President at LHH.
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Building a strong workforce is more than a numbers game, which means that attracting and hiring employees is only the start. Companies also must help employees maximize their potential and performance, for workers’ own satisfaction as well as for the benefit of the company. A powerful way to achieve this is to create opportunities for learning and development through coaching.
A recent survey by my organization, LHH, showed that while 69% of all managers believe it is important for companies to provide coaching and mentoring on leadership skills, only 23% of leaders have received or are receiving coaching or mentoring. As we have seen over and over in the last 18 months, employees who don’t feel that their needs are being met will go elsewhere.
A 2018 study by the Work Institute found that employers could prevent 77% of turnover if they showed more support. Note that the survey was done prior to Covid-19 and the accompanying wave of resignations. At LHH, we have seen greater demand for coaching since the pandemic. That doesn’t surprise me as employers are looking to provide much-needed support to their workforce, which leads to more engaged employees as they learn and develop new skills.
Organizations that embrace a coaching environment can help promote emotional intelligence and coaching's core values of self-awareness, compassion and empathy. With increased insight into the impact they are having on others, leaders and employees become more focused on how they can achieve and maintain high performance.
Here is a look at how companies can harness the power of coaching and cultivate an environment that supports it.
Make Coaching More Widely Available
Coaching has long been a perk for top-level executives and high-potential employees. The rationale for the investment was that it would help ensure better performance in the first group and a pipeline of talent in the second. Both suppositions have proved correct.
But what about the rest of your employees? They, too, deserve the chance to improve their performance, discover their potential and offer the company their absolute best. Consider making coaching more widely available across teams. HR leaders and employers can craft coaching opportunities that positively impact employees' abilities while growing new leadership skills. Employers can equip their workforce with behavior shifts and strategies for coping with challenging situations.
Leverage New Delivery Methods
Changes in how coaching is delivered—online, in group settings, with self-directed modules—have made coaching more flexible, which can enable companies to make it more widely available. Rather than making the coaching process less personalized, online delivery can allow for greater customization. Give both employees and their supervisors a say in what modules an employee uses. Allowing employees some freedom of choice may mean they work on areas of particular interest to them.
Also, consider leveraging group settings for some aspects of coaching—either online or in-person. Create mentorship and coaching opportunities that help foster teamwork and a sense of connection. Both of these have been harder to develop with remote and hybrid work.
Coaching can be delivered by external coaches, internal coaches or a combination of the two, as well as with direct involvement from HR. The more people who are exposed to coaching, the more likely it is that you could see a shift in culture where people are open and transparent.
Focus On Onboarding And Integration
With the race for talent as accelerated as it is, many organizations are hiring new people as quickly as possible. They may not take the time to consider if the person will be a good fit culturally or even if they have the most important qualifications. Many quick hires might not work out either because the person is having too much trouble fitting in.
Onboarding and integration coaching can be a timely approach for boosting engagement and productivity. This can ensure you get the greatest value out of new hires.
Consider this: Would you rather deal with high turnover, or create an onboarding experience that sets hires up for greater success? Also, bear in mind that the best resource to offer may very well be someone internal who isn’t a formal coach but has empathy and institutional knowledge as well as leadership and team-building skills. (And if that person has been exposed to coaching themselves, all the better.)
Develop Soft Skills
Coaching can help leaders develop soft skills, which are essential building blocks in any meaningful relationship between leaders and teams. With an emphasis on emotional intelligence and communication, HR leaders can help build a psychologically safe environment where people feel valued and heard.
HR leaders can help support all workers by having a clear understanding of how coaching can make a difference and then using it as widely and wisely as possible.
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