Coaching at Speedpak Group is delivered as part of the social enterprise dividend to the employees we set out to support.
It is part of our ideal consumer journey that enables long-term unemployed people to fully participate in work experience and training programmes.
Coaching also helps produce commercial dividends through the increased productivity that results from the achievements of people and improvements in processes, products and services.
Workplace coaching is designed to encourage, inspire and motivate individuals looking for work who are long-term unemployed to:
- set and achieve personal goals
- work and develop as part of a team
- achieve the goals of the business
Coaching for individuals
Coaching is a key component of our Enhanced Skills Programme that is supported by the JP Morgan Chase Foundation.
Through regular one-to-one and team meetings we:
- explore how goals might be realistically achieved
- set specific tasks for achieving goals
- identify and find ways to overcome barriers to progress
It is delivered in a supportive, confidential and progressive environment to help individual staff members:
- set targets for personal improvement
- learn new skills and develop an openness to new ideas
- develop their self-esteem and confidence
- prepare for an impending event such as the transition to a new job, career or further education
- work better as part of a team
Coaching for team building
Coaching is also used as part of our Enhanced Skills Programme for building trust and promoting effective communication between individual team members taking part in the training.
Team coaching is also used for strengthening relationships between team members by breaking down the barriers that might, for instance, prevent individuals asking for support or clarification in a critical area.
Coaching identifies:
- individual talents that can be leveraged at team-working level
- areas for development that might be proactively addressed together
- differences in the personalities and approaches of individuals that can be used for the benefit of the team rather than to its detriment
Coaching improves team cohesiveness and morale by promoting an environment whereby all members have (and feel they have) an equal chance to input and offer solutions to problems.
Coaching encourages learning from others and from the team dynamic.
The benefits of coaching for an enterprise
Productivity
Confident individuals, working in cohesive teams with a shared common purpose, help create synergies that increase productivity. Such teams can work with a high degree of autonomy and minimal management intervention.
Open communication, clear production or sales targets and clarity on the roles of individuals and teams in achieving those targets produce streamlined and efficient ways of working that help a team perform at its highest potential.
Confidence and Self Esteem
Individuals are more confident about taking an active role in workplace training. They are open to learning about themselves and identifying their goals and work plans for the future.
What we have have learned from coaching
We have learned a lot from the coaching process and on how to to get the most from coaching as follows:
- All stakeholders should be clear on what coaching involves and what it sets out to achieve.
- Regular coaching sessions are more effective than non-regular sessions. Coaching should eventually become an ongoing communication that takes the overall performance of the organisation into consideration.
- Short coaching sessions can be more effective that long sessions.
- Coaching can bring an individual on a journey of self-discovery about:
- why they are in Speedpak,
- what they want out of our programme,
- what they need to do to successfully complete their work experience and training and
- what they need to do to successfully progress to employment.
- Workplace coaching differs from teaching, appraisal or counselling; it focuses on achievement and improvement for the person, the team and organisation, not just on hitting a target.
- We aim for “excellence before perfection”.
- We consider coaching to be a two-way dynamic process where the coach and management are just as open to improving as the people being coached.
Conclusion
Coaching should be a clear, simple and focussed process that enables those being coached to achieve goals and see improvements.
Though not an instructional process, there are lots of opportunities for learning that can be leveraged for the long term good of the individual and the organisation.