Five occasions your staff could benefit from a Coach

There is an overarching theme in my coaching that you may have noticed. If you have come to my blog via my LinkedIn profile, you will have seen me declare, loudly and proudly: “Supporting parents, and their employers, to create a career to enjoy, and a healthy work-life balance, through 1:1 & online coaching, workshops and training”. If we were to meet in person, I would let you know I am (amongst other things) a Return to Work and Career Coach for Parents. Hopefully, you have a better understanding of what I do, but today I what to talk more about who I work with. I want to give you more insight into the five occasions that your staff (or you!) could benefit from a Coach.

Let me take a break to speak to those that are still sceptical about coaching and share with you some fantastic statistics and research findings. It’s very easy for me, a qualified and committed coach to wax lyrical about the power of coaching. I am biased! However, the research speaks for itself:

 

“A meta-analysis of 18 studies of coaching in organizational settings showed that coaching has a relatively large effect on clients’ coping capacities and resilience, subjective well-being, attitudes, performance, and goal-attainment. Research shows that coaching has positive effects on performance and skills, well-being, coping, work attitudes, and goal-directed self-regulation (The Journal of Positive Psychology)”

 

“Executive coaching helps women improve their performance, satisfaction, and well-being (International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring)”

 

“Compared to non-mentored employees, employees who receive mentoring receive higher compensation, a greater number of promotions, feel more satisfied with their career, feel more committed to their career, and are more likely to believe that they will advance in their career. (The Journal of Applied Psychology)”

 

These three points are just the start of the personal and professional benefits that have been linked to coaching support. So, now you are convinced of the impact of coaching, let me share five occasions your team could benefit from coaching!

 

1. Return to work after parental leave. 

I’m going to start with the obvious one, which is very topical right now. When a parent returns after parental or adoption leave, a Coach can offer tools and techniques to support the transition into their new role, as well as focus their attention on their goals, and challenges. 

 

2. Starting a new role 

When a staff member moves within the organisation, it’s a great time to revisit their career development and create an action plan. Having a qualified coach to guide them through, where they can share all their wishes and issues whilst adjusting to the dynamics of new teams and roles.  Furthermore, when a person joins you as a new starter, how you induct them creates a message.  When a Career Coach is included in their training, that message is “We want you to succeed.”

 

3. Joining you after a career break 

Many parents I work with come to me when they return to the workplace after a career break. The reason for the break is varied but the desire is the same. They wish to build their confidence, manage their work-life balance and succeed in this new phase in their life. Like any new starter, providing a Coach as part of their induction is a message that shows you care about them and how they feel whilst they are working. 

 

4. A change in their caring role 

When people think about coaching for parents, frequently it’s assumed it is only relevant when they return after parental leave. However, parents have life transitions throughout their working time with you. When their child goes to primary school when their child progresses through Secondary, Further or Higher Education. There may be times when the parent needs extra resilience due to the needs of their child. Having a Coach helps them work through how they can build their own well-being and manage their needs, while the needs of others take priority.

 

5. When they want to be coached! 

Your staff will be reading my content. Trust me. They are working on ways to manage their aspirations, goals and desire to feel happy and well at work. Some of them come to me directly; they don’t feel like they want to tell you how they feel. However, some (with my social media-instigated encouragement) will ask if they can be supported through your Training or Personal Development to be supported externally. The thing is, however great you are as a Manager, the best Coaching relationship exists when there is no link to performance. The way to unpick if they need any extra support is to ask them. One way to do this, without feeling like you are criticising, is “What could I do to help you feel more balanced at work”. What could you do with the answers they give?

 

 

Hopefully, this blog has given you the final push to integrate coaching support into your team. If you have scrutinised my approach, and like my take on this fascinating tool, then feel free to arrange a time for us to speak.

 

 

 

 

 

*Research thanks to  Coaching Statistics: The ROI of Coaching in 2023 (luisazhou.com)