7 tips to building an internal coaching function

“I’m now qualified, and want to coach people within my organisation, what advice would you give?”

My week started with this conversation with a connection who wanted to ‘pick my brains’ on the topic.

Whether coaching is carried out in addition to the day job or as a full-time role, for internal coaching to be sustainable, effective, impactful, it requires much more than one person’s enthusiasm.

7 tips to building an internal coaching function

1. Make a compelling business case: Be clear on the need, purpose and scope of internal coaching. Ask yourself and other key stakeholders: what are you seeking to achieve through coaching, how will coaching help solve the organisation’s problems, what value will it add, who will your target audience be, how will you measure and evaluate, what metrics will you collect, how will coaching integrate with existing training, learning, leadership, culture programmes…

2. Enlist executive sponsorship: seek out advocates from the senior leadership team. Most organisations now see coaching as a key enabler of leadership and talent. Referencing coaching in strategic objectives helps coaching to be seen as something that is valued and valuable. If they haven’t already, encourage them to experience the power of coaching and its benefits. Role modelling required behaviours and publicly acknowledging that they have experienced coaching will set the tone.

3. Craft the team:

– Identify a named person who will be responsible for the coaching function, to:   drive the coaching strategy, keep it updated and aligned with the org’s strategic objectives, deploy coaching, maintain standards, communicate its impact, value, effectiveness…

–  Identify and select diverse internal colleagues who have the mindset, aptitude, attitude, people skills, desire… to coach.

–  Provide accredited coach training for the selected colleagues to equip them with the skills, knowledge and tools they need to flourish.

4. Establish governance and guidelines: lay down a robust framework encompassing every facet of your coaching function, such as: confidentiality, ethics, professional conduct, clarity of roles, responsibilities, expectations of the coaches, coachees, and other stakeholders involved in the coaching process, record keeping, matching, contracting, scheduling, feedback, evaluation…

5. Implement a rigorous monitoring, feedback and evaluation mechanism. Collate and analyse coaching data, drawing out insights, themes, trends, impact, value added…

6. Communicate: encourage coachees to share their experience of being coached, make use of testimonials, call upon sponsors and advocates to keep coaching on the strategic agenda, weave success stories into your organisation’s narrative.

7. Provide supervision: This is a must along with continual development. Consider becoming an organisational member of a coaching body such as the EMCC, AC, ICF…

What would you add?

If your organisation has an internal coaching function, what has led to its success? What enablers and blockers have you encountered?