How Will My Company Benefit?

Corporate coaching is everywhere! Coaching training programs and workshops are now offered by forward thinking companies all over the world as the benefits of coaching are gaining international attention. Coaching has been all over the news, and the number of people calling themselves coaches has grown exponentially over the past several years. Be picky when choosing the coaching philosophy to bring to your corporate program. Make certain your internal philosophies match the goals and stated philosophies of the coaching organization you are planning to hire. And be clear on the differences between coaching and consulting. Benefits are certainly available through both modalities, but coaching offers unique benifits which cannot be achieved through consulting, and you should insist on coaching if it is coaching you think your company needs.

Coaching beyond the executive

	Executive Coaching is by now fairly mainstream, and most executives and their companies are familiar with the benefits to be gained by working with a skilled coach to achieve their goals. What many companies are just beginning to discover are the incredible results to be gained by providing coaching opportunities to middle management and other non-executive employees in either individual or group coaching arenas, or both. Promotion support Middle managers are often promoted to management positions without the training necessary to excel in actually managing people, although they may possess the skills to manage information and projects.

Communication, in the form of team leadership, reviews in all directions, and feedback in general often suffers greatly as these managers struggle to maintain their level of corporate achievement while wondering how to hold everything together. Just as their careers appear to be taking off, a host of problems show up, and often they are at a loss as to what solutions might work. They are afraid to take risks for fear of failing and how that may look to the superiors who had enough faith to promote them, and a cycle of blindness begins which can carry itself all the way to the C Suite in the form of CEO disease where no one will tell the boss the truth out of fear. A variation of this occurs when direct reports are trying their best to tell their boss the truth, but nothing seems to be getting through. In this case, the problem is often conflicting priorities, but if the manager doesn't begin to listen to the employees and know how to make use of the feedback which is coming in, morale suffers and production drops.

Coaching can help address all these issues and more. Working with managers on communication, troubleshooting, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence and increasing resonant leadership skills can transform these managers into powerhouses of energy, productivity and creativity for a company. Working individually and with their teams in all directions, coaching can support an organization through an entire transformation in terms of morale and energy, shifting a company from one that is simply good to one that is truly excellent.

Teams Every team deserves to have the open communication, clearly defined goals and objectives and positive, nurturing environment which sustains effortless high achievement. Coaching for teams can support every member in a 360º growth and feedback dynamic which in many cases will shift the energy and attitude of a team to such an extent that their performance and productivity are markedly increased. Members of such teams will experience increased feelings of ownership and empowerment as they sense increased synergy within their team. Training support Another area where coaching supports corporate investments is training support. Companies frequently provide continuing education opportunities to their employees in the form of seminars and workshops, which typically last anywhere from a few hours to a day or two. That simply is not enough time for the brain to translate information into the ritual performance of habit.

Even the most dedicated and determined employee will be challenged to maximize the amount of new information that becomes integrated into their actual life. After the training they typically experience a short "honeymoon" phase of increased energy and effort to attempt to shift to the new habits and skills they were instructed on. But because they are physicall returned to the original arena of the corporate structure and culture, which has not changed, they soon return to most of the behaviors and attitudes they maintained prior to the training. Coaching can provide ongoing reinforcement and support to the employee on the new information and techniques, allowing them a chance to practice and gain confidence and skill so the newly acquired information can gain a powerful foothold and become a habit over time. Research shows that coaching after training highly increases the amount of new information that is retained, compared to training alone.

There are many other areas where coaching can support the goals and objectives of your company. Give us a call or send an email to explore the challenges you are facing or to discuss ideas you have for future growth, and let's decide together whether New Dreams Coaching and your company are a good match for empowerment and success.