The aim for all businesses is to be successful, with the definition of success being different depending upon the nature and objectives of the business.
However you define success, it’s largely achieved by having a productive, engaged, motivated, and happy workforce.
Without this, your business is at risk of not going to the places you wish and in the way that you want.
As effective business leaders, we have an opportunity to find meaningful and successful ways that we can help our employees on this journey and to help them to become the best versions of themselves.
A good business should look to offer a well-rounded grouping of employee support, development, and benefit offerings. Taking into consideration that everyone is on a different journey, with different goals, aspirations, needs, and challenges at any one given time.
One often under-utilised way to complement your employee support is in the provision of coaching within the workplace.
Coaching In The Workplace
Coaching develops the mindset and capabilities of individuals who may be new or existing leaders, managers, top performers, and up-and-coming high-potential employees.
Really, any individual within your organization who you value and want to help develop, retain, motivate, and engage in today’s fast-changing and demanding work environment can benefit from coaching.
Fostering a coaching culture within an organisation has proven to be effective in growing and maintaining a high-performing, productive, engaged workforce with huge benefits possible surrounding staff wellbeing.
More companies are investing to provide professional coaching to their key executives, new team leaders, top performers, and up-and-coming high-potential employees.
And while the ROI of coaching in the workplace can be difficult to measure, there is an increasing body of evidence to show that it does reward companies that choose to invest. More and more companies are starting to see the benefits of what coaching can bring to their organisation.
80% of people who receive coaching report increased self-confidence, and over 70% benefit from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills. 86% of companies report that they recouped their investment in coaching and more (source: ICF 2009)
Coaching and associated development offerings in the workplace come under many guises - executive coaching, leadership coaching, mentoring, and many forms of training.
These offerings can be extremely powerful ways to support and develop your employees, covering topics like:
Leadership Development
Management Skills (e.g., Effective Delegation)
Productivity (e.g., Prioritisation, Time Management)
Personal Awareness (e.g., Strengths, EQ, Personality Profiling)
A Holistic Approach Across Work and Life
The important point to add here is that work-life and personal life are inextricably linked, we know that one area affects the other. If one area of our life is out of kilter for whatever reason, it can have negative impacts across other areas too.
We can’t really separate our lives between work and personal and nor should we feel compelled to. By doing this we leave a little of our true selves behind when we enter the workplace, which is a shame and a loss.
Businesses, therefore, can greatly benefit from coaching that not only focuses on relevant work-related topics, but by allowing the coaching to cover all areas of their lives.
In this way, they can truly benefit from a holistic 'Coaching In The Workplace' coaching experience, blending work and home life topics that are the most important for that individual at that moment.
Sometimes there is a gap between intention and action when it comes to treating our employees as individuals rather than just employees who turn up to do a job.
Successful organisations take action to make this gap disappear, to look for ways in which they can support their employees so that they can show up as their best selves.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility ties into this. CSR straddles many areas from environment, governance, community, and customers, to people.
Ultimately good CSR focuses on putting more back into society as a business than you take out.
An effective way that you can add to your CSR agenda, is to look after your employees from the perspective that they are people first and foremost. That their lives intrinsically consist of work ‘stuff’ and home ‘stuff’, and to offer a coaching service to support them.
Helping people become happier and more fulfilled is not only good for your business, but good for them and for society overall.
Joe’s Story….
Take an example of someone, let’s call them Joe...
Joe is struggling. He feels there is no time in the week to do the things he feels compelled to action at work.
He is spending far too many hours working late into the evenings without feeling productive.
He is not present in the moment when he’s with his family. Thoughts continue to build on his work demands, he can’t switch off.
Joe is experiencing stress and anxiety (not a healthy state to stay in). This is also causing his relationships with his wife, children, and work colleagues to suffer.
He places great emphasis and value on ‘family’ but he feels he is failing in this area of his life.
Resentfulness seeps into his workplace setting, affecting Joe’s mindset and productivity whilst at work. His situation is stopping the progression of what is a very promising career.
What coaching is needed for Joe to move to a better place? Well, this will always depend upon the individual and their specific situation. With Joe however, it consisted of these focus areas:
Each of the above areas would warrant coaching that focuses on what’s happening both in Joe’s work and home life to make the positive changes he desires.
If an individual can develop and progress across all areas of their lives, they will certainly show up as a better version of themselves at work and they will thank you for it.
Coaching Benefits for Your Business
Positively affects employee engagement, development, productivity, and happiness.
Shows employees that they are valued and can develop within your company.
Helps retain your best employees.
It can differentiate you as an employee.
Helps towards your desire for a successful business.
Coaching Benefits for Your Employees
Empowers individuals to own and progress their career and development.
Improved work-life balance.
Improved well-being.
Improves self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-belief.
More confident with direction.
Increased motivation.
Better work-life balance.
Better goal-setting and achievement.
Better habit forming.
Relationship improvements.
I hope this blog goes some way in helping to introduce why workplace coaching with a holistic offering that encompasses both home and work life is a good thing.
If you feel it would be beneficial to explore how a coaching service could benefit your business, do feel free to reach out to me and I would be happy to explore with you how coaching could help you.
If you're an individual interested in 1-1 coaching to target work and life topics, do feel free to reach out.
Nick is a Life, Personal Development, Career & Leadership Coach based in Norfolk, England & coaching virtually worldwide. Through his work with individuals and businesses, he helps unlock potential. Helping his clients achieve success and happiness in their personal lives and careers - www.nickhowellcoaching.com
[Stressman image by redgreystock on Freepik, balancing-work-family-abstract-concept-illustration by vectorjuice Freepik]
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