Coaching in the workplace is one of the most effective ways to help your employees grow, perform at their best, and contribute to your organization’s goals. Coaching builds on an individual’s strengths and develops higher levels of emotional intelligence. When you implement such a coaching culture, you create a path to organizational growth and a more empowered workforce.
What Is Coaching in the Workplace?
Coaching in the workplace is an employee development practice that helps employees expand their skills and improve their performance.
Coaching is more than a series of meetings with an experienced professional. Effective coaches employ a range of techniques and tools to guide employees toward personal growth and development, including goal setting, assessments, feedback, and active learning. These practices help coaches meet people where they are and support them in moving forward. When used proactively, coaching has the potential to transform employee behavior and mindset at work.
Coaching in the workplace can take many formats, including:
- Dedicated coaching engagements with professional coaches
- Microcoaching sessions offered in tandem with online learning
- Everyday coaching discussions between managers and their direct reports
- Internal, peer-to-peer or senior-to-junior employee interactions
Workplace Coaching vs. Mentoring or Managing
Unlike an internal mentor or a peer coach, a professional coach is experienced in coaching techniques and is fully dedicated to the person being coached. Internal mentoring programs can provide value, however mentoring another employee is usually someone’s secondary or “extra” responsibility. A professional coach provides one-on-one guidance and reports results in the form of goals pursued and achieved.
To summarize, coaching isn’t mentorship, which tends to be more informal, longer in duration, and focused on broad career guidance based on the mentor’s experience. Nor is coaching the same as managing, which involves directing work, evaluating performance, and assigning tasks.
Coaching is a structured, goal-oriented process that empowers employees to think critically, explore options, and take ownership of their growth. It targets specific skills and challenges rather than general career development.
Coaching is also highly relevant to the people being coached – their challenges, their situations, their goals, so it is different from taking a course in management. Unlike academic learning, it’s skill building that’s immediately applicable.
The Undeniable Value of Coaching in the Workplace
In a recent analysis, IMPACT Group found that 70% of employees who received leadership coaching saw improvements in their work performance, while 80% said they had more self-confidence.
Other benefits of coaching in the workplace include:
- Higher retention: Coaching helps employees feel supported and valued, which increases their commitment to the organization and their desire to stay. And those who are coached become better leaders, which improves the retention of their direct reports. So the value of coaching cascades farther into the organization.
- Stronger skill development: Coaching encourages continuous learning and helps teams acquire the skills they need to meet and exceed expectations.
- Organizational growth: By driving individual performance, coaching helps the whole team and organization succeed.
- More effective onboarding: Coaching can help new hires acclimate faster and gain a stronger understanding of how they can contribute from day one.
- Enhanced conflict resolution: Coaching equips employees with the knowledge and skills to resolve disagreements and cultivate healthier team dynamics.
How to Build a Coaching Culture in the Workplace
Weaving coaching into the fiber of organizational culture starts with positioning it as a benefit to employee growth—not just a tool for correcting problems. When employees understand that coaching improves their employee experience and gets them closer to achieving their career goals, they’re more likely to embrace it.
Other steps to building a coaching culture include:
Gaining Leadership Buy-In
Building a strong coaching culture requires support from the senior leadership team. To gain their buy-in, draw a clear connection between coaching and the company’s strategic goals. You can also highlight outcomes that support key business priorities, such as innovation and leadership development. Lastly, tracking improvements in retention, engagement, and performance helps demonstrate the impact of coaching and strengthens the case for continued investment.
Training Managers to Become Effective Coaches
Most managers don’t naturally know how to coach their direct reports, but when they learn how to, they become better leaders, and the whole team benefits. According to Gartner, employees who report to managers who coach effectively are more engaged and more likely to stay with the organization.
Promoting Continuous Learning as a Core Value
Creating a continuous learning environment helps reinforce coaching behaviors by embedding development into the everyday flow of work. Regularly scheduled microcoaching sessions, for example, give employees dedicated time to reflect, set goals, and work through challenges. After each session, they can take what they’ve learned and apply it directly to their day-to-day work.
Anticipating and Addressing Resistance
Some employees may view coaching as remedial or even unnecessary, but continued education and transparency can help to address these attitudes. For instance, sharing success stories helps drive home the reality that coaching is a valuable workplace benefit that employees can use to achieve their career goals.
Make Workplace Coaching a Strategic Advantage for Your Organization
Coaching isn’t just for top-tier executives. Coaching in the workplace is a powerful way to unlock potential, strengthen leadership, and drive meaningful results for leaders at all levels. To help you get there, IMPACT Group offers coaching programs that support those outcomes and make it easier to build a coaching culture that lasts. Whether you’re developing senior leaders or equipping frontline managers, our scalable coaching solutions are designed to fit your goals and your organization’s needs.
Ready to explore how coaching can transform your organization? Book a call with our team today.
