Business

 

"there are no bad troops, only bad leaders".

 

“Leadership is the priceless gift that you earn from the people who work for you. I have to earn the right to that gift and have to continuously re-earn that right.”


Sir John Harvey-Jones

 

 

 

If you’re a Director of your own company, a Chief Executive or Manager – you’re also a Leader and your leadership skills and style will have an impact on the morale and performance of your team, and ultimately your profits.

 A research study conducted on the transfer of training impact of executive coaching found that training alone increased productivity by 22% and when executive coaching was used to supplement the training, productivity increased by 88% (Olivero, Bane, & Kopelman, 1997).

Solid! offers a range of cost effective training and coaching programmes to support you and your business to boost performance and raise profits.

 

Coaching Programmes for Business

In a study of managers who had received executive coaching, 77% of respondents stated that their relationships with their staff team had improved, 71% claimed that relationships with their supervisor had improved, 63% believed that their relationship with peers had improved and 61% felt an improvement in job satisfaction (Miller, 2001). 

 

The rewards of running a business can be high and the day to day business is often punctuated with stresses and pressures. This gives little time to take an objective view with someone who will fully listen without an agenda of their own.

Business coaching is a professional and confidential, one to one relationship that offers you the time and space to think through what’s going on in your business and re-focus with clarity and vision to get the results you want.

Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air.
You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.
But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered.
They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life."

 

Solid! Coaching for Business ensures that the process is results orientated and includes:

·        Coaching Contract to identify cost, purpose, objectives and duration of coaching

·        Ensure trust, confidentiality, good rapport and mutual respect.

·        Adhere to coaching ethics and codes of practice.

·        Pre-coaching audit of skills and performance.

·        Define your business values and ethics, vision and strategy.

·        Identifying the key issues, challenges and outcomes to focus on.

·        Set a clear development plan.

·        Analysing the barriers and blocks to success

·        Refocussing on key actions for greatest impact.

·        Monitoring of progress during the coaching process.

·        Evaluation of performance in the workplace and outcomes for the business as a result of coaching.

 

 

The value for managers

  • A chance to take an objective view of their people management style and create ways to enhance business relationships and impact.
  • Increased clarity about business goals and options.
  • More confidence and competence in their 'people management' skills
  • More influence over team members, colleagues and business partners
  • More flexibility in adapting to the needs of individuals
  • More effective collaboration with colleagues and clients
  • Better working relationships


The value to your company

  • More commercially effective and creative work
  • Improved morale and working relationships among managers and team members
  • Better communication and collaboration between teams
  • Better communication and collaboration with clients and business partners
  • Developing your talent pool - increasing the 'creative capital' of the business
  • Reduced interpersonal conflict absenteeism
  • Increase Sales

 Effectiveness of Coaching

According to the results of the 2004 CIPD training and development survey, two-thirds of respondents reported that they felt their coaching activities had been effective in meeting objectives. Almost all (99%) felt that that coaching had brought tangible benefits to both individuals and organisations.

Research has shown that long term coaching programmes tended to have massive impact in the first 60 days of coaching and then the speed of performance improvement or behavioural change reduced over the next few months. Then another acceleration in results occurred in the last 30 days as the programme finished.

It also asked what organisations who employed the coaches wanted to see as a result:

  • 69% wanted increased performance or profit
  • 21% to develop their leadership capacity, self awareness, empower staff or improve communications within the organisation
  • 10% a mixture of balance, support, confidence and being happy in the workplace

Manchester Inc. recently released a study of 100 executives that quantifies the business impact of external executive coaching. Companies that provided coaching to their executives showed improvements in productivity, quality, organisational strength, customer service, and shareholder value. They received fewer customer complaints and were more likely to retain executives who had been coached.

In addition, a company's investment in providing coaching to its executives showed an average return on investment (ROI) of almost six times the cost of the coaching.

Among the benefits to companies that provided executive coaching were improvements in:

  • Productivity (reported by 53% of executives)
  • Cost reductions (23%) Quality (48%)
  • Cost reductions (23%) Organisational strength (48%)
  • Cost reductions (23%) Customer service (39%)
  • Cost reductions (23%) Reducing customer complaints (34%)
  • Cost reductions (23%) Retaining executives who received coaching (32%)
  • Cost reductions (23%)
  • Bottom-line profitability (22%)

Among the benefits to executives who received coaching were improved:

  • Cost reductions (23%)
  • Working relationships with direct reports (reported by 77% of executives)
  • Working relationships with immediate supervisors (71%)
  • Teamwork (67%)
  • Working relationships with peers (63%)
  • Job satisfaction (61%)
  • Conflict reduction (52%)
  • Organisational commitment (44%)
  • Working relationships with clients (37%)

In January 2001, research by the International Personnel Management Association (IPMA), concluded "ordinary training typically increased productivity by 22%, while training combined with life coaching increased productivity by 88%".

Research by Vision Quest Consulting in 2001 found that of all clients interviewed:

  • All increased their ability to deal with business challenges by 75% or more
  • 88% improved their job satisfaction by 75% or more
  • 80% improved their ability to stay focused under pressure
  • 78% increased their productivity at work by at least 50%

In May 2002 the Chartered Management Institute and Campaign for Learning published the results of their "Coaching at Work", an in-depth analysis of the benefits of coaching. Results showed:

  • Four out of five executives believe they would benefit from coaching at work and dismiss the suggestion that coaching is just another fad
  • Virtually all managers (96%) think coaching should be available to every employee, regardless of seniority
  • 85% of managers say the main value of coaching is in enhancing team morale
  • 80% of managers value coaching for generating responsibility on the part of the learner

Research by the International Coach Federation showed:

  • 70% of clients said their investment in a coach was VERY valuable
  • 81.9% of coaching clients said it was important to them that their coach has special training in coaching
  • The outcomes that clients most often attribute to their coaching are:
    • Higher self-awareness (68%)
    • A better balanced life (61%)
    • Smarter goal-setting (62%)
    • Lower stress levels (57%)
    • Greater self-confidence (52%)

What is coaching?

Many people are confused about what coaching is and what the benefits are for both the individual and the organization. The Charted Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) defines coaching as 'developing a person's skills and knowledge so that their job performance improves, hopefully leading to the achievement of organisational objectives.'  It targets high performance and improvement at work, although it may also have an impact on an individual's private life. It usually lasts for a short period and focuses on specific skills and goals.' Coaching supports people in an increasingly competitive and pressurized world by helping them to:

·         develop their skills;

·         improve their performance;

·         maximize their potential

 

Coaching Model

ASSESS

·         Why is coaching required?

·         What preparation is needed?

·         Define outcomes

SET GOALS?

·         Coach/Coachee goals

·         Identify activities

·         Determine approach

PREPARE

·         Set model for learning

·         Plan activity

·         Build coaching relationship

IMPLEMENT

·         Coaching sessions

·         Explore beliefs and values

·         Develop skills & strategies

REFLECT

·         Determine effectiveness

·         Evaluate changes

·         Plan future activities