Understanding Good Practice In Workplace Coaching

The Purpose and Importance of Coaching in the Workplace

Discuss about the Understanding Good Practice in Workplace Coching ?

Coaching has become the new trend in employee development. Professional coaches are emerging in different guises and vast numbers – Business coaches, Performance coaches, Executive coaches etc. The CIPD states that “coaching is a growingly popular technique to support personnel development”. The present paper intends to explain the meaning of coaching, its importance, tools to implement it, roles and responsibilities of a work coach, and the barriers to effective coaching. This study has been undertaken in the context of Batelco, the main telecommunications operator in Bahrain.

Workplace coaching is defined as the process which equips employees with the opportunities, tools and knowledge they require to completely develop themselves to be efficient in their commitment to their work, organization, and themselves.

It is the designed alliance centered on developing a worker to turn into his/her best self and to contribute their talents and the “best fit”[1].

Several leaders, companies and researchers have determined coaching as a vital management and leadership competency. Moreover, workers are asking for more and more coaching. Real coaching augments organizational and employee effectiveness and resiliency during change. Though coaching derives many management competencies and skills but it is in no way a re-packaging of those skills. It addresses worker development, growth and accomplishment by eliminating impediments to improving creativity and performance. Workplace coaching is not counseling or therapy, though it does use similar communication processes[2]. It is more about action, creativity and performance whereas therapy addresses healing and resolution of the past. Coaching is also not consulting or mentoring, though coaches are likely to employ their experiences, analyze circumstances and provide opinion at times. Under this practice, the coach uses all of his experience and knowledge to allow the individual being coached to develop and build his own resources, best practices and networks. Lastly, coaching is also not training. A coach does provide information, but they support the employees in cultivating their own knowledge and skills[3].

The key features of coaching are listed below:

• It is undertaken on one-to-one basis
• It intends to assist a person develop in some way or the other, e.g. enhance performance
• It enables the individual being coached to acquire insight and awareness instead of being directly told what to do or what to learn, so a direct advice is never given by the coach
• It is centered on allowing the person to accomplish set goals and is channelized toward actions
• It could be used to deal with myriad issues
• The coaching session is underpinned by the needs and agenda of the coachee and not the coach.
• It demands an open and honest relationship between the coachee and the coach, where the latter is encouraging and supportive.

Purpose of coaching

It is a lever to unleash potential, a tool to unlock performance, and an approach to transition. Coaching can be employed to augment the performance of the coachees beyond their expectations. It advocates resilience, innovation and pioneering performance, providing companies a competitive edge and an efficient means to operate and flow within a constantly changing environment. Batelco has successfully recognized that its managers should coach the workers and one another, and have incorporated coaching in their leadership/management development[4]. Coaching has been acknowledged by the company as an essential management and leadership competency. The company discovered that the customary “command and control” management style is no longer successful in present times, which demands leveraged creativity, quick response, flexibility, and individual performance and effort to stay competitive. Retention is crucial, and coaching promotes career development of employees which helps in retaining valuable employees. Workers who are coached to performance instead of being managed to performance are more dedicated and invested in the results of their performance and accomplishment of corporate goals.

Roles and Responsibilities of a Work Coach

Batelco has also identified that consistent training of the employees is imperative to stay competitive. Nonetheless, in absence of coaching, training loses its efficiency quickly, and is unsuccessful in attaining the required lasting behavioral modifications. While training is more of an event, coaching is more of a process and a critical next phase to training to ensure that the new knowledge provided, really converts into learned behavior. As the organization moves forward, change will become the norm and employee performance and flexibility will be instrumental to company success. Coaching influences employee abilities and strengths for optimal performance. It even facilitates direct learning just-in-time learningpluson-the-job customized to the specific situations. By allowing behavioral transitions, coaching enables people and projects to rapidly moved forward and with minimum efforts. Business change in present times is usually not linear, and demands speedy transitions into completely new frameworks. Real coaching supports employees in immediate shifts required to satisfy changing business demands.

Today’s workforce is witnessing the new employment contract which emerged in the 1980s and is now an integral component of the corporate environment. Career self-dependence is crucial for their competency under the new contract, in which the workers trade contribution and skills for opportunity and development[5]. Leaders and managers should coach them, as they become more career self-dependent and involve them in constant career development.

