Coaching for Performance or Coaching for Survival?

Coaching within organisations is not new anymore and there are now many organisations across all sectors that utilise coaching in some way. The term that has been used repeatedly in this regard is ‘Coaching for Performance’… it is the title of coaching programmes, coaching books, coaching businesses and is noted endlessly as part of the bio and service offering of a multitude of coaches.

This is, of course, a very valid term. Coaching does indeed support and enable performance in many ways. Review of coaching outcomes consistently shows examples of:

• Improved decision-making
• Improved relationship building
• Improve employee relations
• Improved communication and collaboration skills
• Improved team working
• Improved leadership pipeline and succession planning
• Increased productivity
• More effective leadership development
• Enhanced talent development

As well as the qualitative measures and outcomes, organisations are now also increasingly able to track the contribution of coaching to some of the harder, quantitative and financial metrics.

So, this all sounds great, right? Well yes, but…

There are two key issues that characterise our current state of affairs in the world which really need to be taken into account:

1. The quest for ‘performance’ (which, in itself is an interesting topic for discussion in terms of what ‘performance’ actually means, but that’s for another blog perhaps), has led us, in many cases, to have employees that are experiencing and displaying some characteristics and symptoms that are not only not particularly conducive to ‘performance’ but are also, I would say, a very high and unreasonable price to pay for said performance. As well as all of the great coaching outcomes noted above, what is also being observed, with worrying frequency is:
   • Stress, anxiety, overwhelm, burnout and mental health challenges. Apart from the very obvious concern this raises for humanity and the wellbeing of an organisation’s most vital asset: their people, it also has a very practical and tangible impact on absenteeism, motivation and engagement.
   • Engagement – according to the most recent Gallup report, engagement has receded for the first time in four years to 21% globally, which has been noted as a worrying sign for organizations who are already struggling with productivity. This drop is most noticeable in the manager population and only 33% of employees feel that they are thriving overall. The Gallup report also indicated that this kind of disengagement could cost the world economy $438 billion in 2024 alone.
2. The other issue, which also further exacerbates what I have outlined above, is that we find ourselves in a very ‘interesting’ and complex place as a global community on so many levels: political, economic, sociological, psychological, spiritual. We have wars actively raging, others on the brink of eruption, breakdown of national or global systems such as the NHS or NATO, organisations in a constant state or restructure and downsizing, charities with precious little left in terms budget to do the work they are trying to do underpin society and levels of disruption and technical ‘advancement’ at a pace that can almost cease to be measured.

The way I see it, the current ‘status quo’ and the strategies that some organisations are adopting to address these issues are not working and are not sustainable. It seems therefore, that we have the brewing of the perfect storm, as organisations struggle more and more to be ‘productive’ alongside the growing trend of employee disengagement and people generally just not being or feeling very happy or healthy. It feels like a collision course and the storm will be a powerful one for sure. The well used term of VUCA (volatile uncertain, complex and ambiguous) now seems so passe and has been superseded by the term BANI (brittle, anxious, non-linear and incomprehensible) – does any of that resonate with you?

Coaching is no longer just for performance…it is for survival!

Don’t get me wrong, change and evolution are important for growth, development, innovation, creativity and progress. However, we already know that we humans are not always the best at facing and handling change and so much of it is happening so fast, and we are running so fast to try and keep up with it all, that it can feel like the wheels are falling off the bus – and in some cases they are.

One of the most disappointing responses to all of this that I notice is that, in these times of concern or even, in some cases crisis, is that coaching and other forms of support and development get reduced or cut completely. I currently know of at least three major organisations who, having built amazing internal coaching capability and communities of highly skilled internal coaches are now reducing and/or disbanding them; making these incredibly valuable resources redundant, whilst leaving their leaving their leadership population literally on their knees with stress and overwhelm. It has been known for years that, in times like these, one of the very best investments we can make is in supporting and developing our people… A recent skills report by Betterworks noted that 75% of respondents believe that managers play a key role in supporting employee skills development, but 44% say that more coaching and mentoring are needed.

International Coaching Week (ICW) is a celebration of coaching and the role it can play to make a positive contribution to individuals, teams, organisations and societies at large. Coaching is needed more now than ever before and there is a huge opportunity for coaching, mentoring and other developmental interventions and tools to be utilised to the full so that we are equipped to handle change more effectively and to find a different and better way to do and be during these times.

In addition to the performance related benefits and outcomes seen from coaching, it offers a space for other, probably even more important, things to emerge and be addressed:

Slowing down – coaching is probably one of the very few times when a leader or an employee can ‘press pause’ and have time to catch their breath, to connect with themselves, with their thoughts and their feelings. To reflect, consider, explore, compare and contrast, scenario plan, brainstorm and so much more. It is very clear from so much emerging research that our brains (and our minds, bodies and souls for that matter) do not multi-task so well, we produce far better quality when we can do ‘deep work’ (ref. Cal Newport) and have time to give tasks our full, undivided attention. Slowing down also allows for our innate wisdom to emerge. So many decisions and actions are now having to be taken so quickly and then we immediately move onto the next thing and the next thing and the next…

Overwhelm

The confidential, safe space created in coaching allows for overwhelm to be expressed and for the individual to feel seen and heard. This alone can be enormously valuable to people when they are feeling stressed, simply to feel understood and for someone to be fully and utterly present with and for them. From this more stable place, that inner wisdom can have the space to surface and not be buried under layers and layers of stress, pressure, speed and anxiety.

Prioritisation

In many cases now, there simply is not enough time available to complete the amount of work that people feel is on their plate, let alone do it well. With the speed at which we are experiencing life and the speed at which data is available to us and coming at us, we are spending more and more time talking about the work (in back-to-back Teams or Zoom meetings, WhatsApp exchanges, email exchanges and on other comms platforms such as slack) than we are actually doing the work! How crazy is that!? I can’t count the number of times that I have heard coaching clients say that they now spend all day in meetings and then have no time left (other than outside of their working hours or at weekends) to actually do the work. It seems as though some of the tools that are meant to help us are actually at risk of getting in the way (ref. Cal Newport, Slow Productivity). This creates a real need for our ability to prioritise and strategize and coaching helps us to do that.

Learning vs. Performing

Given the pace at which we are now expected to work and the environment within which we need to do that, we are often barely able to perform the task, as we then need to move onto the next thing. What coaching offers is not only the opportunity to develop more effective performance strategies, but it also invites a space for considering what learning or insights are available from the situation at hand. Insights and learning that could potentially be integrated and applied to other situations at hand or in the future. Coaching is not just about establishing actions to address problems or goals, it is actually about supporting someone to grow and develop – and it is the growth and development of human potential that is most needed!

Coach Advancement by Tracy Sinclair supports organisations to develop the potential of their people through coaching, coaching skills and coaching culture. Our Coaching with Conscience services specialise in offering coaching and coaching related services in support of positive social impact and social progress.