Coaching, colleagues, and imposture

“Everyone needs a coach.” With these words, Bill Gates started a famous TED talk in 2013 in New York. While others talk of impostures… does that pique your interest? Read on!

You may have always dreamed of implementing a coaching system in your company without knowing exactly where to start. You may have sometimes hesitated to inquire, frightened by the costs involved. Perhaps you have concerns about what is said about coaching in general. And then, is it useful in an SME or conversely in a larger company?

You are the only judges, of course. But the experience of the last 15 years allows us to highlight the main advantages and disadvantages of this professional support. Because yes, coaching can bring great benefits both for the organization as a whole and for the individuals who benefit from it.

The 5 benefits of professional coaching

1. Skill development

This is obviously where it all happens. At worst, it’s wasted time; at best, coaching will truly help employees **develop and improve their professional skills**, whether they are “soft” like leadership, communication, stress management, time management, team management, or “hard” skills, like mastering a new tool.

2. Performance improvement

Initially, a coach will take a snapshot of where the employee currently stands. Then, they will identify potential obstacles that stand in their way. Finally, equipped with a plan and specific objectives, they will contribute to improving individual performance.

3. Renewed engagement and motivation

An employee who receives coaching to help them progress shows significantly more motivation afterwards because they **appreciate the investment the company has made** in them.

4. Leadership and management

One of the main benefits of coaching is the overall management that the employee can derive from it, sometimes indirectly related to the main coaching topic. Taking the time to reflect and converse with a professional coach is very inspiring, especially for time management, stress management, or team management. When a coaching policy is implemented in a company, it is often managers and “promising talents” who benefit from it first. The objective is to help them develop their leadership and management skills.

5. Facilitating change

Coaching is often utilized to help certain employees better understand a new role. Whether the shift is horizontal (change of areas of expertise) or vertical (taking on responsibilities), being supported helps them better prepare for new challenges.

“Imposture of positive psychology”

“We entrust our well-being and our soul to anyone.” However, it wouldn’t cross our minds to do so with our bodies. We wouldn’t undergo surgery from someone with only eighteen months of training. I understand the ease of going to see a coach compared to the difficulty of seeing a psychiatrist.”

These blunt words come from doctor of philosophy and lecturer Julia de Funès. In her best-selling book “Personal development (im)personnel, the success of an imposture,” she reflects on the enthusiasm for personal development coaches and critiques the impostures of a certain kind of positive psychology.

Here are 5 points that opponents of coaching in companies may raise:

1. High Costs

Some criticize the high cost associated with coaching programs in businesses. Companies can sometimes invest significant sums in coaching programs without assured clear returns on investment.

2. Lack of Empirical Evidence

This is probably the most interesting critique from an objective perspective. Some detractors point out the lack of solid empirical studies conclusively demonstrating the long-term effectiveness of coaching in business.

3. Lack of Regulation

Coaching in businesses is not always strictly regulated, leading to significant variability in the quality of services offered. Furthermore, qualifications are not always recognized, and training is sometimes very short. Anyone could, in one way or another, declare themselves a coach. It is not a protected profession.

4. Risk of Dependency

Sometimes, the criticism notes that by constantly hiring coaches for everything, employees become dependent and lose their autonomy instead of self-developing their own skills in facing certain problems. It’s a sort of “easy way out.”

5. Individual Focus

The last criticism often heard: coaching excessively focuses on individual development compared to the collective needs of the organization. This can lead to situations where employees concentrate more on their own growth rather than collaborating and achieving common goals.

I can see the defensive responses approaching. But let’s view these critiques for what they are: a reminder that it is essential to integrate all coaching opportunities into a broader program framed by Human Resources, and to always maintain a critical eye on the services we engage.

Many companies have achieved significant success by integrating coaching into their talent development strategies. And at Edenred, we firmly believe in the importance of continuous training.

An alternative: peer coaching 

Peer-to-peer coaching is based on the sharing of experience and the interaction between colleagues as a learning process. In other words, the coaches are colleagues.

This direct collaboration between peers doesn’t require a central authority or intermediary, like a traditional coach. Individuals learn from each other, share their knowledge and experiences.

This can occur in a formal manner, for example through peer mentoring sessions, or more informally, through spontaneous interactions and exchanges between colleagues or learners. This approach can replace coaching or be complementary.

For example, at Edenred, we have implemented “Lunch & Learn” sessions where a colleague explains a project, a concept, the scope of a team, etc. Everyone is free to sign up, and it works wonders!

Easy to implement and extremely interesting:

• First, because our employees constitute a source of experience and knowledge about our own company or projects that is both specialized and rich.
• Secondly, discussions among peers, idea exchanges, and sharing practical experiences allow for a more dynamic transfer of knowledge compared to formal methods.
• Another advantage is that individuals often learn by imitating and being inspired by others, especially when these models are symbols of success in their field.
• It should also be noted that the diversity of perspectives and skills within a team can lead to more creative and comprehensive solutions. Exchange and interaction create a bubbling of ideas.
• Lastly, unlike coaching, working with “peers” allows for building connections within the company with other colleagues who make it thrive. This strengthens the sense of belonging and fosters a collaborative work environment. And that’s almost the strongest argument.

The Role of HR

It is crucial in this “coaching” approach. They are, in fact, the ones who will accompany those who support others and those who are being supported. First, HR can establish initiatives and processes to identify, develop, and manage employees’ skills.

1. Skills analysis

Map the current skills of employees, identify potential gaps, and determine the necessary skills to achieve organizational goals.

2. Development plans

Next, work with employees to develop individual development plans. These plans will highlight skills to be strengthened, necessary training, and development opportunities.

3. Training and development

Natural next step: design training and development programs to help employees acquire the necessary skills. This may include internal training sessions, external courses, webinars, or of course, finding appropriate coaches.

4. Performance evaluation

Session evaluations at the end of coaching are part of the HR support.

5. Long-term follow-up

Finally, you can implement tracking systems to evaluate the progress made in skill development through coaching. This ensures that development efforts align with organizational goals, and that the work done has not been in vain.

We will conclude by emphasizing the importance of internal and external communication about all these initiatives. Letting it be known that skill development matters to your company can only make you more attractive from the outside and strengthen loyalty and engagement from the inside.

Have you heard of LEGO coaching?

Using LEGO bricks to be more effective in professional life is the idea the Danish company had when inventing LEGOSeriousPlay. The principle is simple and described on our blog!

It involves organizing workshops led by a coach with adults to encourage dialogue and stimulate reflection. Developing problem-solving skills and using imagination are also on the agenda, as well as fostering critical thinking. Workshops where we get to be a little child again. Let’s get to our bricks. 😉

More info: https://www.lego.com/en-be/themes/serious-play

What budget are we talking about?

The cost of coaches is often misunderstood. While some work for a flat fee, many charge by the hour, with established ranges. Discover these ranges on our blog.

For an individual coaching session in a company, prices range between 70 and 100 euros per hour. There are, of course, exceptions depending on the positions being coached, the objectives to be achieved, or the reputation of the coaches.

70-100 is a bit more than a sports coach (55-70 euros), a school coach (45-60), and similar to a couples coach.

It is worth noting that the highest-paid coach in the world is an athlete. It is Atlético Madrid’s coach, Diego Simeone, who earns 2.92 million euros… per month.

Figure: 50% 

That’s the growth in the number of professional coaches in the world from 2019 to 2022, according to the International Coach Federation (ICF).