Management Coaching is the Bridge
Why it pays to supplement formal learning programmes with coaching
In the UK, employers invest around £42.bn in training each year, with an average spend of £1,530 per employee (DofE, 2020)
You may be one of the many organisations who recognise the benefits of investing in Learning and Development activity – particularly at management level, to support the transition from ‘doing’ to ‘leading’ and the building of the necessary skills for people management.
It’s clear that creating a culture of development and growth contributes to a more competent and confident workforce and is essential in attracting and retaining the best talent.
Yet we know budgets are continually reviewed and often squeezed.
Demonstrating L&D value to the business through return on investment is crucial.
So, the million-dollar question… how can you increase ROI and secure future L&D budget?
What type of programme should you develop, using formal learning, on-the-job and social learning to ensure that managers are applying and, more importantly, benefitting from L&D?
And what part can coaching play in increasing ROI?
Management coaching vs Management training
If you’re less familiar coaching, you may be wondering if it replaces traditional training programmes. Depending on your objectives, there can be overlap, but they can also compliment each other brilliantly!
Training is skills-led and there's usually a best practice way of 'how to do XYZ'. For example, a trainer may work with a group of line managers to share principles of “how to give effective feedback”. This knowledge might be transferred through discussion and activities in a session focused on this topic.
Coaching is more focused on the individual, their needs and their personal transfer of the formal learning they have received. So, an individual has learned about how to give feedback in formal training, which is a great starting point.
A coach works with that individual to explore how they can successfully apply this learning to their particular set of circumstances. For example, as coaches, we’d be exploring how the individual feels about it, how the other person may react, the impact on each other and so forth.
Coaching as the Bridge
We’ve seen that combining coaching with a formal training programme can provide a cost-effective bridge between best-practice training and day-to-day realities by:
Allowing individuals to customise their learning to their own situation
Providing people with the time and space to reflect upon their learning
Having the support of a coach to discuss any challenges in order to embed learning
What’s in it for your managers?
Coaching is particularly beneficial for managers as their requirement is never ‘one size fits all’ – they will want to develop their own, authentic management style whilst navigating their day-to-day role and handling the dynamics of the people they work with.
Coaching gives managers experienced, yet impartial, guidance, support and challenge to transfer learning to their real-life environment.
It’s not just a nice to have… coaching is essential if you’re going to get the full benefit of your L&D budget!
And it’s not just us that think this, clients tell us all the time too. Take our wonderful partners at The Body Shop for example… They have seen great results with group coaching as part of their UK regional manager development programme.
Read our case study or watch our webinar to hear their positive experience first-hand, plus their advice for other organisations embarking on management development.