Coaching in
Turbulent Times
by Teo Jin Lee
In today’s environment characterized by
caution about the economic outlook and uncertainty of how long and how deep this
crisis will be, organizations are bracing themselves to ride it out with less
headcount but still expecting the same or greater top line growth and returns.
(Do more with less.) A tall order when you think about it, and the picture gets
even gloomier when we see pay and incentives pulled back with further
belt-tightening measures.
The crux of the organizational dilemma is
that while there is a need for increasing productivity, employees are
potentially growing unmotivated, disengaged and uncommitted, and since there is
no guarantee that their livelihoods are assured, fearing the worst for their
jobs.
So what can be done under these troubling
circumstances? What can organizations do to develop an environment where people
feel motivated, engaged and committed even during these critical
times?
Having worked with numerous organizations
in the region, I have found that the resilience of an organization, especially
in tough times, is reflected in its leadership.
The primary explanation when people leave
an organization has often been that they are not leaving the company but leaving
their bosses.
The key is to build a culture of
coaching. While not a panacea for all ills within an organization, it
is critical for helping organizations deal with the dilemma of
increasing productivity with less headcount and less
incentives. Take a look at the study conducted by Manchester Inc.
Florida, USA about the benefits of coaching, which included 100 executives from
Fortune 1000 companies and measured the improvements coaching reaped for these
organizations.
Improvements to the | Improvements to |
| • Productivity (53%) | Working relationships with direct reports (77%) |
| • Quality (48%) | Working relationships with immediate supervisors (71%) |
| • Organizational strength (48%) | Teamwork (67%) |
| • Customer service (39%) | Working relationship with peers (63%) |
| • Reducing customer complaints (34%) | Job satisfaction (61%) |
| • Retention of executives who received coaching (32%) | Conflict resolution (52%) |
| • Cost reductions (23%) | Organizational commitment (44%) |
| • Bottom-line profitability (22%) |
Creating the environment for
coaching
Coaching has to survive within the
opportunities and boundaries created by an organization’s
Culture (values, norms). In order to achieve excellent
performance and the desired business results, the coach must work with the
appropriate Culture and organizational Context
(strategy, structure, systems) to achieve Commitment
(motivation) and Competence (development and
application of knowledge and skills) from the clients.
The degree to which coaches can succeed in
communicating organizational context and culture and gaining competence from
people will be greatly determined by how successfully the coach can build
trusting relationships.
Acquiring the right skill set – a
case study
Justin, a manager in a multi-national
organization, has been coaching his team for a few years, but he has never been
able to measure his effectiveness as a coach or see what his gaps were as a
coach. By leveraging the highest global standards of Coaching
Masteries® from the International Association of Coaching®
(IAC), he has been able to consciously assess himself as he carries out
his coaching conversations with his employees. In tough times, as managers we
have considerable less time to carry out quality conversations with employees.
For Justin, with knowledge of the Coaching Masteries™, he has been able to first
connect with who he is as a coach and then be able to draw out the potential
from his employees and deliver the results.
Building a marketable skill
In difficult times, how do we create
incentive for employees to build and enhance their coaching skills so we can
continue to build a coaching culture within the organization? Providing
marketable skills through a global certification process from the
International Association of Coaching® (IAC) provides
leaders with a progressive growth and benchmarking of their coaching practice.
Summary
In an environment where organizations are
trying to do more with less, how do we motivate, engage and commit our people to
increase productivity and continued growth?
- Create a culture that supports
coaching. - Encourage the development of coaching
skills that are based on the highest global standards like the IAC Coaching
Masteries®. - Provide the foundation for building
marketable coaching skills for leaders that is based on a global certifying body
like IAC.
Teo Jin Lee is the Founding President of SCIAC and the
Managing Director of SMG Training Systems, a licensed school of IAC Coaching
Masteries®. Jin Lee has been coaching, training and consulting with
leaders across the Asia Pacific region for over 20 years. She has coached
executives through key transformational and change initiatives, epitomized by
the turbulent times today. For more information contact enquiry@smgts.biz.
