Tips for introducing coaching into your organisation
Do you want to introduce coaching into your organisation, but you're not quite sure where to start? Maybe you have just been on a coaching course yourself, and are keen to reap the benefits for your organisation? Or maybe you are thinking of strategies that would help improve employee engagement and performance? Maybe, in our new hybrid working world, you know that you need to do something different to support staff and think coaching might be the answer?
I get asked about how to introduce coaching into an organisation time and time again, so here are my tips to get you started with coaching in your organisation.
Tips for getting started
Start small.
Coaching can have transformational impact in organisations, even when it starts with the smallest intervention. Too often we think we need to go for the big bang approach. That can absolutely work, but not every organisation has the budget, resources or senior leadership commitment for this. And sometimes the organisation just isn’t ready for that approach.
Your organisation is unique.
Don't get too caught up in all the theory and best practice guides, or in what other organisations are doing. You don’t need to start with the standard approach. The best approach for introducing coaching is one that suits your culture, your people, and the needs of your organisation - even if it doesn’t match what every one else is doing.
Not sure where to start?
If you are not sure where to start, and you want to have the biggest impact, my advice is to start with coaching development programmes for your leaders and managers. We have been schooled into thinking that coaching has to start at the top, but actually working with managers can often have much more of a real impact than, for example, introducing executive coaching for your senior team. Remember, though, that the most important thing is to focus on the needs of your organisation and where coaching can have organisational impact.
Measure, evaluate and review
Learn from what is working. Talk to the coaches and their coachees, or managers and their teams. Build on their results and success, share it with key people and the wider organisation. Tie it into key metrics and show how coaching has contributed to wider organisational performance and strategy. I guarantee that participants on your coaching programmes will be your biggest advocates. Learn from them and use them as organisational champions and influencers.
Build in sustainability.
Think about how you will maintain, nurture and grow coaching right from the beginning. There is no point investing time, money and energy into a development programme or one off intervention, without considering how you will sustain it. Ongoing CPD and supervision is vital, but it needn't cost a huge amount or take up lots of resources. Too often people don't consider this, but it is a vital component of your strategy. You don’t want to introduce a new initiative, get immediate results but then not build on those.
Ready to get started?
My biggest advice is to start small. Just like in coaching, begin with the bigger goal in mind, but get started on what is achievable and doable now. Remember that one small coaching initiative can lead to a much bigger impact. Go and talk to other organisations and coaching providers, and learn from them.
In my first experience with coaching, we started with a group of just 5 managers attending a Coaching for Managers course. That led to an engaged and active community of over 300 coaches, a range of coaching programmes and services within the organisation that won us a National Training Award, and coaching integrated into organisational policies and procedures.
Go and talk to other organisations and coaching providers and learn from them. But remember to focus on your organisation and your needs. Thinks about the change you want to make, and how coaching will help. Then introduce the coaching initiative that suits this best. We're currently working with a range of organisations, all of whom have taken different approaches to introducing coaching, including:
Developing an internal coaching pool
Delivering coaching for managers courses
Offering an ILM Level 3 accredited programme as a pilot
Introducing executive coaching for senior leaders
All those approaches work because they have been considered and thought through. We identified the organisational need, where the organisation is at now, and how coaching can help support and work towards their goals. We worked in partnership with them to do this, and to identify not only the best coaching initiative, but also how they could evaluate, review and build on learning from these first coaching programmes.
If you are ready to start getting the benefits of coaching, but need to think through how to implement it in your organisation, I have developed a quick guide to help you work through four main steps in getting started.
What do I want to achieve?
Where are we now?
Where should I start?
How will I measure, sustain, and build on my first steps?
The guide will help you consider some key questions as you work through each step, helping you to clarify what you want to achieve with coaching and how you can get started.
And if you want a sounding board, or a little bit more advice or guidance, I am always happy to talk about coaching. Just click the link below to get in touch.