27th May 2010
Mary Hanson

Many years ago while delivering Performance Management Training to a group of Managers I introduced the subject of Coaching and its role in effective people management – one skeptical manager asked what had coaching got to do with business and could not see why this had any business being discussed in this forum.

Thinking on my feet and knowing that this Manager was a bit of a sports fan I used the analogy of coaching and the role of coaches in sport. I outlined how in sport it was the role of the Coach to work with the sports person to identify their strengths; identify areas where they need to improve; and help them put a programme together to strengthen their overall performance. Giving feedback, encouraging and motivating and mentoring them to improve their overall performance – a coach in business is no different than a coach in sport.

Coaching has come a long way from the days when it was confined to the sports field and coaching is a common feature in an Organisations Learning & Development programme, with Companies often employing Coaches to support (in particular) Senior Management Development. However the real success comes when managers can learn the skill of Coaching and apply this to the management of their teams on an ongoing basis.

Coaching in the workplace is used to help people develop in the organisation, the first stage being to help them perform in their current role – supporting them to achieve the standard required for the job. The next stage is to help employees develop in their current role – this may be to take on new challenges such as taking control of budgetary expenditure for the department or to raise the standard, an example of this might be to increase sales. Coaching is also used to help the employee progress within the organisation, identifying their core strengths and how they could develop these to support career progression.


If you would like further advice and support on developing a coaching culture in your organisation and how to integrate coaching into your ongoing management of people contact mary@tonic4business.ie or call 00353 872902013.