At Batelco, the main purpose of coaching is to cultivate responsibility and awareness. Through cautious questioning, the coaches help the coachees to build goals and identify the best means to attain them, usually examining past performance. The thought is that, through this process, the coachee will reach solutions that more likely to be realistic and relevant as they have come from themselves rather than being imposed by their seniors.

A work coach is a person who assists employees with their professional objectives, career development and long-run strategies for workplace success. A supervisor or manager at the company usually serves as the work coach, and at times, the organization can also hire a person in its HR team to fill this position. An effective work coach will not only tell the coachee how to do a thing, rather, he will discuss why some actions and processes in the profession are important and advantageous for their success[6]. A mentoring work coach is likely to help employees recognize their professional opportunities and give direction and advice on how to approach the work plans, projects and relations in the best possible way. Below mentioned are the roles and responsibilities of a work coach in Batelco:

• Inspiring the employees to perform “best practice” and “best thinking” – The coach ought to be highly updated on professional best practices and should not allow the employee to tread on a path which has already been confirmed to be faulty or out-of-date. Business practices are often highly insular and the coach should serve as a key source of novel external information.
• Causing the coachee to test assumptions and distinguish facts from beliefs– As an employee moves up the ladder of inference, he/she starts treating assumptions as facts to the extent where he/she will accept something as true which has little or no base in factual data[7]. The coach facilitates surfacing inaccurate assumption prior to making decisions by examining the beliefs being formed, inferences being attached and conclusions being drawn.
• Providing support and encouragement – The employees work in an ultra-complex environment with exceedingly high expectations placed on them. The management often tends to forget that they are also humans, with internal voices, anxieties, doubts etc. which are highly self-critical[8]. A wok coach in such scenario is invaluable for giving encouragement, constructive feedback and lending a supportive ear during tough times.
• Directs and teaches when competency and experience are short – Self-discovery is valuable only if there is something to discover intrinsically. When competencies are not there, self-discovery could be a fruitless road. Hence, a coach who is experienced in areas, where the employee is not, opens avenues to new insights and understanding.

he below mentioned behaviors and characteristics of a work coach are imperative to make the coaching effective:

• Impartiality – It is human tendency to make assumptions or judgments based on the way people behave or look. It is also common human nature to want to resolve issues and offer advice and assistance to people. Nonetheless, neither of such instincts should rise in a coach. Solutions do not require to be offered to the person being coached, they are already there within them; it is the coach’s task to bring out those answers, using efficient reflection and questioning.
• Listening –Sound listening skills are essential; in fact, all round communication abilities are imperative. It is important to ask the correct questions, but if the coach does not listen to the answers patiently, they may direct the coachee and any retrospective action plan in the wrong way. An effective coach displays interest, and makes the coachee the focus of the session. A comprehension of gestures and body language also go a long way in understanding the coachee’s thoughts[9].
• Proper Feedback – To provide successful coaching and achieve desired outcomes, a coach ought to use efficient feedback. Through exercise of impartiality, the feedback must point anything as being right, wrong, good or bad, instead be goal-centric. A coach needs to demonstrate and practice accountability, so that the coachee constantly moves ahead and stays focused[10]. The coach should have the ability to customize the feedback, for instance, an employee who intends to speak publicly is likely to appreciate feedback on their speech delivery, body language and audience engagement skills.
• Confidentiality – This is a highly significant element of a coach’s behavior. Not only is confidentiality demanded and expected on ethical and professional levels, it also creates the cornerstone of trust between the two parties to coaching. If the coachee does not feel secure to share his real feelings and thoughts, the entire exercise will be futile. Likewise, if the opinion of the coach creeps into the exercise, or the coachee thinks that the coach is discussing their personal matters with others, the relationship will be undermined and become fragmented.

