Now more than ever, the world of work is complex and constantly changing. Fast-paced and high-pressured, it places increasingly tough demands on employees throughout organisations.
Consequently, leaders and managers at all levels need a broad portfolio of management and leadership tools and techniques to do their job effectively.
Businesses that have survived Covid are ‘steadying the ship’ after a two year voyage through stormy seas, full of unknowns with questionable navigation devices and for many it has been pure ‘people-power’ that has kept the ship afloat.
The power of people-power
This people-power has operated through frequent changes in workplace, reductions in employee numbers, requiring fewer people to do more, challenged by changes in business processes, all this while often juggling the chaos of a personal life impacted by school closures, isolation rules and unparalleled stress.
The average employee has had to re-invent a viable working environment over and over again as the demands of the last two years has had them remote working, hybrid working, isolating and furloughed. In many cases, businesses are trying to normalise with a tired and somewhat traumatised workforce.
A couple of examples of the heroic efforts of people-power during the staffing crisis of the pandemic are featured here:
- Head of Compliance for Insurance Company working from home juggling a 3 year old by building a fort under her desk so he can be occupied and safe whilst she’s on conference calls.
Sales Manager in IT sector partitioning garage to create workspace suitable for customer-facing video calls.
These stories have a common thread of longer hours, isolation, uncertainty and impressive levels of innovation as they forged new ways of working, despite the obstacles.
There has never been a more important time to start coaching
Coaching is a particularly powerful tool in the modern workplace – one that has proven to be a highly effective way of developing individual and organisational performance by unlocking capability. At its best, this key management tool can deliver considerable benefits, helping managers get the most from their teams, boosting employee engagement and developing high performing workplaces.
There has probably never been a more important time to deploy coaching to support employees during their return to whatever the new normal looks like.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that coaching is increasingly widespread in organisations. Yet there is little objective research to tell us for certain how organisations approach the use of coaching. What, for example, is behind the growth in the use of coaching? How and why do organisations use coaching, and what can we learn from them? What criteria are used to select coaches, and how is the effectiveness of coaching measured?
What does coaching look like post-Covid?
I’ve spoken to over 80 businesses in an attempt to answer these questions and find out what their plans are for post-Covid re-launching, and what priorities they have for the rest of 2022.
I’ve found a growing culture of coaching among UK businesses, delivering measurable benefits to both employer and employee. In fact, businesses are starting to see coaching as a fundamental tool required to survive the post pandemic climate as they support their people back into the changed business landscape. The key goal for many business leaders is to build momentum back into their customer and supply side processes.
Yet, they’re doing this with fragile resources and new systems that have been designed ‘on the fly’. It’s going to need a lot of strong leadership and communication, with frequent points of touch across the business. Coaching sessions to support the goal is a priority.
In other words, coaching can perform the ‘defibrillation’ required to restart and steady the beating hearts of the organisation.
