.