A positive workplace is key to the success of any organisation and the behaviour of the employees within these organisations is fundamentally shaped by its collective beliefs and values. Research has consistently shown that when people across the business flourish, the company does better as a consequence because employees are happy.
Established in 1865 The Timpson Group is a family-owned UK business widely recognised as an organisation with a fundamentally progressive approach to company culture. CEO James Timpson sees his job as a leader being to get the best out of people. That doesn’t necessarily mean extracting the most productivity he can for his business. It’s about creating the optimal conditions and environment for employees to thrive. But he openly admits that his approach isn’t simply altruistic it’s about cultivating a working culture around that very notion of thriving employees which manifests through strong commercial delivery.
Equally, introducing a coaching culture into a business can benefit the entire workforce, not just those in the top jobs – but it takes a conscious desire and effort to implement. It’s an increasingly popular way to develop people across an entire organisation and is no longer seen as the reserve of senior executives. Coaching offers a systemic approach to help people set and work towards goals, take greater responsibility, communicate more effectively, work better with others and derive greater satisfaction from the work they do.
At an organisational level, coaching also contributes to a culture that is defined by active listening, constructive questioning, individual empowerment, the building of rapport, and an emphasis on holding real two-way conversations.
Having a great coach work across an organisation will open up a curiosity within employees where constructive questioning supports a culture that challenges assumptions and reminds employees to be open to ‘different’. Creating a coaching mindset at a cultural level will make it more okay to challenge. This doesn’t have to be confrontational. If there is a widely communicated expectation that coaching approaches are used, being able to talk freely about what that means in everyday interactions is vital.
When companies get this right employees will want to bring more of themselves to work, to use their initiative and to take ownership of their own learning and growth. Managers who coach have a big role to play in helping people to realise these expectations. In future, good leadership and management will increasingly be defined by the adoption of coaching approaches.
