Developing In-House Coaching Talent

Resourcing coaching expertise externally is worthwhile but expensive, and misses out on the benefits of having great coaching expertise in-house. It is also true that great leaders and managers need to have good coaching skills if they are to get the best out of their teams. 

Having key members of the organisation operating as coaching role models, who not only constantly develop their own teams but are also coaching others to coach, is a great way to develop in-house expertise and to create a coaching culture that is not reliant on external “expertise”. We have over 20 years experience in developing the skills of in-house coaches. The Coach Training we deliver enables participants to:

  • Know what coaching is and what it is not, and when coaching is (and is not) appropriate
  • Observe objectively and recognise the competencies that the observed behaviours represent
  • Gather objective information to gain a clear and accurate picture of the individual’s performance
  • Give feedback in a way that empowers the individual to develop their own performance and make appropriate career decisions
  • Set clear and effective agreed targets
  • Create a learning culture in which team members view personal development as the norm
  • Create rapport in their relationships which engenders trust and honesty between them and their team
  • Know what a good coaching culture looks like and how to create it in their organisation
  • Provide high impact, low “cost” coaching
  • Use the key skills required in an effective coaching conversation:
  1. creating a coaching contract
  2. structuring the coaching conversation and keeping it to time
  3. ensuring the individual retains responsibility for their development
  4. building rapport within the coaching conversation
  5. listening
  6. questioning
  7. offering feedback within a coaching conversation
  8. empowering individuals to progress

“When you create a culture of coaching, the result may not be directly measurable in dollars. But we have yet to find a company that can’t benefit from more candour, less denial, richer communication, conscious development of talent, and disciplined leaders who show compassion for people”

(Sherman and Freas, Harvard Business Review, 2004)