How do we begin to embed a coaching culture in our organizations?

Citation

Sisson, M. (2014), "How do we begin to embed a coaching culture in our organizations?", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 13 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-02-2014-0015

How do we begin to embed a coaching culture in our organizations?

Article Type: HR at work From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 13, Issue 3

Short case studies and research papers that demonstrate best practice in HR

The positioning of coaching within the development of talent and realization of its potential is widely recognized. The recent Ridler Report (2013) identifies the growth in the use of internal coaches within some 65 major PLCs that are currently developing coaching infrastructure within their organizations, including Ernst & Young, Barclays, KPMG and Sky.

Alongside our team of coaches and HR professionals at Awbery Management Centre, I am developing a greater understanding of how to move from early stage coaching to an embedded coaching culture. This is being achieved by working closely with our clients, together with leading experts in the field of coaching – notably professor David Megginson and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC).

Awbery is building understanding of how to develop a coaching culture within organizations, so that the strategic positioning of coaching is better understood and combines with the engagement of the whole organization in the concept of "accelerating talent development" and "realizing hidden talent" through the practice of coaching.

How to approach the cultural change

Awbery recently ran a Strategic HR Talent Forum, which involved an elite group of HR, coaching and business leaders from the public and private sector, debating the position of coaching within talent development. Through a detailed debate, the forum confirmed that for an organization to implement a successful coaching culture, the strategy must be clearly communicated, managers at all levels should be supportive and clear on the benefits of coaching, employees need to be engaged with the positive benefits of coaching, and there must be a clear rationale behind the choice of coach – whether external or internal.

The forum was hosted by Awbery’s Strategic HR director Jane Rawden, and facilitated by professor Megginson, the renowned author, founder and ambassador of the EMCC, emeritus professor of HRD at Sheffield Hallam University and a chartered fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Speaking at the forum, professor Megginson said: "Creating a coaching culture takes time, but changes start now, and the method of coaching, whether internal or external, is fundamental to its success. Whilst it may take a number of years for a fully embedded coaching culture to be established, leaders can take steps to ensure such space exists. Listening is at the heart of management, and through clever communication it is possible to position external training as part of the coaching culture, where the benefits of internal coaching can be drawn upon to make a greater organizational impact."

The steps involved in creating a coaching culture

My research into developing coaching cultures began in earnest in 2001 when I began to observe trends and patterns in organizations that were using coaching as part of leadership skill development. My interest led to more formal research into retailer John Lewis, which at the time and today still, is recognized for its use of coaching within the development of the organization’s culture.

It became clear that there are a series of stages to developing a coaching culture, a fact confirmed by the work of Clutterbuck and Megginson (2005) in their model of coaching cultures, in which they identify the activity within stages, from "nascent" through to "embedded".

My research confirmed the criticality of considering a number of perspectives before being able to move from "reactive, embryonic coaching activity" through to a "structured, strategically aligned, embedded coaching culture". Whilst I was exploring coaching in two major PLCs, combined with a series of detailed case studies over a two year period, the findings suggested the stages of development could be clustered into "headings", which are summarized below:

• The strategy and commitment focuses on the positioning of the coaching, the commitment of resources, and the development of competencies for internal coaches.

• The pairing and matching of the coaches to coachees is also critical in the early stage development of a coaching culture, to ensure the compatibility and consideration of learning styles, and that preferences are taken into account.

• The implementation and evaluation focuses on the selection of coaches and the importance of setting measurable objectives aligned with the business strategy at individual, team and organizational level, in order to evaluate the return on investment from the coaching activity.

Can/should a coaching culture embrace all employees?

Recognizing that coaching may be an effective method for realizing potential of all employees is a major factor in developing a "coaching culture", a perspective reinforced in early research by Vygotsky (1978) relating to the "zone of proximal learning".

Vygotsky defined the "zone" as "the distance between the actual level of development as determined by independent problem solving without guided instruction, and the level of potential development as determined by problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers" – an interesting concept supporting the idea that coaching may well help to realize potential in all employees.

Perhaps my thoughts in this article encourage us as professionals within the HR arena to ask a series of questions of our own organization, including the following:

• Where is coaching currently featuring within our talent development strategy?

• Where does coaching fit within the leadership skill development strategy?

• Are we acknowledging that, by developing an all-inclusive coaching culture, we may well release talent and accelerate performance across the whole organization?

The development of an embedded coaching culture will not be a quick win; however, it may well enable an organization to accelerate talent development and realize potential, which ultimately may lead to higher and more sustained levels of performance.

Mary Sisson
Mary Sisson is Business Development director at Awbery Management Centre, Repton, UK

References

Clutterbuck, D. and Megginson, D. (2005), "Create a coaching culture", People Management, Vol. 21, pp. 44–45

Ridler Report (2013), "Trends in the use of executive coaching, Ridler in collaboration with EMCC UK", available at: http://www.ridlerandco.com

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978), Mind in Society. The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

About the author

Mary Sisson is Business Development director at leadership development specialist, Awbery Management Centre. She leads on research into coaching and designs and delivers Awbery’s leadership and management development programs, together with providing high-impact business and life coaching. Sisson joined Awbery in 2009 and has over 20 years’ experience in strategic business development and leadership, including Master’s level research into the development of a coaching culture in a global company. She has worked with a wide variety of public and private sector organizations, working at all levels of leadership from first line to executive level. Mary Sisson can be contacted at: mailto:mary.sisson@awberymanagement.co.uk