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Companies don't leave it up to individual line managers to decide how to invest in IT, fearing they would end up with an unmanageable system of unconnected computer systems. But coaching is often allowed to proliferate in an ad hoc fashion, Andrew Park notes in Harvard Management Update, as different groups within companies pick different providers and different packages. Instead, he recommends:
Articulate Coaching Objectives
As coaching is more widely used in organizations, the purpose has become muddied. Determine how it should serve your talent-management strategy. Should coaching focus on expanding skills in the senior ranks? Is it to make management transitions less disruptive? Is it to build bench strength to facilitate rapid growth? Make sure your purpose is linked to corporate strategy and goals.
Define The Details
After nailing down the objectives, hammer out the specifics. You'll have to tackle some key questions. Who merits coaching in your organization and under what circumstances? Will you use a team of internal coaches or hire external ones? Will coaches commit to an action plan or a contract? Will their sessions be totally confidential or will coaches be obligated to report sensitive information to management? How will you measure success? Those parameters can then be used for all coaching within the organization.
Screen Coaches Carefully
You have to make sure that the coaches you hire - be they independent contractors or, as is increasingly common, members of global coaching organizations - have the experiences and expertise to meet your coaching program's overall objectives. "It's crucial that the coaches you selected are able to marshal evidence that the tools and the approaches they use actually work and that they can adapt these tools and approaches for your organization and the different individuals they will work with there," he stresses.
Establish A Partnership
For coaching to support your objectives coaches need to understand them. You'll need an orientation session for new coaches and may even want to consider a conference call for all coaches in which you explain the state of the business. In return, they may offer you useful insights based on their experience.
Measure the Outcome
It's difficult to measure effectiveness on coaching, but with your objectives clarified, that will help you to frame a measurement approach.
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