Coaching operates around a framework of ethics that safeguards the interests of the clients. All coaches ought to comply with a code of ethics in their practice which is the base for a trusting relationship. Following the code of ethics presents the wide values and principles to which coaches subscribe. This entails confidentiality and the highest concern for the success and welfare of the coachee. In addition to this, it outlines rules that must be used by the coaches in varied situations that a coach may face. Lastly, such a code serves as a keystone for the moral and ethical standards of coaches. Contracting is a key domain of coaching. A coaching contract must not just outline the financial and legal components of the coaching relationship but also outline the psychological and professional limits within which the coaching will occur. The discussion of confidentiality is made at the beginning of the coaching sessions and the below mentioned could constitute the coaching contract:

• Coaches respect the right to privacy of the coachees. They do not ask personal information unless it is crucial in the provision of service. The confidentiality standards apply once there is disclosure[11].
• The discussion on confidentiality happens at the start of the relationship, unless it is infeasible or contraindicated, and is necessary from then on.
• Coaches explain the nature of confidentiality and its restrictions with the person being coached. Coach examines cases wherein confidential information might be disclosed or requested.
• All the knowledge gathered during the coaching sessions is confidential unless there is a convincing professional reason to disclose it.
• A coach discusses confidential information only for suitable consultative or professional intentions and with only those parties who are explicitly connected with the mater.
• A coach assumes all precautions to maintain and ensure the confidentiality of information conveyed via computers, telephones, email, voice mail, facsimile machines, instant messaging and other channels.

Tools and Methods for Implementing Effective Coaching

Human Rights Legislation has a serious impact on coaching confidentiality. Coaches are agents of the organization and may be summoned as witnesses if any lawsuit occurs. As required by the law in therapeutic relations, a coach needs to report likely threats to the coachee and the organization.

The most common and widely used coaching model is the GROW model. GROW stands for – Goal, Reality, Options and Way Forward. This framework is developed to assist the individuals contemplate things thoroughly for themselves and move toward enhanced performance. As far as coaching is concerned, simple is usually more effectual[12]. Employees tend to get stuck or lose motivation when burdened with tasks that they give themselves or the coach gives them. The GROW model helps in providing clarity to the coachees by presenting to them an easy model to fulfill their goals.

Goal –

“What is the goal you establish for yourself?”

“How will you keep track of its achievement?”

“Why do you want to attain it?”

It is at this phase of the coaching process, that the coaches in Batelco together tiwht the coachee set the goals the latter wants to attain. Setting SMART goals at the beginning of the coaching session provides a sense of purpose to the session making sure that it leads to meaningful conversations instead of pointless chat. During this stage, the goal may show the bigger picture of what the employee intends to achieve and what he/she wants from the session.

Reality –

“What resulted in this situation?”

“What challenges have you encountered?”

During this step of the process, the employee agrees to where he is now against his goal and what he has done to reach there. This stage is the actual opportunity to assist the coachee develop awareness of his existing strengths and build confidence.

Options –

This phase of the coaching process is about assisting the employees explore the available options. It is crucial for the coach to assist them to think out of the box so that the employees do not take their very first thought and instead explore widely and be creative[13].

Way Forward –

At this stage, the company’s coach helps clarify the commitment of the employee to their attaining their goal and ensures that the coachee has an awareness of what he will do now, where, and when. This is the phase, where techniques of scaling are helpful in ascertaining motivation and commitment.

Coaches ought to have awareness of coaching tools and techniques that can precisely identify the motivating factors for employees, their fears, personal values etc. These tools include the following:

Metamodel – Language is a random model reflecting the subjective experiences. The meta model is an accumulation of semantic structures which enables the coach to recognize three processes: distortions, omissions, and generalizations. It is also a series of questions which allows them to correct and complete such distortions, omissions and generalizations.

Meta Program –People do not react directly to the reality, but to their model of the world. Such model is developed through filters that people employ for organizing the infinite information around them. By identifying and mapping such filters, the coaches can obtain insights into the functioning of people within a specific context. By focusing on the way people function with respect to emotions, behavior, processes and language, the coaches discover how the internal programming of the coachee functions. This enables them to identify where things are wrong, and fix small things that may introduce major changes[14].

