Three Fundamentals For Building A Sustainable Coaching Culture

Recognize the value of coaching and dedicate adequate resources to make a coaching culture sustainable

Well before the phrase, “new normal” became commonplace in our Covid-19 lexicon, the concept of a “coaching culture” was becoming the norm for a growing number of high-performing organizations. This approach was meant to foster leadership development at all levels in ways that readied a workforce for change and disruption. Coaching, as a specific, research-backed process, focuses on impactful, forward-thinking relationships. It also is one of the most effective ways for companies and organizations to manage and support radical shifts in operations such as the transition to the large-scale shift to remote work.

These days, coaching is no longer just for the C-suite. Rather, high-performing and growth-oriented organizations are investing in company-wide coaching programs to enhance performance and sustain unique values within a company culture.

If your organization wants to drive better business outcomes—and help prepare for the “next normal”— here are three ideas that make coaching a competitive advantage for your teams, along with three examples of organizations that achieved success and pivoted their coaching initiatives in the wake of the pandemic.

Aligning a coaching program to an organization’s desired outcomes is often an overlooked step when designing a coaching culture. In fact, The International Coaching Federation’s 2020 Global Coaching Study found that evaluating the impact of coaching was the top ongoing challenge for organizations. While Return on Investment (ROI) may be the most common method for measuring the potential value of a coaching culture, focusing on Return on Expectations (ROE) can have far greater impact. By linking coaching to specific and desired outcomes, an organization, and the HR professionals likely responsible for the coaching initiative, can clearly articulate how coaching can help the organization achieve strategic goals.

Measuring ROE starts with identifying individual metrics that are unique to each organization. This could include increased confidence for managers working with remote teams, an accelerated virtual onboarding process for new leaders, or overall talent retention. Employing before-and-after coaching surveys where coaching participants can rate their progress toward achieving such goals can also efficiently track the program’s effectiveness. Focusing on these intrinsic benefits allows an organization to showcase how coaching adds value and impacts.

The International Trade Administration (ITA), a United States governmental agency recognized with an ICF 2020 Prism Award as having achieved the highest standard of excellence for a coaching program, aligned its coaching initiative to four key internal principles: impact, sustainability, scalability, and efficiency. It used pre- and post-coaching surveys to measure the program’s impact. More than 98% of coachees within ITA indicated they would recommend coaching to others, and a near-similar percentage described the experience as valuable in helping them accomplish at least one professional goal. ITA has since launched an international pilot program to assist parts of the agency’s global workforce to address unique challenges they face while abroad.

Adopting and sustaining a strong coaching culture requires buy-in at all levels of an organization, starting with upper-echelon leaders who might be skeptical about what coaching can do for the bottom line. Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, a company-wide coaching program requires diligent planning. This can include a small pilot program that allows executives or other senior leaders to gain first-hand coaching experience as a way to better understand how transformative it can be for enhancing communication, confidence, and other crucial soft skills.

The initial success of a small-scale initiative often provides proof of concept and leads to an organization widening the scope of its pilot coaching program with more resources to make the experience available to other levels of management or to all employees. In doing so, leaders demonstrate how coaching adds value not only to them as leaders, but to employees and the overall organization in the form of increased productivity and performance.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, another organization that received ICF Prism recognition in 2020 for its rigorous coaching program, has top-level support, including from its president. Such buy-in and enthusiasm have led to the adoption of ‘Coach and Develop’ as one of MD Anderson’s measurable competencies for prospective leaders, including regular evaluation of all leaders on their coachability. As Covid-19 continues to impact the lives and work especially of those in health care, MD Anderson’s leaders access remote, on-demand coaching to address common themes, including the blurred lines of work/life balance, making difficult decisions and effectively managing virtual teams.

Coaching, at its core, is an investment in people, so they can reach their highest professional and personal potential. As previously mentioned, this includes more than just senior or executive staff. While resources may be finite, equipping managers and leaders to properly use coaching skills and approaches can help reinforce a coaching culture that cascades throughout an organization, far beyond the direct coach-to-coachee relationship. This includes empowering managers to use active listening during check-ins with direct reports, or ask powerful questions during meetings, or show empathy and concern during difficult conversations with colleagues. Adopting a coaching mindset instead of the traditional ‘command and control’ style of leadership helps managers better understand their teams and ultimately make better decisions.

The German multinational software corporation SAP SE makes coaching a fundamental aspect of its leadership training program. SAP’s managers equipped with coaching skills are empowered to use a coach approach in daily interactions with their direct reports. This includes approaching conversations with curiosity and an “ask” mindset instead of a “tell” mindset. Leaders and employees also benefit from virtual sessions to explore the connection between coaching and working through uncertain times. With this stellar representation of impactful best practices, it’s likely no surprise SAP SE is another ICF 2020 Prism honoree.

For coaching to have a long-lasting impact, organizations must first recognize the value of coaching and dedicate adequate resources to make a coaching culture sustainable. HR professionals can help leaders lay the framework of a coaching program by succinctly linking coaching to an organization’s strategic goals and desired outcomes. Establishing a measurement process to evaluate its success is also crucial. A coaching program that has the backing of the upper levels of management can help facilitate growth for all employees. The same goes for properly training managers and leaders to use coaching skills as a way to extend a coaching culture throughout the entire organization.

With the right mindset and resources, a well-developed coaching program can lead to a significant shift in productivity and engagement for employees who feel valued, validated, and appreciated. In turn, this can translate to increased resiliency for a workforce positively responding to the ongoing challenges of the pandemic and beyond.