As we enter into what we are calling the ‘new normal,’ companies are increasingly focused on creating a growth culture. A recent CoachHub survey demonstrated that 70% of businesses worldwide are expecting to grow this year, and a huge 85% foresee growth next year. Innovation is king as the economy rebalances following 18 months of pandemic turbulence, and it’s easy to get caught up in the thrill of rapid expansion. But, short bursts of growth do not always translate into long-term profits, as hypergrowth can be unsustainable. Businesses can resolve this by investing in their most valuable resource: their people.

Boosting Employee Development

Investing in training and development is a key priority for businesses as we enter 2022, with nine in ten of those surveyed globally planning an increase in their employee training and development budget in the new year. In many cases, this investment may result in a diversification of the types of training offered, especially given that almost all respondents (97%) believe it is important to adapt training and development programs to the current business climate challenges. This consensus is unsurprising considering the vastly changing landscape of work in the last 18 months provoked by measures to combat the spread of Covid-19, a subsequent shift to hybrid working, and even a mass exodus of many workforces in what some are terming ‘The Great Resignation’.

The turbulence in the world of work could be a reason why employees in 3/4 of the responding companies consider that they are not sufficiently trained; it is difficult to adapt to changing circumstances without adequate support. Interestingly, however, two-thirds of respondents believe that employee training and development is discussed enough at their company. This discrepancy highlights a disconnect between management/executives and the wider workforce: training and development may be discussed at a higher level, but this does not currently translate into concrete action.

How Can We Pave the Path to Success?

Employees clearly require more training and development opportunities, but it can be difficult to figure out how to make training and development programs as effective as possible. Coaching is certainly one of the answers to this. More than half (56%) of organizations surveyed have already implemented coaching as part of their people development, with 39% thinking about doing so.

Coaching in business has become increasingly popular in the last decade, as it contributes to both employee efficiency and wellbeing. Its success lies in the fact that coaching programs are always adapted to the individual, meaning they can focus on more specific areas than other training and development programs and a coaching program is usually planned to last months, as opposed to a training activity that is just for a few days. As such, coaching is a highly effective behavioral intervention, suitable for employees at all seniority levels, and with a proven impact on people’s skills.

The digitalization of coaching means that the practice is now more accessible than ever. Platforms that are digitally native, like CoachHub, are specially designed to improve access to training and development, as money saved on physically meeting with a coach can be re-invested in making coaching accessible to the entire workforce, rather than just high-level executives. Democratization of coaching in this manner is an effective way to ensure that employees are fully supported through the changing nature of work, both in terms of their efficiency at work, and their wellbeing.

This article was originally published here.

Author Bio

Yannis Niebelschütz is Managing Director and Co-founder of CoachHub, a digital turnkey solution in learning and development democratizing coaching for employees of all career levels worldwide. He is a serial entrepreneur and former senior sales manager at LinkedIn. Yannis has more than 15 years of experience in New Work, startups and digital business building. Connect Yannis Niebelschütz

 
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