Career advice, insights & tips for HR professionals
10 benefits of coaching for businesses 12/05/2010
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Any new project or initiative carried out in a company has to show Benefits, some true return on investment. We're getting used to working with reduced resources and using business coaching is a good way to help staff work effectively with tight budgets. Added to this, once a member of staff has developed new skills with the help of their coach they are able to use those skills through out their future career. Here are 10 top Benefits to business of coaching.
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- Reduce the number of problems
- Staff have a greater understanding of themselves
- Improved time management
- Clarity & focus regained
- Better understanding of corporate mission/vision
- Letting go is good
- Nobody has all the answers
- Recognise the need for innovation
- The answer's not always 'yes'
Reduce the number of problems
Problems exist because the solution has not been found. By engaging a coach, staff have a forum to discuss ideas to move passed these barriers to their work.
Staff have a greater understanding of themselves
Your staff are your biggest asset and therefore companies should use them to their greatest potential. This does rely on the staff understanding of what they themselves are capable of. Through coaching, staff move through the journey of self discovery. Allowing them to bring their greatest potential to the objectives of the company.
Improved time management
How much time and energy is wasted in organisations delivering things which in the end are not required? By using the goal setting elements of coaching, appropriate goals can be set, which are truly SMART (Specific, Relevant, Achievable, Relevant and Timely) in all senses. This means that unrealistic goals which would have taken away effort have been stopped.
Clarity & focus regained
Clarity is often overlooked in business when the initiatives keep piling up on departments and individuals. By discussing the situation with someone from outside of your area, a path may be discovered through the wood and the realisation that woods can be really interesting places to be.
Better understanding of corporate mission/vision
A business coach actually has two masters; the individual undergoing coaching and the company that the individual works for. This allows the coach to direct the goals that are more in line with the corporate mission/vision. So, instead of being a phrase that is quoted on company literature, the mission/vision becomes true for the individual in their own terms.
Letting go is good
Some managers have a difficulty in delegation and therefore become a bottle-neck to effective operations. Utilising a coach allows these individuals to see how they can ask others to undertake tasks without the removal of responsibility. This will ultimately allow them to have a better and more effective use of their time and resources.
Nobody has all the answers
Companies tend to set targets corporately in the 3-5 year time frame. Nobody realistically expects all of these targets to be expressed and planned absolutely, so why do we expect it of individuals? Some staff suffer from analysis paralysis because they must define all work before starting anything. This obviously means that no work begins, ever. By discussing the situation with the coach, an individual can identify the steps to achieve the final goal and only plan one step at a time.
Recognise the need for innovation
Companies need to change to survive, it's a fact of modern business. In some organisations there exists the ‘Punch and Judy Population’. Those are the individuals that constantly refuse to innovate saying, "that’s the way we’ve always done it". By discussing the situation at hand, a manager can discover how the change can be positioned by pass the population.
The answer's not always 'yes'
It's always useful to have a Challenge in business. Some conflict can detract from achievement of goals, it should not be forgotten that positive conflict is always required in business. This is where decisions and concepts are Challenged to prove to all that they are valid and useful items for the business to concentrate on.
Nick Thomas, associate, Maven Training
Nick Thomas is an associate of Maven Training who provide coaching, training and capability building services in project programme and change management.