Barriers to Effective Coaching Practice

Typologies – With help of typologies, coaches build a rough sketch of coachee’s personality, emphasizing the prominent general features of his character. Enneagram and behavioral assessments are some of the most commonly used typologies. Coaches use the typologies for individual coaching and to resolve conflicts within the workplace, where varied personality types are compelled to contact one another[15].

Oracle model – Instead of feeling one’s way through an employee’s coaching journey, it is at times advantageous to employ a pre-set model, like the oracle. It is especially helpful when the coachee has a defined issue and knows what he intends to resolve. However, this model could also be followed to identify more profound problems behind what a coachee presumes as the problem. The coach must not necessarily recommend opinions, outcomes or solutions about the correct path for the employee. His role is to follow the technique so that the coachee reaches the solution himself.

Building an organized approach to archive and record scores is a critical facet of a work coach’s job and must not be neglected. Whether the intention of this record-keeping is to keep the organization informed on a regular basis or for more profound reasons, it remains a crucial function of a work coach[16]. There is a growing concern with the maintenance and quality of competence in all professional fields of practice. It is the duty of the coach in Batelco to ensure that a detailed and systematic system of record keeping is adopted. The purpose of record keeping by coaches is:

• Improving continuity between coaching sessions
• Providing a record for the use of the coach and in several cases, the coachee
• Facilitating evaluation, planning and assessment of progress
• Consideration ought to be given to the impact of several theoretical frameworks during the record keeping process, how this may influence coaching and the relationship with the coachee.
• Allowing the accumulation of basic statistical data for the intention of departmental audit. This might encompass before and after result measures.

Coaching records may contain the following:

• A factual, short narrative of what was talking in the session
• If some homework was assigned then did the coachee do it and related comments
• Any comment made by the coachee about their own punctuality
• The number of sessions the coachee has had, what number is this session?
• Any questions the coach intends to ask the coachee in next session
• An in-depth description of the homework assigned to the coachee
• Detailed and specific progress made by the coachee toward the goals
• The agreed upon time and date of following session

The nature of work, its ethos and culture at Batelco do pose some barriers to workplace coaching. These barriers include:

Resistance to coaching – This usually emerges in the company due to a feeling within the workplace that coaching is only for the poor performers. In addition to this, there are time when workers see that the higher management is reluctant in using internal coaches, and they promote an attitude of attaching a low priority to coaching activities, the employees are resistant to take coaching[17].

Used to controlling – The managers in Batelco feel that their job is to control and they are highly used to ordering their subordinates that they see it difficult to fathom that things could be done without their ordering the people.

Other issues that impede coaching in the company are:

• Gender issues
• Conflicting relations
• Poor communication skills
• Lack of commitment from coachee
• Poor engagement with stakeholders when introducing coaching

Overcoming barriers to coaching –

Early engagement – Collaborating with and interacting with the important stakeholders early on to gain their support on coaching initiatives.

Maximizing coaching which exists in the company – Efforts should be made on capitalizing n the existing coaching and using the value of coaching which has been identified to showcase the company benefits in embracing it.

Being selective – When contemplating running a coaching program, participants who are supporters of this practice must be identified and leveraged on.

References

Vanson, Sally. “How should coaches manage record keeping.” TPS. 23^rd September 2014. Web. 18 April 2017.

Amaro, Steve. “Record keeping important aspect of coach’s job.” National Federation of State High School Associations. 9 April 2015. Web. 18 April 2017.

Coaching Ethics and Considerations

Haughey, Duncan. “Better coaching using the GROW model”. Project Smart. 24 May 2014. Web. 18 April 2017.

Passmore, Jonathan. “Coaching ethics: making ethical decisions- novices and experts.”The Coaching Psychologist 5.1(2009): 6-10.

Mackin, Deborah. “LEADERSHIP: Exploring the Role of Coaches and Mentors in the Workplace.” New Directions. 4 March 2010. Web. 18 April 2017.

Whitmore, John. Coaching for Performance: GROWing Human Potential and Purpose – the Principles and Practice of Coaching and Leadership. Quercus. 2010.

Wilson, Carol. Best Practice in Performance Coaching: A Handbook for Leaders, Coaches, HR Professionals and Organizations. Kogan Page Publishers. 2011.

