Coaching Culture – A Must for Companies?

More and more companies are recognising that the coaching approach plays a fundamental role in building trust, improving performance, and changing behaviour in the long term. This is also proven by a number of convincing figures and statistics. For this reason, more and more companies are placing culture at the heart of their organisational strategy.

The elements of coaching culture

According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF – the largest coaching association in the world), there need to be at least five of the following elements in order to build a coaching culture in an organisation:

The benefits of coaching culture

The benefits of coaching culture

As the world continues to evolve, today’s employees have very different expectations of corporate culture than they did just a few years ago. At the same time, the behaviours required for success are changing. Successful companies use a coaching culture to empower and help their employees to grow, develop and performn.

To create a true coaching culture, the coaching approach needs to become part of the overall structure of the organisation. In addition to developing coaching skills among executives and managers, coaching must be supported top down from the board level, peer-to-peer coaching must be encouraged, and feedback must become part of daily life.

Determining the value of a strong coaching culture

61% of the organisations with a strong coaching culture are also classified as high-performing organisations. Among the organisations which do not have a strong culture, there are only 27% which are classified as high-performing organisations. In other words, companies with a strong coaching culture are more than twice as likely among high-performing organisations.

Moreover, a strong coaching culture correlates with most indicators of a high-performing organisation, including the success in large-scale strategic change.

Companies with a systemic approach to coaching (i.e., with a strong coaching culture) are more likely to achieve better results from talents and from the organisation in general. That demonstrates the compelling value and impact that coaching has on  employees and leaders.

Coaching modalities

Coaching modalities

Typically, there are three different coaching modalities in organisations: internal professional coaches, external professional coaches, and managers and leaders who use coaching skills with their team members. While nearly two in five organisations use all three modalities, this number increases to 92% for organisations with a strong coaching culture. Organisations with more employees appear even more likely to use all three coaching modalities.

Managers and leaders who use coaching skills

Of the three modalities identified for organisations in this study, the one where managers/leaders use coaching skills emerges as the most frequently used method by the organisations surveyed. The main reason for this is performance improvement on the one hand, but on the other hand, managers/leaders also seem to use coaching skills as a way to improve the relationship with their employees. Building trust, promoting personal development, increasing self-confidence, and improving job satisfaction are other reasons for using those skills. The exact purpose of the coaching depends on what is needed for the person at that moment.

Coaching culture and change management

Coaching-related activities are perceived to be most helpful when it comes to achieving goals in change initiative(s). Unlike broader development activities such as training or e-learning, coaching is tailored to the needs of the individual employee, team or workgroup because the process is driven by the coachee(s) rather than the coach.

References:
ICF/HCI study „Building a Coaching Culture for Change Management
ICF/HCI study Building Strong Coaching Cultures for the Future
ICF/HCI study “Building a Coaching Culture with Managers and Leaders”
Coaching Culture Ltd. Study “How to create a coaching culture”

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