Understanding Good Practice in Workplace Coaching

This document provides an in-depth understanding of workplace coaching, including its definition, benefits for companies and employees, roles and responsibilities of a coach, characteristics of an effective coach, managing confidentiality and ethics, and the importance of maintaining coaching activity. It also discusses different tools and techniques for effective coaching and the management of coaching processes.

UNDERSTANDING GOOD
PRACTICE IN
WORKPLACE COACHING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
1.1- Workplace coaching.............................................................................................................3
1.2- Roles and responsibility of an effective workplace coach...................................................4
1.3- Behaviour and characteristics of an effective workplace coach...........................................5
1.4- Ways of managing confidentiality, working ethically and formulating contract by coaches
......................................................................................................................................................6
2.1- Management of coaching processes-....................................................................................7
2.2- Tools and techniques for effective coaching-.......................................................................8
2.3- Importance of maintaining coaching activity-......................................................................9
2.4- Potential barriers of coaching in workplace-......................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Coaching can be defined as a term which is used to raise the performance of the employees by
unlocking their potential. It is one of the important method adopted by companies to make their
workforce efficient and effective. This project will study about the concept of workplace
coaching along with roles, responsibilities, characteristics of an effective coach. This report will
also throw a light on the terms like formulation of coaching contract, maintenance of
confidentiality, following of ethics along with a discussion on coaching process, tools and
techniques of effective coaching and barriers related to workplace coaching.
MAIN BODY
1.1- Workplace coaching
Coaching:
It can be defined as a term under which an experienced or specialize person by using his
knowledge and skills teaches the employees or learner to achieve their personal and professional
goals. The expert or specialize person known as coach while the learner referred to as coachee.
Workplace coaching:
It can be defined as coaching which is being provided to employees at workplace or
during the time of performing the job. It is considered as one of the best and popular mode used
by companies to taught and coach the employees for developing the work performance and skills
in them (Killion, Bryan and Clifton, 2020).
Benefits for companies:
Workplace coaching is provided to employees in order to achieve the specific objective
of the company. It is considered as one of the best method to raise and improve the performance
of the employees. It can also be emphasized by companies to meet the current changes in the
business environment by developing skills and talent accordingly. It helps the companies to
develop and build highly potential and efficient workforce for it. Improving level of motivation
and building confidence among employees to take responsibility towards work is also an
important reason of providing coaching by companies (Bozer and Jones, 2018). Overall it would
be right to said that the main benefits that companies will get from providing coaching to
employees is their achievement of goals.

Benefits for learner or employees:
Providing workplace coaching to employees will not only help the companies to raise the
efficiency of their workforce but it also helps employees in terms of their personal development
of skills. It helps the employees in enhancing their personality. Coaching helps the employees in
understanding difficult machinery or technique related to work. It acts as a mode by which their
problems and difficulty regarding performance of work will be resolved. Coaching provides a
way to raise and realize inner strengths to employees. Apart from achievement of organizational
goal it also helps employees to accomplish their individual or own goals and objectives
(Graßmann, Schölmerich and Schermuly, 2020). It acts as an opportunity for employees to learn
something new which they can utilize in their own personal life or in near future.
1.2- Roles and responsibility of an effective workplace coach
Roles of coach:
Encouraging employees:
It is the role of workplace coach to develop confidence among employees or learner. An
effective coach should always try to encourage learners to take their own decision and resolve
their problems. It helps in developing the trait of decision-making among learners so that they
themselves take decisions along with resolving their own issues.
Motivation:
Developing motivation among employees or learners towards work is also considered as
a major role of coach. A good coach should always encourage employees to get focussed
towards their work along with the development of motivation in them.
Giving support:
Supporting employees or learners during the time of non understanding and difficulty is
the main role of a coach. Providing support or helping the learner is also an important role of a
coach.
Listening the voice of learner:
It is also an essential role of a coach that he can listen the voice of learner or employees.
Coach should never adopt the practice of self-centred and self focussed (Gan, 2020). A coach is
said to be effective and efficient only when he will listen the issues of employees and consider it
appropriately.

Responsibility of workplace coach:
Following ethics:
It is the main responsibility of a coach that he should be a follower of ethics. Following
and implementing ethics in the work practice is very essential for an effective coach.
Open commination:
It is also considered as major responsibility of a coach that he should adopt open
commination practice. This practice will provide the leverage to employees to share their views
and opinions. This will not only help in raising satisfaction level among employees but also
enhance work performance.
Achieve objective:
Achieving the self objective along with organizational objective is also an important
responsibility of a coach. An effective coach will not only achieve his own objective or
company's objective, it is also the responsibility of a coach to consider and take care about the
objective of all associated employees.
Maintenance of confidentiality:
Maintaining confidentiality regarding information about employees and learners is also
considered as a duty of coach. A coach should keep the confidential information of the company
with himself only (Eastman, 2019). He should never share it with other.
1.3- Behaviour and characteristics of an effective workplace coach
A coach should be considered as effective when he will possess following qualities:
Positive thinker and Enthusiastic:
A coach should be a positive thinker and enthusiastic. He should be a follower of positive
approach. Instead of treating the learner through harsh and tough mode, an effective coach
should always use positive approach while dealing with employees (Green and Palmer, 2018).
Observant:
An effective coach should be a good observer. He should always observe the pros and cons of
learners and employees. In addition to observing he should also have to suggest the corrective
actions by which those cons can be corrected.
Leadership quality:

