Here are our thoughts
A coaching culture takes time to develop. It’s an ongoing process of reflection and there can be tensions when an internal coach is used. Employees often mistrust, even disbelieve, that coaching is truly confidential and free of judgement. A safe, judgement-free space is very good in theory. It doesn’t feel so good sitting in a one-to-one with your manager with whom you discussed your challenges just days or weeks ago. Will they bring it up? What if it ends up on the record, not off it? Cue uncomfortable squirming in their seat and a lack of focus.
From the manager’s perspective, it’s tempting to give away answers when presented with a dilemma. It’s also extremely difficult to put aside all agendas: the team’s, the department’s, and the entire company’s agenda. Politics can get in the way and the notion that coaching is a neutral place where the individual’s needs take precedent is forgotten.
Coaching may lead to counselling
Sometimes highly skilled and competent practitioners lose their edge or their confidence in situations where it might ordinarily be expected they will deliver high quality work outputs and outcomes.
A coaching conversation may assist the practitioner to distinguish where the obstruction has occurred and remedy it for themselves. Where counselling may be indicated to address an issue outside of the coaching brief (issues borne of external influences or earlier life experiences) Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) counselling will be made available.
Counselling and EAP referrals will be the subject of another learning module as will debriefing and professional supervision. These are separate disciplines and require skill sets which are different to coaching and mentoring.
