For many organisations, coaching skills have become more than a nice-to-have for managers and leaders, they’ve become essential. For Learning & Organisational Development (L&D/OD) professionals, fostering coaching capabilities within leadership teams can boost performance, and cultivate a healthier, more supportive workplace culture. Here are four key reasons why coaching should be at the top of your skills development agenda.
Fosters Psychological Safety and Trust
A workplace where employees feel safe to express ideas, take risks, and admit mistakes is one that thrives – coaching skills are instrumental in creating this kind of environment. By practicing active listening, empathy, and constructive feedback, leaders build trust and promote psychological safety within their teams.
When psychological safety is a conspicuous priority, employees are more likely to share innovative ideas, collaborate openly, and engage fully in their work – all of which contribute to a more resilient and adaptive organisation. Where leaders seek to create the opposite of a ‘blame culture’, teams become more agile in problem-solving, decision-making improves, and workplace relationships strengthen.
Enhances Goal-Setting and Achievement
Effective coaching helps individuals to set clear, achievable goals and provides the support they need to reach them. Employees are encouraged to take ownership of their professional development, fostering motivation and creating a sense of accountability.
When coaching is integrated into everyday leadership, problem solving can be re-framed. If a team member is regularly asked “what have you tried so far?” or “tell me some options you’ve come up with?” when they bring their manager a problem, they are encouraged to be innovative and approach problem solving in a more proactive way. They’re more likely to start saying “here’s what I’m going to try first, what do you think?” instead of “what should I do?”.
If this attitude can be pointed at strategic priorities as well as personal ones, aligning individual development with organisational success, everybody wins.
Strengthens Mentoring Relationships
While coaching and mentoring are distinct, they complement each other in powerful ways. Coaching focuses on facilitating growth through open questioning and active listening, while the guidance of mentoring comes from a place of experience. Leaders who possess strong coaching skills can enhance their mentoring relationships by encouraging mentees to think critically and develop their own solutions.
This dual approach fosters a culture of continuous learning, where employees know they will be supported and helped whether or not they need the honest advice of an experienced colleague, or they need to share their own thoughts and be guided towards a practical action plan.
Improves Employee Engagement and Retention
A workforce’s level of ‘engagement’ is the extent to which they are motivated by and committed to their work, as well as a reflection of their relationship with the organisation they work for. Engaged employees are productive and conscientious, and a culture where coaching is the norm can keep them that way by making sure they feel valued and ‘heard’. Coaching-style managers know how to ‘check in’ (without micromanaging) and provide meaningful support through challenges and pressure.
The personal and professional growth that coaching brings about also makes employees more likely to stay with their organisation, particularly when they have been guided to create motivational and achievable goals. This reduces turnover, retains invaluable experience and expertise, and reduces the cost of hiring and inducting new staff.
For L&D and OD teams looking to have their leaders and managers create positive, productive environments, investing in coaching skills is a rewarding move. Training support can take the form of coaching skills workshops, leadership development programmes aimed at creating leader/coaches and accredited coaching & mentoring qualifications.
Eliesha Training is an experienced, expert provider of all these solutions. We have helped hundreds of public and private sector organisations to develop coaching cultures and we would be delighted to find out we can help yours, too. Get in touch now to arrange an informal, exploratory chat.