An effective coach should always posses leadership quality. By using his leadership
quality he can lead and guide the learners (Ciulla, 2020). In addition to guiding coach should also
be a possessor of influencing power by which he can influence human learner towards the work.
Self aware:
Self awareness is one of the essential quality of an effective coach. An effective coach
should be considered as effective only when he has self realization and awareness about himself.
He should always posses self understanding about his own strengths and weakness. As it is said
that without being making self correct a person can never make others to be correct. Thus having
self realization is very important characteristic of an effective coach.
Trust other and give equal chance to all:
A coach would be effective only when he will treat every learner equally without making
any discrimination. He should develop the feeling of trust among them. An effective coach
always give equal chance to all the employees to share their views and ideas. In addition to
sharing ideas he should always appreciate the best idea in order to raise the level of motivation
among initiator.
Redress-al of problems:
An effective coach usually adopt the practice to discuss issues and conflicts along with
their timely redress-al. It is considered as a major trait of an effective coach that he should listen
the problem of learners and timely resolve it.
1.4- Ways of managing confidentiality, working ethically and formulating contract by coaches
Confidentiality:
Maintaining of confidentiality is very essential in the workplace. It is very important that
the coach should follow this concept. He should never leak the information of the learner with
any other person. This will helps in trust building quality in the company. By adopting the
practice of confidentiality coach will not only help the company in raising its image but it also
develops the feeling of security among employees. It is very essential that coach will never break
the confidentiality practice until it is made important in case of serious issues or arisen of danger
situation or when coach found that the coachee is indulged in any unlawful or illegal practice.
Ethics in workplace:

Consideration of ethics or following of business ethics is very important for every
company. Ethics provides a framework of determining what is right and what is wrong. It also
becomes very essential because it involves a set of rules and guidelines which is required to be
considered by the employees while working in the workplace. Following of ethics is not only
necessary for companies or employee, it is equally important that a coach should also work
within ethical framework (Alzola, 2017). It is very important that a coach should be competent,
work within his set boundaries, maintain confidentiality, and act professionally while performing
his duty.
Coaching contract:
It is a legal document between company and coach. It constitutes the rules and regulation
regarding agreement. It also indicates liabilities of the coach. It is that document which establish
relationship between company and coach. It should set number of coaching sessions, cost
element, and last but most important it contains the policies regarding payment. A contact should
also include duration of services, roles and responsibilities of coach, along with main aims and
objectives which is required tom be expected to achieve. Apart from that a contract must also
includes the rules regarding cancellation and termination.
2.1- Management of coaching processes-
Workplace coaching is the process of providing training to employees for the purpose of
increasing their work productivity. Following are the different ways through which coaching
process can be improved.
1. GROW Model
2. FUEL coaching method
GROW method- GROW model is an acronym name which is described as-
G- Goal
R- Reality
O- Options
W- Will
This is an effective way of improving the effectiveness of coaching process and also highly
utilized by several coaching communities for developing good practices at workplace. This is
done because GROW model tends to evaluate the situations and then empower individual to

identify its working capability on the basis of four arising situations (Clancy and et.al, 2018). At
the initial stage goal is set which enables individual the required work quality through which
high work performance can be achieved. Then arises the second stage in which evaluation of
current situation is done and work strategy is being developed. The third stage is the section in
which options are being explored, this is an good work place practice because through this work
strategies can be developed at the work place. Then arises the final stage which consist of will
for performing a specific task in such a way that desired target can be achieved.
FUEL Method- FUEL method for effective coaching at the work place is an acronym name
which consist of-
F- Frame
U- Understand
E- Explore
L- Lay
This is effective workplace coaching method because in this method the guidance is provided in
the form of showcasing the negative impacts which can be achieved by not obeying the given
procedure. Following are the sections in FUEL method, framing the conversation through which
context and focus of the conversation can be set through discussion. Understanding the current
state is the section in which individual tend to analyse the situation and develops perspective for
achieving desired target (de Haan, 2019). Once the target is being identifies then arises the stage
in which different alternative paths are being identifies for performing the desired target. Then
arises the final stage in which layout is being developed by the individual for resolving
workplace problems by which work productivity can be increased.
2.2- Tools and techniques for effective coaching-
Workplace coaching is very important because through this high creativity for problem solving
and work productivity can be increased by which chances of goal achievement can be increased.
But in order to increase the effectiveness of learning process several tools and different learning
preferences have to be involved by which high work productivity can be achieved. Following are
the different range of tolls and techniques which are utilized for effective coaching.
1. VAK learning style- The VAK learning style stands for,
V- Visual
A- Auditory

