Business Coaching - Be Effective

At the BCF Group, all of our business coaching programmes are designed to bring truly effective results to our clients. We believe that there is no point even starting to design an L&D programme unless you know that you can meet all of the clients' objectives and bring an influential and positive change to an organisation.

Our ILM Level 5 Business Coaching Certificate programme has been recognised as being a hugely effective business coaching programme; so much so, it has been recognised and accredited by ILM up to a Level 5 Certificate standard.

In order to consistently achieve such a high level of dynamic and commercially aware in-house L&D programmes; certain universal standards have to be met in order to deliver an effective programme:-

1. The Research & Consultation Stage

The brief from the client needs to be as clear and as detailed as possible. The desired outcomes need to be discussed at length, and potentially challenged if required; taking into account culture, values and organisational goals. A cross-section of the participants attending the programme also needs to be consulted. This is to ensure that a broad picture of specific requirements can be taken into account when designing the programme.

Comprehensive research at the outset is essential in order to put together a course or package which is laser-focused on the client’s needs and wants. This ensures that highly relevant and effective training and/or coaching is provided which comprehensively deals with the issues that need to be covered.

Thorough consultation is imperative in order to provide you with exactly what you need. Only be getting a complete understanding of the issues within your organisation can we truly put together a bespoke programme which will enable your managers or employees to overcome them.

As you know your employees and the issues they face better than anyone, you will play a key part in this stage of the process.

2. The Design Stage

Every organisation is different. They have different priorities, different working methods, different functions and different goals and aspirations. We design every in-house programme from scratch, taking in the detailed research that we have previously conducted.

Not only this, but the right L&D consultant is chosen to both design and deliver your programme; hand-picked because of their background and expertise within both the learning field and the clients' industry sector.

Having an inexperienced person delivering the programme will provide very little value. Delegates would probably learn just as much by reading a textbook. A knowledgeable, experienced coach or tutor will be able to maintain the attention of attendees all day, as well as challenging their thinking and inspiring them to contribute to the session.

3. Buy-in

There needs to be a level of understanding and 'buy-in' from the participants on the programme (Related page: Health and Safety Relies Primarily on People. If programme participants don't want to learn or feel that they don't need to learn, then it is very hard to make any impact with that individual, team or organisation.

Sometimes barriers are erected in order to protect their function and purpose within an organisation; however, no organisation can succeed and grow without teamwork and internal communication. It is part of our job to break down these barriers. This can be done as part of the Consultation stage, or the use of a 'Foundation Programme' or indeed 'Ice Breakers' on the programme itself.

Along with being informative, we also strive to create an enjoyable session. Not only does this maintain the attention of attendees, but it also typically wins around those who arrived at the session under some duress and without much enthusiasm for it. It is always pleasing to watch someone who began the session a bit grumpy and resistant, but by the end is smiling and acknowledges that they have learnt a lot from the day.

4. The Delivery Stage

Every trainer is individually hand-picked to provide the right experience and background for the clients' industry sector; as well as being a Subject Matter Expert (SME) within the specific area of L&D focus.

Our programmes are designed with innovation, credibility, interaction, skills practice, business relevance and commercial returns in mind. Without this focus, the sessions would become little more than a day out from the workplace for everyone. But by concentrating on these factors, our programmes provide attendees with crucial skills to put into practice when they return back to the workplace.

5. The Evaluation Stage

This is a very important stage. Well, they all are, but this final evaluation stage gauges how successful an L&D programme has been. Evaluation results can be recorded by us in a number of formats; be it psychometric analysis, Return on Investment (ROI) analysis, productivity analysis, etc.

The evaluation stage is also a very important process in order to gauge what the next training steps might be; be it on a personal, team or organisational level.

Although useful, quite often a one-off programme only provides a fairly limited benefit. This is because a lot of information can be forgotten when just imparted once, and old working habits can resurface.

To make lasting changes and improvements usually requires continuous training, with a series of sessions including reviews or progress made or not made. Multiple sessions really drive home points and are far more likely to result in positive changes which last going forward. Not only that, but featuring reviews and evaluations of whether goals have been achieved or not – and if not, what can be done differently – can often provide just as much of a benefit as the original sessions themselves.

Next Steps

Find out more about business coaching and mentoring, including what it is and what are the benefits, by clicking here. Remember also that we can help you in becoming a business coach yourself.

For more information regarding how we can assist you and your organisation, or to get started on the research and consultation stage, please call us on 0844 800 3295 or send us an online contact form by clicking on the button below.

Between us we will be able to create a truly unique and bespoke programme that will improve the performance of your staff members or managers, and contribute towards the success of your business.