It’s a long-established fact that over decades, that most corporate transformation efforts have failed to produce the results companies hoped for. The contributing factors are numerous and vary in significance from case to case.
As the pace of change, and intensity of competition continue to grow, so the emphasis on coaching programmes and techniques as a key enabler to successful corporate transformations has become broader, and deeper.
Every corporate change programme is a story in its own right; every story has a beginning, middle and end. Here is how coaching techniques can improve the chance of your corporate transformation succeeding.
The Beginning:
Often, transformation efforts are reactive in nature, responding to significant challenges or negative events. Many such efforts start to fail early, because the vision of what is to come, is directed (poorly) from the top. The absence of meaningful explanation and consultation contributes to the wider workforce perceiving a lack of authenticity in senior leadership, which in turn leads to a weakening of trust. Start there, and the transformation is likely to resemble a house built on sand. Better start here…
We face a challenge – how do you see it?
What concerns you most?
What opportunities do you see?
What can you do?
By inviting them in at the outset, Leaders and Managers can feel included in the process of building the vision and agenda, and a sense of ownership for what is to come. They will be more likely to communicate the facts, and the intent with conviction, and credibility.
The Middle:
Even those programmes which start well can drift off course, often due to weak and infrequent communication, which can allow gaps in perception and understanding to emerge and grow. In parallel, where the focus becomes dominated by process over people, so the peoples’ engagement, contribution and output will wane. A regular dialogue, transparent and safe for the individual to express emotion, concern or views is fundamental.
Where are you in terms of progress toward the objective?
How do you feel about that?
What brought you there?
What can you do differently, better, more of?
The End:
The real value of transformation is not a review paper showing most, or perhaps all, of the project milestones were reached. Intrinsically of greater value is the identification of sustainable improvements in the operating and cultural context, that will enable continued growth, of the business and people. A climate in which leaders and managers consistently act as a coach, sustains higher levels of trust, engagement, commitment, and collaboration.
What did you learn?
What would you have done differently?
What will you commit to changing going forward?
What do you think could be improved or achieved in future?
Coaching the leaders only gets an organisation so far; they must themselves lead as a coach, and develop coaching capability in others, ultimately shifting the culture away from managing gaps or deficiencies, towards developing capability and potential.
This is of course, just a glimpse. To know the true power of Coaching in Corporate Transformation, you must dive in…