the

H

R

D

IREC

TO

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THE ONLY

INDEPENDENT HR STRATEGIC

PUBLICATION IN THE UK

JUNE 07

ISSUE 37

DON’T MISS NEXT MONTH’S ISSUE WHERE WE LOOK AT:

FORUM – THE GLOBAL WORKPLACE;

PENSIONS; TRAINING; GRADUATE DEVELOPMENT; HR BUSINESS PARTNERS…

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE

Pictured: Alex Rickard

HR director, Towry Law

the

HR

DIRECTOR

INTERVIEW:

Alex Rickard - HR director, Towry Law

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Understanding how to maximise your

‘greatest asset’

CONTACT CENTRES

Connecting with staff

BENEFITS

To flex or not to flex...?

COACHING

Realising its true value

H&S: ADDICTIONS AT WORK

Chasing out the dragons

CASE STUDIES THIS MONTH

Steve Walker – CEO, Tower Homes

3663

John Lewis

KPMG

Marsh Ltd.

M&S Money

West Yorkshire Police

40

the

HR

DIRECTOR – JUNE 07

COACHING

www.thehrdirector.com

COACHING

TO COACH, OR NOT TO COACH? THAT IS THE

QUESTION…OR IS IT?

There was a time, not that long ago, when the

concept of coaching wasn’t even on the agenda of

most boardrooms. Things have changed since then

and, although it is not present in every company or

organisation across the country, coaching has become

far more accepted, and even welcomed, across the

gamut of industry sectors. However, whilst we may

be moving away from the original question of

whether or not coaching is a ‘good thing to do’, other

questions are thrown up instead. Many embrace the

concept of coaching, but not even all of those who

provide it for their employees either understand its

true value or even appreciate how you can – and

can’t – measure the results.

But what are the causes of this lack of

understanding? What are the barriers that prevent

coaching being as effective as it could be?

There are a number of misconceptions,

including the belief that coaching is time-consuming

and that it is ‘yet another task to fit in’ within an

already busy schedule. However, effective coaching

aims to bring about a change of behaviour and is

not simply an assignment to be done and another

box to be ticked.

Another, ongoing, argument is that coaching

doesn’t have a significant impact on the bottom

line. Whilst the benefits of coaching may not be as

easy to quantify as the introduction of new practical

procedures, for example, those who coach and

those who have been coached would argue instead

that new ways of working and behaving have a very

considerable effect on productivity and profit.

These are just two of the beliefs that some would

say prevent coaching taking its rightful place in the

development of employees at every level; they are

not the only ones. We have spoken to three

respected UK coaches to find out what they think are

the key challenges within the coaching arena at the

moment, and in the following pages and on the

website you can read their insights.

However, we begin with a look at other

countries and their attitudes to coaching, comparing

and contrasting their experiences with each other

and with the UK.

www.thehrdirector.com

COACHING

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HR

DIRECTOR – JUNE 07

41

Decision makers in HR and learning and development have started

to use their resources and budgets in a more strategic manner, with

more and more organisations accepting that coaching is a valuable

tool for developing their talent.

Increasingly, members of staff in junior and middle

management positions are led by coaches in addition to their

internal managers, and, in fact, recent estimates indicate that there

are about 40,000 people in Germany alone who have been

through a coaching programme. Whilst organisations make use of

their trained resources to provide this internal coaching service,

only those that are clearly identified as ’high-potentials’ actually

qualify to receive external coaching.

“goals are fixed in writing“

External coaches receive clear briefings about the time

allowance for each client from the client’s organisation. In the main

this is in the range of 15 – 20 hours over a period of about six

months. Anything above this needs to be requested by the coach

to the client’s manager. In addition, it is regarded as good practice

to have a three-way conversation at the beginning of the coaching

programme with the client, the client’s manager and the coach,

about the goals for the coaching programme. These goals are fixed

in writing and in the middle and/or end of the programme, the

goals are reviewed. The conversations are strictly confidential and

organisations do not interfere, nor do they wish to receive any

information about the content of the conversations.

The situations for coaching vary greatly but, more often than

not, the start is marked by:

• the move into a new role

• the results of a 360 degree assessment process

• annual appraisal

• feedback from an external client.

On the other side of the globe in South Africa, coaching is also

receiving much attention as it is perceived as a tool that will help

organisations to reach ’international standards’ and to develop their

black and coloured executives that have recently been promoted to

leadership positions. In fact, at the 6th Annual Conference for

Mentoring and Coaching, we found that what is regarded as

international best practice in Europe is also implemented with some

of the leading organisations in South Africa.

In Eastern Europe, however, any type of coaching is still

perceived as an exclusive service for the most senior positions. It is

regarded as a privilege and a status symbol to have a coach. I can

recall an assignment in Zagreb where it was made clear to me that

it is obligatory to accept the invitation for dinner after the coaching

of the Board member. In the restaurant I was really surprised as I

was shown around and introduced with great pride as

“My

international coach“

.

THE PERCEIVED VALUE

Decision makers in HR and learning and development are

increasingly under pressure to prove results and business benefits.

Thus, the measure of the value of coaching is expected to be

defined by the return on investment. In Germany this pressure is

less apparent, and recently one of my contacts in Germany stated,

“We are not in the US, so for us it is a success if the feedback from

colleagues indicated that his soft skills have improved, and that

the client himself is positive about the coaching programme.“

This

appears to sum up the most widely spread opinion in the German

speaking HR community.

However, in South Africa, as in other countries, the insistence

on measurement is of great concern. This mirrors the general

increase of such pressure in Europe as questionnaires and feedback

processes after coaching programmes become more and more

sophisticated. These processes always include quantitative

measures that can form the basis for calculating the return on

investment that people are now so keen to measure.

DR SABINE DEMBKOWSKI, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE COACHING CENTRE IN LONDON & COLOGNE, SUPPORTS BOARD

MEMBERS, EXECUTIVES AND HIGH-POTENTIALS ACROSS EUROPE. SHE BELIEVES THAT THERE IS A CLEAR SHIFT SURROUNDING

COACHING IN GERMANY AND OTHER COUNTRIES, AS IT IS INCREASINGLY PERCEIVED AS A CRUCIAL TOOL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT

OF SUCH HIGH POTENTIALS AND EXECUTIVES, RATHER THAN MERELY FOR THE ’PROBLEM CASES’.

COACHING

– AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Dr Sabine Dembkowski

Founder & Director

www.thecoachingcentre.com