K- kinesthetic
This tends to showcase the different learning style which have to identified for providing the
coaching method through which high work productivity can be achieved. In case of Visual
learning style the learner is able to understand the concepts through imagination and can resolve
the queries accordingly (Myers and Bachkirova, 2018). Auditory learner is able to understand the
core concepts through by recalling the information provided. Whereas the kinesthetic learner is
an individual which tend to understand the core concepts through remembering and exploring the
feeling.
2. Belbin (Team Role)- Belbin team role is the analytical method which is use for the
purpose of the identifying the strength and weakness of individuals in such a way that it
is able to identify the requirements and then can develop working strategy in such a way
that high work oriented results are being achieved. With that this approach is also used
for the development of effective teams because groups are being made in such a way that
it is able to resolve a specific problem.
Diagonal tools are the methods which are used for the purpose of establishing the benefits which
are achieved from coaching, following are the different types of diagonal tolls.
1. Psychometric
2. Employee engagement survey
3. Team diagnosis
4. Employee engagement survey
With the utilization of these organizations can identify the effectiveness of proving proper
coaching to the employees for achieving desired target (Rao, 2017).
2.3- Importance of maintaining coaching activity-
It is very important that coaching activities are being documented because through this progress
made at different time segments can be effectively evaluated and improvisations can be made on
the specific targeted segment because of which it is highly effective (Passmore and Lai, 2020).
Following are the advantages of record keeping.
1. Documentation of progress,
2. Coaching Schedule,
3. Continuous evaluation of integrating approach for problem solving,
4. Improvisation of work process for goal achieving,

5. Meeting notes,
6. Aide memorization,
7. Coaching contract,
Record keeping is highly beneficial for ensuring the progress being made. Following are the
information which has to be integrated in the records.
1. Documentation and record keeping improves the continuity between different sessions
through which time management is improved.
2. Record keeping of basic coaching activity enables the learner and instructor to identify
the progress being and evaluate it with the work requirements rate, through this
improvisations can be made accordingly.
3. With that it is also used for identifying the integrated approach for progress being made
and tend to ensure the scheduled completion of progress.
4. Coaching schedule, is also another advantage which is associated with the record keeping
because documentation enables learner to schedule its time frame in such a way that high
priorities are provided to important topics and due to which work productivity is also
increased.
5. Meeting notes is an effective way of showcasing the information achieved through the
progress through this it can be ensured that the requirements are being identified and
work progress is being made accordingly for goal achievement.
6. Documentation also reduces the negative impact achieved due to slip of mind or human
errors because of which work progress is being affected and because of which record
keeping is an efficient way through which concentrated approach can be made for
achievement of target.
7. Coaching contract is an effective way for memorizing the basis information by analysing
the relationship, this includes the timing, resources and responsibilities, which has to be
recorded in the workbook.
2.4- Potential barriers of coaching in workplace-
Barrier is the resistance which is achieved by the learner during the process of learning which
make negative impact on their learning capabilities and because of which effectiveness of
learning new skills is reduced. Following are the potential barriers of coaching at the workplace.

1. Organizational culture,
2. Effectiveness of change,
3. Short term focus,
4. Learner's engagement in learning,
5. Unsuitability of coaching provided by coaches,
6. Increased work load,
Organizational culture is the way in which organizational activities are done in such a way that
company is able to influence the employees to concentrate their efforts for achieving a specific
targeted goal (Anthony and et.al, 2018). Due to this changes in organizational culture
organizations tend to provide efficient training to employees for increasing their work productive
but if the work culture is not motivating employees to learn new skills then it will create a
potential barrier for learning skills. With that employees should also be empowered to implement
the change in their work productive for improving goal achieving capability. With that the main
barrier in the coaching at workplace is that the learner should also be willingly motivated to
participate its efforts in learning new skills by which it can ensure its personal and professional
growth. But the unsuitability of the coach is also another factor which makes an impact on the
learning capability of the learner because of which the coach should also make sure that it is
having a clear image and understanding of the knowledge which it tends to provide to the
learners by which effectiveness can be increased (Lam and et.al, 2018). But with that the
increased work load is the main reason which is making a direct negative impact on the learning
capabilities of the learner, this happens because learner has improvise its working strategy in
such a way that it is able to surpass the high workload and due to which it keeps on analysing the
several alternatives for resolving the problem. Due to this it tend to develop a potential barrier in
the learning capabilities and thus effectiveness of learning is reduced.
CONCLUSION
From the above analysis it can be concluded that effective coaching has to be provided to
individuals in such a way that their work productivity can be increased and with that chances of

goal achievement can also improvised. Thus, in order to achieve this several creative measures
have to be taken into consideration in such a way that learner is able to identify the core concepts
through which are required for efficient problem solving. With that the coaching has to be
provided on the basis of differences in learning styles through which synchronism in learning
concepts can be established.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
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effectiveness: A systematic literature review. European Journal of Work and
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Ciulla, J.B., 2020. The importance of leadership in shaping business values. In The search for
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de Haan, E., 2019. A systematic review of qualitative studies in workplace and executive
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Myers, A.C. and Bachkirova, T., 2018. Towards a process-based typology of workplace
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Passmore, J. and Lai, Y.L., 2020. Coaching psychology: Exploring definitions and research
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