As John Whitmore’s seminal book ‘Coaching for Performance’ so astutely points out, coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn, rather than teaching them. Let’s take a look at why coaching is important, how to do it well, and its benefits to the business.

Coaching Objectives

The objectives of successful coaching should include building trust between management and teams; building confidence so that teams know they are highly valued and that their opinions and suggestions matter; creating accountability to ensure that team members actively participate in their own professional growth and providing guidance on building and advancing their career path.

Coaching Effectiveness

Effective coaching is all about active listening and making team members feel that they are heard, that they are intelligent and that their topic matters. Being empathetic basically. The secret to successful coaching is creating a safe space where people can freely express themselves. The best coaches will take the time to look for effective ways to make a difference in the lives of their team - one coaching session at a time. They will aim to virtually ‘hold hands’ with their team members and venture down their personal and professional life paths with them. The best coaching sessions are treated like a coffee or lunch with someone you want to get to know better, rather than formal meetings.

The agenda should be set by the team member rather than the coach. Team members should be held accountable for coming prepared and good follow-up questions should be asked. When team members trust their coach and believe they are genuinely cared about, they are more likely to accept and act on praise and criticism; be honest about what they think about their performance and progress; engage in the same behaviour with other team members; embrace their role in their team and focus on getting results. A good coach will know the session is going well if both parties are engaged in identifying and solving real issues.

Coaching Benefits

Getting your coaching right can unlock amazing benefits like boosting employee morale and engagement, greater retention rates and most definitely higher performance. It’s an excellent way of supporting new starters and creates a culture of trust, honesty, transparency and positive communication. Effective coaching leads to accelerated personal and professional development for both the team member and the coach as they learn from and support each other. Relationships are also significantly strengthened as fundamental connections are made and successes shared. The sense of reward and satisfaction for both parties can be enormous. The best coaches grab the chance to give something back, an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life and experience first-hand the positive impact they are creating.

Coaching Program At Sharesource

One on one coaching sessions are a large part of Sharesource’s purpose to equalise opportunities and empower leaders. They feed into our values of being proactive and creating value for all our stakeholders. Our dedicated People Managers aim to ensure each team member reaches their full potential through individualised and personal regular coaching sessions. Starting the session by asking how they are doing personally goes a long way towards breaking the ice and making people feel that their coach genuinely cares about their well-being. Moving onto how they are doing at work and what their professional highlight was over the last month brings a sense of fulfilment and a reminder of what they have accomplished. Monthly progress on the work goals they set themselves at the beginning of each year brings a sense of ownership and accountability. Sessions are rounded off with the different monthly themed questions, for example: ‘What are your passion and purpose? The overall aim is always to understand what motivates a person by knowing their life story and the decisions they’ve made that have brought them to where they are, their values, their dreams and aspirations (short term as much as long term) and their growth plan, including what they need to learn in order to move in the direction of their dreams.

In summary, coaching that includes active listening, bridging gaps, respecting confidentiality and, most importantly, coming from a place of genuine interest and concern will ensure your team take their performance to the highest level they can. Strong coaches amongst your leadership team will keep you competitive in today’s marketplace and future-proof your business.

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