Putting in place a team of Internal Coaches is a forward thinking step, but often fails to live up to its potential, and indeed the cost of training those coaches in the first place. There are a few key reasons why Internal Coaching tends to break down.
- Good intentions simply get overtaken by the day to day busy-ness most of us face these days
- Coaching skills drain away over time without proper use and practice
- It can be difficult to be coached by someone internal to your organisation, opening up to someone who may well know the situation or the individuals concerned.
- As an internal Coach it is very hard to distance yourself from the problem and be impartial…
And yet it is worth persevering. It is worth remembering how Internal Coaching adds value to an organisation. This is three-fold:
- The value of the coaching being delivered to the individual’s being coached
- The value of coaching to the coach themselves. The coach learns a great deal about themselves and how others think differently through the coaching process.
- The value of promoting a coaching culture throughout the organisation. This creates the kind of environment where employees choose to become engaged, boosting motivation and productivity.
The solution is to embed proper Coaching Supervision, working closely with an External Coach to set clear Objectives and Standards for the Internal Coaches. The Coaching Supervisor will then Coach the coaches on a one to one basis as well as running Group Supervision sessions to maintain both standards and momentum.
If you would like to discuss your needs in more detail then please call me on 07730 700258. I am a qualified Coaching Supervisor.