How to build a coaching culture in your organisation

1. Developing a coaching culture in your
organisation
Professor David Gray

2. Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:
• Distinguish between coaching, mentoring, and consultancy
• Identify how organisations and individuals benefit from coaching
• Agree on the criteria for selecting a good coach
• Agree on ways of moving your organisation towards a coaching
culture

3. Your experience of coaching
• What proportion of the group have used a coach?
• Was this coaching or mentoring or consultancy?
• Was the coach/mentor internal or external?
• What did you benefit from coaching?
• What did the organisation benefit?
• Were there any drawbacks/negative experiences of coaching?

4. Coaching or mentoring?
Coaching Mentoring
A short-term relationship Can be a long-term relationship
Structured with regular meetings Informal, meeting ‘as necessary’
Focus on specific issues and
goals
Wide-ranging in focus
Focus on performance and
development issues
Focus on career and personal
development
Focus on the present Focus on the future

5. Coaching or consultancy?
A coach….. A management consultant….
Helps the client identify a range
of options
Also gets client to consider a
range of options
Helps the client identify their
perspectives and goals
Gives advice
Helps the client identify options
for action
Makes recommendations
Can be broad in terms of work
but also life and personal
issues
Is very business focused

6. Coaching, mentoring and consultancy
High
personal content
Low
personal content
Low
business focus
High
business focus
Life coaching
Sports coaching
Business coaching
Mentoring
Consulting

7. Selecting coaches: internal or external coaches?
An Internal Coach An External Coach
Pros • Understands the internal
culture and major issues
• Usually on hand and
available
• Can help to promote a
coaching culture in the
organisation
• Has experience with the
problems and obstacles
within the organisation
• More likely to be professionally
trained as a coach
• Can bring an outsider’s
perspective
• Does not have vested interests or
agendas inside the organisation
• Can provide external
benchmarking criteria
• Coachees are more likely to be
honest and straight forward
• Easier to maintain confidentiality
Has access to external networks

8. Selecting coaches: internal or external coaches?
An Internal Coach An External Coach
Cons • Often, lack training in
coaching
• Potential conflict between
role as coach and role as
line manager or HR staff
• May be too much a part of
the organisational culture to
be objective and innovative
• Confidentiality may be
harder to keep
• The coaching might be too
informal
• Can be expensive
May lack knowledge of the
business
• Less known by the organisation so
higher risk
• Organisation has more concern
about corporate confidentiality

9. Drawing up a coaching culture checklist
• Examine and amend the scoring system as necessary
• Apply the checklist to your organisation: what is the total score?
• Moving your organisation forward:
­ Which elements need improving?
­ What steps should be taken to achieve this?

10. Drawing up a coaching culture checklist
• Examine and amend the scoring system as necessary
• Apply the checklist to your organisation: what is the total score?
• Moving your organisation forward:
­ Which elements need improving?
­ What steps should be taken to achieve this?