Integrated Coaching: Growth Catalyst Woven Into Daily Work

Today’s rapidly changing landscapes and technologies increase skills and talent shortages. More than ever, businesses must find practical and creative ways to develop their people to attract and retain talent and achieve their growth objectives. Juggling the individual development needs of employees, the organizational goals, and understanding that traditional classroom or online module learning fills only a part of the demand, we need to think outside the box. Let us imagine a workplace where learning is not limited to isolated training sessions but is masterfully woven into daily work. Here, pursuing knowledge is not an obligation. It is a shared commitment to achieve excellent performance.

To meet the challenge, the Association of Talent Development advises organizations to grow talent in the workplace through a learning ecosystem, which allows employees to interact with the personalized learning content, data, and technologies that facilitate and deliver learning experiences aligned with organizational governance (Beich, 2022). Indeed, modern learning ecosystems have proven in practice the potential to enable continuous learning and growth, increasing employee engagement and performance, and can be regarded as a cornerstone of transformative workplace culture. Nevertheless, while its effectiveness depends heavily on the underlying technologies, a key concern is to align the learning with the organization’s vision, mission, and strategy (2022). In other words, how does continuous learning catalyze strategic business growth?

A Case Study: Davines Group

Davines Group, an Italian premium hair and skin care company with a relatively broad international reach, sets an excellent example of expanding the business through learning. A case study reveals how Performance Consultants (n.d.) helped their leaders and teams unlock their potential daily. They enabled a collaborative, purpose-driven, high-performance coaching culture. Results were highly positive, with business growth surpassing expectations. Following coaching conversations, business area performance increased by 55% and turnover by 22%. Business leaders reported an excellent customer loyalty and satisfaction score (+67.5) and efficiency (1328% ROI). The case study reveals that the project was implemented through the following:

• 360-degree impact assessments helped leaders become aware of their leadership styles and define individual objectives;

• Transformational leadership training provided leaders with tools to foster a coaching mindset;

• Leaders received coaching sessions, which started with a debrief on their 360-degree impact assessment feedback;

• Follow-up sessions were held to support leaders to meet their objectives;

• After each step of the project implementation, participant surveys were used to facilitate continuous feedback;

• Evaluation sessions at the end of the project allowed leaders to reflect on personal and organizational benefits.

The case of the Davines Group demonstrates how organizational coaching can facilitate continuous learning, provide employee development, grow talent internally, and raise employee engagement. Inspired by this, let us explore how integrated coaching systems can be implemented to catalyze strategic business growth through two critical areas such as performance and talent retention.

Coaching for Improved Performance

The case of the Davines Group demonstrates how coaching is used to enhance the achievement of an organization’s strategic goals. It is worth noting that Performance Consultants, who led the Davines Group to integrate coaching into their organization, was co-founded by workplace coaching pioneer John Whitmore (1937–2017). His seminal work introduced the GROW model, which provides a framework for the four action-focused stages: goal, reality, options, and way forward (Wang et al., 2022). Besides collecting data that is fundamental for assessing professional development needs and behavior caps to improve an organization’s performance (Beich, 2022), 360-degree impact assessments enabled the leaders in Davines Group to set goals, assess reality in the context of organizational goals, explore improvement opportunities, and decide a way forward.

The effectiveness of an integrated coaching system and improved performance depends mainly on how we train leaders for their daily one-on-ones and foster a coaching mindset and culture. While culture significantly influences how people in the organization interpret events and perform tasks, implementing culture change rests upon organizational trust; therefore, neuro-leadership science advises fostering simultaneously leadership strategies that generate trust, such as (Pittman, 2020):

• Recognizing excellence and celebrating relationships;

• Setting reasonable expectations for performance;

• Providing discretion in performing tasks;

• Encouraging “job crafting” and alignment;

• Communicating, listening, and sharing;

• Building authentic relationships;

• Facilitating whole-person growth (personal growth);

• Leading with integrity and humbleness.

A Key to Well-Being and Talent Retention

Today's organizational landscape is marked by recognizing that trust and employee well-being are critical factors in productivity, innovation, and retention. When Davines Group implemented a coaching culture, their employee well-being and overall satisfaction blossomed – 93% of 80% of employees who participated in the employee engagement survey expressed 2021 pride in working for Davines Group, compared to 2019, where these percentages were respectively 63 and 55%. Their employee retention improved significantly (387% ROI).

The success of Davines Group can be explained by the findings of a recent systematic literature review, which identifies that the key predictors of employee happiness and engagement are employee role, employee skills and career management, supervision support, and social relationships; coaching has here a pivotal role and is essential in enhancing transversal and social skills (Salvadorinho & Teixeira, 2023, p. 2790). Therefore, a technology ecosystem that aligns with the identified predictors of engagement integrates coaching seamlessly into daily work and is supported by a genuine coaching culture, which has the potential to boost employee well-being and engagement.

What Is Your Way Forward?

As we delve into the compelling case study of the Davines Group, the transformative power of integrated coaching systems becomes vividly apparent. The Davines Group demonstrates how coaching, seamlessly woven into daily organizational operations, unlocks potential and propels growth beyond expectations. However, the journey does not end here. Let us ask ourselves – what is our goal as talent development professionals, what is the reality we confront, and what options lay before us?

As we navigate the intricate terrain of continuous improvement and growth, the path forward invites us to foster learning and trust. Consider how your current strategies align with your organization's vision, mission, and strategy. Finally, what actions will you take to elevate performance and retain talent? Let us wove the growth catalyst into the daily work.

References

Beich, E. (2022). ATD’s Handbook for Training and Talent Development (3rd ed.). ATD Press.

Performance Consultants. (n.d.). High-Performance Coaching Culture. Retrieved February 2, 2024, from https://www.performanceconsultants.com/creating-a-high-performance-coaching-culture-davines-case-study

Pittman, A. (2020). Leadership Rebooted: Cultivating Trust with the Brain in Mind. Human Service Organizations, Management, Leadership & Governance, 44(2), 127–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/23303131.2019.1696910

Salvadorinho, J., & Teixeira, L. (2023). Happy and Engaged Workforce in Industry 4.0: A New Concept of Digital Tool for HR Based on Theoretical and Practical Trends. Sustainability, 15(3), 2781-2809. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032781

Wang, Q., Lai, Y.-L., Xu, X., & McDowall, A. (2022). The Effectiveness of Workplace Coaching: A Meta-Analysis of Contemporary Psychologically Informed Coaching Approaches. Journal of Work-Applied Management, 14(1), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWAM-04-2021-0030