When all of the Best Places to Work rankings come out, whether it’s from Glassdoor or Fairygodboss or Fortune, a few common threads run through the top-ranked companies. One of them is career-pathing and development. Employees want to know their companies are invested in them enough to help develop and chart their careers. With it, emerging leaders stick around. Without it, they go looking for someplace that offers more opportunity.
Offering executive coaching to your up-and-comers as part of your HR strategy, you’ll be helping your emerging leaders, middle managers, and execs identify and achieve professional goals that are strategic and practical. It gives them the opportunity to acquire new skills and competencies. It’s can be about identifying and shoring up weaknesses; but, it’s often about identifying strengths to build on and development areas to focus on.
Here are some other outcomes executive coaching will offer your employees:
A clearer view of themselves. Executive coaching sessions are the one time during the workday when employees can focus solely on themselves and their goals. Equally as important, the 360-degree feedback from colleagues and higher-ups lets them know how others see them. Identifying where they’re already strong and which areas need work provides a kind of self-awareness that people simply don’t gain in their day-to-day jobs. Studies have shown that employees want and need their leaders to be self-aware and understand how their behavior and actions impact others. By developing self-aware leaders, you’ll be benefiting your organization for years to come.
Improved communication skills. The most effective leaders are the most effective communicators, but not everyone comes into the job with that skill honed. Most HR departments aren’t hiring for those kinds of “soft skills,” instead focusing on the technical skills and education needed to do the job. Also, there is little ongoing training in communication. Executive coaching is a great place to improve this critical skill.
Increased critical thinking. Taking employees out of their task-focused workday and allowing them to look at their jobs and their own performance from a different perspective lets them get at the “why” of situations, processes, and procedures rather than just the “what.”
Enhanced existing strengths. Some employees know what they’re good at, but some might not see the forest for the trees. A skilled executive coach can help people build on what they’re already rocking, and uncover strengths they might not know they had.
Executive coaching lets employees know you’ve got their back, care about their career development, and want them to succeed. At GetFive, our targeted executive coaching programs focus on the development areas your employees need most to maximize their professional potential. Questions? Contact us today.
