Business Coaching

Why use coaching at work?     Benefits to organisations or  individuals.     Why use Aeona

• Is your company or business as good as it could be?
• Is your organisation as effective, proactive and productive as it could be?
• What goals do you have for your organisation? How do you plan to achieve them?
• How can you develop your staff to encourage higher engagement, peak performance and a more positive, motivated working environment?

Despite progress in technology, people are still the greatest resource of any organisation and make the difference between you and your competitors. Investing in coaching to address current issues develops your staff and future leaders; supports your management and executive team, especially during periods of change; and pays dividends in terms of maximising long-term sustainable performance.

We have coached people from a wide range of organisations including small to medium sized businesses, charities, public sector organisations to large international corporations. We support individuals and teams to raise their self-awareness and encourage them to take responsibility for their own professional and private lives. We coach people at all levels, including lower, middle and senior managers, directors, and business owners. We may be contracted either by individuals or by the organisation.

Contact us for a no-obligation, confidential consultation.
info@aeona.co.uk        07738 290384

 

The case for coaching at work.

Effective coaching in the workplace emphasises the importance of people learning how to solve problems themselves and delivers sustainable achievements. These include increased performance, fulfillment, personal responsibility, ownership of work, and enjoyment at work. Both the individual and organisation benefit from coaching.

At the recent Association for Coaching Conference 2008, Dr Gordon Coutts, MD, reported "coaching helped to transform myself and Schering Plough". Schering Plough, a pharmaceutical company, was a wounded, damaged company when he took over as MD in 2004. Coaching helped to identify organisational gaps and deficiencies; included leadership and team meetings to encourage new more efficient and effective strategies that came from the inside; created a more collaborative and joined up approach between all areas; and developed emerging leaders for the future. Coaching transformed the company so that it was awarded the Financial Times Best Workplaces UK 2006 and sales showed 18% growth compared to low single digits in the industry. "Never underestimate the power of one. One good coach can help improve millions of lives."

Nearly all respondents in the 2004 CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) survey of coaching in organisations agreed that:

Coaching can deliver tangible benefits to both individuals and organisations (99%).

Coaching is an effective way to promote learning in organisations (96%).

Coaching and mentoring embed learning from training courses into the workplace (93%).

When managed effectively, coaching can positively impact an organisation's bottom line (92%).

In the 2005 CIPD survey, 96% of Individuals receiving coaching and 87% of organisations said that coaching had a positive impact on performance.

 

Organisational situations where coaching may be particularly appropriate include:

Small or fast-growing businesses. The skills required to set up small businesses are different to those required to expand the business or manage larger businesses and the growing number of people they need to employ. It's unlikely that executives can be away from work for extended periods of time for development activities. Coaching can offer targeted, timely development on identified issues/areas that can be fitted into the individual’s busy schedule.

During times of organisational change. Periods of major organisational change can require significant shifts in the behaviour and attitudes of some employees in order to fit in with new structures or cultures. Coaching can help individuals make these necessary changes.

Team engagement. Facilitation of meetings by an independent coach can help to align team members and is particularly successful when combined with one-to-one coaching on team issues.

Changes in job role. Coaching can ensure success for promotions and new hires when different skills and abilities are required. Coaching can be a valuable short-term intervention to help people adapt and cope with their role change.

Career Management. Increased levels of change in organisations mean people find it difficult to make career decisions. Coaching helps individuals get a clearer perspective of potential options.

Talent shortages. When organisations suffer from significant skills shortages, money may be better spent developing the skills of current employees through coaching, rather than recruiting external candidates.

Support for future leaders or senior executives. Coaching can be a suitable intervention for senior managers or executives bring groomed for leadership roles as it is a confidential, personal and ‘safe’ development option. The executive benefits from an objective, external person to help them with their development, in a flexible, time-sensitive manner. See our Executive Coaching page and our new open workshop on Leadership Development.

Other key areas where coaching is employed include: to develop an individual's business performance or people management skills, leadership development, retention of top staff, implementation of strategic goals, team development, change management, succession planning, developing major expansion/new project and introducing new management or financial processes.

