The coaching industry is starting to explode and is quickly becoming THE management qualification of choice for many leading professionals. Gone are the days when coaching was reserved for athletes or senior executives in huge corporations, coaching is now the ‘go to’ approach to staff development in organisations of all sizes in all sectors.
What is coaching?
Coaching is about supporting people to be the best they can be, it’s about facilitating rather than teaching. It requires many of the skills and approaches familiar to managers, but with the added benefit of offering more autonomy, as well as the ability to ‘think for themselves’ that a post-covid world needs. As more of us work remotely or via a hybrid model, the traditional role of the manager needs to evolve, and that is proving to be a key driving force in the growth of this exciting sector.
There are a range of types of coaching out there – individual, team, performance, executive, life, confidence, apprenticeship and so on. The chances are, if you’re facing a challenge, need to make a change or just need a new perspective, then coaching is for you. Training Providers, HE and FE providers and even schools are increasingly taking a coaching approach to their work, as quite simply, it works! A coach works in partnership with a learner to identify their own barriers and think of their own solutions, because, ultimately, they are responsible for their own lives. This can be incredibly empowering and freeing for the individual.
Who is using coaching?
Businesses are starting to use coaching to holistically support their staff and to offer a safe space for their people to work through their issues, concerns and perspectives in order to make sense of their world and to feel more engaged, connected and happy as a result.
A 2020 study by Coach Hub found that companies who invested in coaching programmes for their staff experienced 21% higher productivity, a 65% reduction in employee turnover and better outcomes in terms of compliance, talent attraction and customer satisfaction. The same study found that 91% of employees that have received coaching report higher feelings of self-worth and sense of purpose, with 80% agreeing that they have gained competencies that will be useful for their profession.
Recruiters, employers and job seekers alike can’t have failed to notice ‘The Great Resignation’ that we face just now, so perhaps right now is the time to invest in coaching, to build a coaching culture and to show people that we value them, we recognise them as the experts in their own lives, and we will give them the tools to be the brilliant people we hired in the first place!
Our experience
As a qualified coach, I have experienced first-hand how powerful and transformational coaching can be. I’ve been coached (incredible), coached (very rewarding) and recently completed my Level 5 Coaching Professional Apprenticeship and CMI L5 Coaching Certificate, (with Distinction!) and feel very passionate about it as an approach. My practice has changed for the better, my learners progress quickly and are more engaged, and my general outlook on life, resilience and ability to find a solution for every problem is so much more developed now that I am a Coach, and I’d recommend it to anyone!
Give it a go, you might just surprise yourself.
Natalie Szturemski, Development Coach at BePro
To find out more, please go to our website at www.beprodevelopment.co.uk for details of our next cohort.