PART 5: COACHING CULTURE SERIES

Now that we’ve covered multiple approaches and strategies for how to introduce coaching skills and coaching related activities into your organisation, it’s time to consider measurement. How do you know that coaching is making a positive difference?

Several years ago, while working as a continuous process improvement consultant, our mantra was to measure what’s important, not just what’s measurable. This principle most certainly applies to measuring the progress of your investment when building a coaching culture. There are many, many things that an organisation can measure, but how useful are they and what do the results tell you? The key here is to really think about what it is that you want to achieve and develop an approach to measurement that provides meaningful data and evidence.

In the early years of using coaching within organisations, some viewed it with scepticism. The evidence of success seemed based on subjective responses as opposed to empirical data, and most organisations tend to favour empirical data as evidence of success when it comes to making a financial commitment. Today, there are much better methods to establishing this empirical data, and there is far more recognition and acceptance that the subjective response is not only valuable, but critical, to the success of a culture that is truly infused with the principles of coaching. This mindset is very noticeable in organisations that demonstrate a strong coaching culture.

We will look at both aspects, but first, I’d like to share a simple model that can be used to provide a framework for measurement. The Kirkpatrick Model was originally developed to provide an evaluation of the four levels of learning, and it can be easily adapted to coaching as follows:

  • Level 1: Reaction: What did the coachee think or feel about the coaching engagement?

  • Level 2: Learning: What did the coachee learn during the coaching engagement?

  • Level 3: Behaviour: How did the coachee apply their learning? What changes in behaviour were evident?

  • Level 4: Results: What impact did the changes in behaviour have? What changes in results or productivity were evident?

For examples of how these levels could be translated into measures, sign up to get the full series delivered directly to your inbox!

At this point, we’ve covered the building blocks for creating a strategy for coaching culture and ways to fully utilising coaching as a strategic resource within your organisation. Next, we will show you how to create sustainability for long-term success!

Tracy Sinclair, MCC

Tracy Sinclair is a multi-award-winning Master Certified Coach (MCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She is also a trained Coaching Supervisor, Mentor Coach and ICF Assessor. Tracy trains coaches and works with managers and leaders to develop their coaching capability. She works as an international Corporate Executive and Board Level Coach, a leadership development designer and facilitator working with a wide range of organisations. Tracy also specialises in working with organisations to support them develop coaching culture. Tracy has co-authored a book Becoming a Coach: The Essential ICF Guide published in 2020 which provides a comprehensive guide to coaching for coaches at all levels of skill and experience, the psychology that underpins coaching and the updated ICF Core Competency Model. In this same year she founded Coaching with Conscience which exists to have a positive impact on society and our environment through coaching. As part of this work, she collaborates closely with MIND, the UK’s leading mental health charity and the British Paralympic Association (BPA). She also offers pro bono personal development and coaching programmes to young leaders (18-25-yrs). Tracy was named as one of the Leading Global Coach winners of the Thinkers50 Marshall Goldsmith Awards of 2019 and was a finalist for the Thinkers50 Coaching and Mentoring Award in 2021. She won the ICF Impact Award for Distinguished Coach in 2023 and is a member of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches. She was the President of the UK ICF from 2013-2014 and was an ICF Global Board Director since 2016, serving as Treasurer in 2017, Global Chair in 2018 and Immediate Past Global Chair in 2019 and Vice Chair and Director at Large on the International Coaching Federation Global Enterprise Board in 2021.

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