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"If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got."
W.L. Bateman

 

The Benefits of Business and Executive Coaching to the individual .

The benefits of working with a coach, reported by executives in businesses of all sizes from multi-national companies to SMEs and start-ups, include:

• More success in accomplishing their business goals through understanding their business objectives more fully
• A sense of purpose for their company
• Clarity - knowing what to do and how to do it
• Increased business growth
• Increased self-confidence
• Better work/life balance
• Improved motivation and performance
• More open, honest and supportive relationships
• A better Management Team - the key to the success of any corporate entity is the strength and commitment of the management team.
• Company life is a series of decisions and coaching helps people make high quality decisions in line with company policy and/or strategy.
• Coping with change. Coaching plays a critical role in helping individuals and organisations create, adapt to and accept change as a challenge rather than an obstacle.

 

"Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory." George S. Patton

 

The Benefits of Business and Executive Coaching to the organisation

Many companies of all sizes report benefits of coaching, but few studies have tried to quantify the benefits. Manchester Consulting reported in The Manchester Review (2001) an average return on investment of 5.7 for executive coaching services and measurable tangible impacts as well as intangible benefits. The research was based on a survey of 100 senior executives mainly from US Fortune 1000 companies.

Factors that enhance the effectiveness of coaching are the coach/participant relationship, quality of coaching feedback and assessment, participants' commitment, and strong organisational support for coaching. Factors that detract from success in coaching are low commitment or availability by the participant, and poor organisational support and communication issues.

Top five tangible benefits	Top five intangible benefits
Enhanced productivity (personal and corporate). Quality of output. Organisational strength. Improved customer service. Retention of people.	Improved relationships (management team and peers.) Improved customer relationships. Improved teamwork. Improved job satisfaction. Reduced conflict.

 

The CIPD Coaching and Buying Coaching Services report and survey (2004) listed similar factors that contributed to the success of coaching and the following benefits:

Benefits for the individual

Benefits for the organisation

Learn to solve own problems Improve managerial and interpersonal skills Have better relationships with colleagues Learn how to identify and act on development needs Have greater confidence Become more effective, assertive in dealing with people Have a positive impact on performance Have greater self-awareness Acquire new skills and abilities Develop greater adaptability to change Improve work-life balance Reduce stress levels

Improve productivity, quality, customer service and shareholder value Can gain increased employee commitment and satisfaction, which can lead to improved retention Demonstrate to employees than an organisation is committed to developing its staff and helping them improve their skills Support employees who have been promoted to cope with new responsibilities Help employees to sort out personal issues that might otherwise affect work performance Support other training and development

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Why use Aeona for coaching in your organisation.

Evaluation of clear business measures and benefits for the organisation is vital to measure the success of a coaching intervention. We bring a scientific approach towards monitoring and evaluation of both quantitative and qualitative coaching outcomes. We agree and clearly define with the organisation and client at the start of the programme:
1) the goals to be achieved;
2) observable indicators of those achievements and interim steps and ways to measure the indicators;
3) the coaching style and methods to be used; and
4) set the framework for feedback or desired measures.
During the coaching (if it is a long intervention) and at the end, we analyse and report on the measurements.

Aeona highly values confidentiality as it is critical for successful coaching interventions. When an organisation sponsors coaching, the contract between the organisational sponsor, the coach and the person having coaching (client) will explicitly address expectations about client/coach confidentiality, the form and level of feedback to senior management and the limits of coach accountability for outcomes, to ensure that all parties' objectives are met.

Working to your agenda, Business/Executive coaching is a natural support for both client and company/organisation, as combined shared targets and goals can be met within a set budget. The advantage of real-time intervention is that coaching deals with real issues at work and does not require periods of training away from work.

Please contact us for further information on the coaching models and tools we use or to arrange a meeting with our lead coach, Dr Sue Mitchell.

 

Contact Aeona today for more information about coaching in organisations and creating a business case for coaching to benefit your business or organisation.

Tel: 07738 290384     or     email info@aeona.co.uk

 

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"Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare." Japanese Proverb