Starr, Julie. Brilliant Coaching 3e: How to be a brilliant coach in your workplace. Pearson UK. 2017.

Harris, Roger and Short, Thomas. Workforce Development: Perspectives and Issues. Springer Science and Business Media. 2013.

Steele and Bianchi. Coaching for Innovation: Tools and Techniques for Encouraging New Ideas in the Workplace. Springer. 2014.

Hacker, Stephen. How to Coach Individuals, Teams, and Organizations to Master Transformational Change: Surfing Tsunamis. Business Expert Press. 2012.

Poell, Rob and Woerkom, Marianne. Supporting Workplace Learning: Towards Evidence-based Practice. Springer Science & Business Media. 2011.

Haan, Erik., Culpin, Vicki and Curd, Judy. “Executive coaching in practice: what determines helpfulness for clients of coaching?”, Personnel Review, 40.1 (2011): pp.24-44.

Salomaa, Raija. Expatriate coaching: factors impacting coaching success”, Journal of Global Mobility, 3.3 (2015): pp.216-243.

Salter, Tina and Gannon, Judie. “Exploring shared and distinctive aspects of coaching and mentoring approaches through six disciplines”, European Journal of Training and Development, 39.5 (2015): pp.373-392.

Salter, Tina. “Equality of mentoring and coaching opportunity: making both available to pre-service teachers”, International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, 4.1 (2015): pp.69-82.

Wilson, Carol. “Developing a coaching culture”, Industrial and Commercial Training, 43.7 (2011): pp.407-414

[1] Vanson, Sally. “How should coaches manage record keeping.” TPS. 23^rd September 2014. Web. 18 April 2017.

[2] Amaro, Steve. “Record keeping important aspect of coach’s job.” National Federation of State High School Associations. 9 April 2015. Web. 18 April 2017.

[3] Haughey, Duncan. “Better coaching using the GROW model”. Project Smart. 24 May 2014. Web. 18 April 2017.

[4] Passmore, Jonathan. “Coaching ethics: making ethical decisions- novices and experts.”The Coaching Psychologist 5.1(2009): 6-10.

[5] Mackin, Deborah. “LEADERSHIP: Exploring the Role of Coaches and Mentors in the Workplace.” New Directions. 4 March 2010. Web. 18 April 2017

[6] Whitmore, John. Coaching for Performance: GROWing Human Potential and Purpose – the Principles and Practice of Coaching and Leadership. Quercus. 2010.

[7] Wilson, Carol. Best Practice in Performance Coaching: A Handbook for Leaders, Coaches, HR Professionals and Organizations. Kogan Page Publishers. 2011.

[8] Starr, Julie. Brilliant Coaching 3e: How to be a brilliant coach in your workplace. Pearson UK. 2017.

[9] Harris, Roger and Short, Thomas. Workforce Development: Perspectives and Issues. Springer Science and Business Media. 2013.

[10] Steele and Bianchi. Coaching for Innovation: Tools and Techniques for Encouraging New Ideas in the Workplace. Springer. 2014

[11] Hacker, Stephen. How to Coach Individuals, Teams, and Organizations to Master Transformational Change: Surfing Tsunamis. Business Expert Press. 2012.

[12] Poell, Rob and Woerkom, Marianne. Supporting Workplace Learning: Towards Evidence-based Practice. Springer Science & Business Media. 2011.

[13] Haan, Erik., Culpin, Vicki and Curd, Judy. “Executive coaching in practice: what determines helpfulness for clients of coaching?”, Personnel Review, 40.1 (2011): pp.24-44.

[14] Salomaa, Raija. Expatriate coaching: factors impacting coaching success”, Journal of Global Mobility, 3.3 (2015): pp.216-243.

[15] Salter, Tina and Gannon, Judie. “Exploring shared and distinctive aspects of coaching and mentoring approaches through six disciplines”, European Journal of Training and Development, 39.5 (2015): pp.373-392.

[16] Salter, Tina. “Equality of mentoring and coaching opportunity: making both available to pre-service teachers”, International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, 4.1 (2015): pp.69-82.

[17] Wilson, Carol. “Developing a coaching culture”, Industrial and Commercial Training, 43.7 (2011): pp.407-414