New research published by City & Guilds Group reveals that coachingis integral to productivity and performance, with 84% of workers saying that coaching should be part of every business’s management and development program.
City & Guilds Group surveyed over 1,000 UK professionals on their thoughts and experiences of coaching in the workplace. The research demonstrates the benefits of coaching for companies as they adapt to the future world of work, highlighting the potential risks faced by employers that don’t harness this powerful tool for change.
According to the study, 76% of employees believe coaching is helpful when going through periods of organizational change, and 79% say it’s useful for adopting new technologies and ways of working. In addition, as businesses begin to see staff from five generations working side-by-side, two thirds (64%) of those surveyed say that coaching has already become important in facilitating intergenerational working.
Coaching plays a critical part in boosting productivity as people move between roles or embrace portfolio careers, both growing trends in today’s workplace. Changing role often means facing new challenges, and amongst the respondents that had changed role in their company, over a quarter (27%) report taking four months or more to work to the best of their ability afterwards, with 10% taking seven months or longer. Demonstrating the impact of coaching on performance, the research found that people who didn’t receive coaching at this critical moment are over eight times more likely to say that they still don’t feel able to work to the best of their ability, compared to those that did receive coaching.
“The nature of work is evolving, and organizational change is becoming an increasingly common theme in UK businesses; whether they’re growing, shrinking, or adapting to new technologies. At the same time, we are also witnessing huge changes in the workforce, with intergenerational working and career hopping becoming new norms. With unpredictable times ahead and ongoing change presenting challenges to businesses, employers need to encourage and support staff at all levels of the organization – to maximize their individual performance, as well as that of the business.”
John Yates, Managing Director, City & Guilds Group
“Embedding a culture of coaching is a key component of our Talent Development Program and continues to have a positive impact on Legal & General. Involving managers at all levels to support the program has meant that learning and development is very much in line with business needs, resulting in a step change in how learning and development is perceived across the organization with staff recognizing the need for continual learning – which is so important if individuals, teams and the company as a whole is to keep up with the pace of change. Not only has retention improved, but employee engagement continues to improve, and we can also see a measurable improvement to performance as delegates are able to implement projects worked on during the program to deliver customer benefits and business efficiencies.”
Gary Shewan, Learning & Development Consultant, Legal and General
“Coaching remains fundamental to our long-term strategy, helping us to develop the skills we need to grow both now and in the future. By making sure everyone has the opportunity to be coached, individual employees feel more engaged and confident in their ability to deliver in new roles. This impacts on staff engagement, improving productivity and helping us deliver our strategic targets. Coaching also helps our managers adapt to new ways of working, giving them the tools to engage with intergenerational teams on all levels. Currently we have examples of four generations present in our farm teams, all requiring different approaches. The common element, regardless of whether they are baby boomers or millennials, is Coaching.”
Fiona Clark, People Development, Scottish Enterprise, said:
The research also reveals that companies that don’t provide coaching opportunities risk leaving employees feeling undervalued. Of those respondents that haven’t been offered coaching by their current employer, lack of investment (33%), taking staff for granted (31%), leaders’ disinterest in staff (22%) and a lack of understanding on the value of coaching (22%) are listed as the most common reasons.
Demonstrating the capacity of coaching to benefit businesses more widely, respondents who have received coaching cite improved confidence, performance and productivity as three of the most important positive changes witnessed for themselves, others and their wider team and organization.
