Why building a coaching culture is vital for business success
A coaching culture has the ability to turn a business round, from re-engaging with employees, to encouraging continuous skills development, to improving team functionality. So why aren’t more organisations recognising it?
It is no secret that businesses today are facing acute organisational challenges; burnout is on the rise, turnover is high and staff continue to be spread across hybrid working models. This new and complex working environment can be difficult to manage, and leaders today are having to carefully balance the effective running of the business with the engagement and development of their staff.
By instilling a coaching culture within an organisation, managers can have a positive impact in addressing these issues, and ensure they are steering their organisation’s ship in the desired direction.
But what is a coaching culture?
Defining a coaching culture
Coaching, by definition, is a partnership in which thought-provoking and creative processes help inspire people to maximise their personal and professional development. Complimenting this process, a coaching culture encourages senior leaders and employees to recognise the value that coaching can bring, offering employees access to professional coaching from both internal and external coaches, as well as coaching being a fixture on company budgets.
Cultivating a coaching culture leverages effective coaching practices and coaching competencies to enable leaders and managers to develop and maximise the potential of their teams, measuring the impact of it on the individual and the organisation – but not many organisations are unlocking the full potential of this culture.
A coaching culture cannot be created without first ensuring that managers and leaders throughout the business are trained on this approach, so they can in turn implement and integrate these strategies throughout the workplace. By ensuring this expertise as a starting point, businesses can start to recognise the value of a coaching culture.
Recognising value
While many leaders and employees recognise the value of coaching, this is not always put into practice. A global study from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the Human Capital Institute (HCI) indicates that although 73% of employees and 78% of senior executives value coaching, only 38% of organisations have access to coaching modalities. With less than half of businesses making coaching accessible to all, it is evident that the true value of coaching is not being recognised.
A coaching culture may sound like a buzzword, but instilling a culture that supports and encourages continuous upskilling has proven results – from strengthened leadership and development, improved employee engagement, job satisfaction and team functionality.
Creating this kind of environment also comes with another benefit – connecting more closely with Gen Z employees. ICF found that Gen Z and entry level staff experience the highest turnover, something that could be resolved if these employees feel more engaged. By inviting these employees to have involvement in the internal strategy of the organisation and take part in a coaching culture, Gen Z can feel more closely connected to their role through a coaching relationship.
A coaching culture in action
Talking about the benefits of coaching is one thing, but seeing them in action is another.
AstraZeneca, the global, science-led biopharmaceutical business, was recognised for its efforts in embracing the power of professional coaching and systemically implementing coaching capability with managers and leaders. The thoughtful format and strategy behind the coaching offerings, all underpinned by ICF competencies, were as intentional as the company’s everyday work.
Since 2020, AstraZeneca has redesigned its Performance Management approach and replaced it with a coaching-focused strategy that strives to drive personal impact and collective success. With the help of experienced, credentialed ICF coaches, new coaching capability programmes for managers and leaders were developed.
“For organisations to thrive and innovate, people need to be empowered to think differently, be curious, solve problems and adapt to change. It’s only when people feel they have a safe space to learn, try new skills and apply creativity, they will strive to do and be their best, which is how innovation happens and how organisations become successful.” Marc Howells, HR VP Talent and Development, AstraZeneca.
The intention to allow people to experience a coaching culture, as well as equipping them with capabilities to take a coaching approach within their everyday flow of work, was fundamental in achieving wider business goals. The multi-year coaching strategy was intentionally designed to unlock more value from thousands of everyday conversations; through taking a coaching approach and also systemically maximising individual performance.
In response to their efforts, AstraZeneca was awarded the ICF Impact Award for Distinguished Organisations in 2023 for its global coaching strategy.
Steps to success
There are many ways that organisations can implement change management practices, and in turn look to roll out and cultivate a coaching culture, including: adopting a coaching framework and aligning a strategy to match the desired business outcomes, being aware of emerging coaching trends such as digital coaching and the role of Gen AI, and utilising new coaching modalities, such as coaching platforms to build in impact measurement and collect global insights.
In addition to these steps, building a coaching culture can also be aided by working with the experts - networking and partnering with reputable coaching organisations such as the International Coaching Federation and credentialed professional coaches from such bodies, to build a culture that’s the right fit.
“By harnessing the power of coaching capability we have not only changed the dialogue for leaders and managers, we’ve created a culture that empowers our people to reach their full potential in a dynamic, inclusive and high-performing environment to transform the future of healthcare for people, society and the planet.” Helen Basford, Global Capability Lead, Coaching & Feedforward, AstraZeneca.
Authored by Magdalena Nowicka Mook, CEO, International Coaching Federation
