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Leeds Metropolitan University - Workplace Coaching Strategy This paper sets out the business case and implementation plan for coaching provision to support Leeds Metropolitan‟s high performance culture. It covers the following:

1. Background to a coaching culture.

2. The purpose of introducing coaching to our University and the business benefits.

3. Implementation – the staged process for building sufficient capacity to develop and sustain a „coaching culture‟.

4. How coaching could be used across our University.

5. How effectiveness will be assessed.

6. Recommendations for the way forward.

1. Background to a coaching culture: What is a „coaching culture‟? Clutterbuck and Megginson (“Making Coaching Work, 2005) describe it as follows: “Coaching is the predominant style of managing and working together, and where a commitment to grow the organisation is embedded in a parallel commitment to grow the people of the organisation”. Typically, an organisation where a coaching culture exists is one where coaching is linked into organisational strategic objectives, not seen as a stand-alone panacea for all development needs. The CIPD‟s (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) 2007 learning and development survey confirmed that 71% of organisations now use coaching as a learning and development tool. However, results from the survey indicated wide variations in practice to develop a coaching culture, with clear objectives in relation to coaching being rare at senior management level 2. The purpose of introducing coaching to Leeds Metropolitan and the business

benefits: An organisation‟s definition of coaching must be congruent with the existing culture and language of that organisation. Passmore (“Excellence in Coaching, 2006) defines the difference between coaching and mentoring as follows: “A mentor has experience in a particular field and imparts specific knowledge, acting as adviser, counsellor, guide, tutor, or teacher. In contrast, the coach‟s role is not to advise but to assist coachees in uncovering their own knowledge and skills and to facilitate coachees in becoming their own advisers.” It is proposed, therefore, that the development of coaching within Leeds Metropolitan is essential to support delivery of the objectives contained within the Strategic Plan 2010-2015, and to support implementation of our University‟s Performance Development Review process. Organisations who have introduced coaching have outlined some of the following benefits:

more effective leadership

reduced sickness absence

increased productivity

improved outcomes

a workforce better equipped to manage change

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greater job satisfaction

more motivated workforce It is therefore worth developing a University-specific definition of workplace coaching, which outlines its purpose in the move towards our University being seen as a champion of coaching in all guises (see Appendix A). It is, however, also worth noting that these organisations are those which have introduced coaching at all levels, where introducing coaching is not simply defined as equipping managers with coaching skills. Emerging evidence suggests that organisations which have been effective in moving towards a coaching culture are those which employ different strategies for the introduction of coaching (see section 3). 3. Implementation: It is proposed that the process for building sufficient capacity to develop a coaching culture in carried out through a building block approach:

1. The recruitment of a pool of external executive coaches by April 2009 – carried out by means of a selection process using specific criteria. The People Development Manager would manage the matchmaking of the external coach to senior staff within the organisation.

2. The design and delivery of an in-house Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) Level 5

accredited Coaching Programme (see Appendix B). 25 managers to become qualified coaches by December 2010.

3. The development of internal coaches would require a spread of staff from differing Faculties

and Services, in order to support future matchmaking of coach to coachee.

4. Finally, all line managers to be provided with a one-day basic „Introduction to Coaching Skills‟ course, to enable the move towards a less telling, more coaching style of management. This would be congruent with the proposed move towards a coaching culture. The one-day course will be delivered by the People Development Team, with the aim of having 200 managers trained by December 2009.

5. All future ILM Management & Leadership Programmes to include a one-day Coaching

Module. 4. How Coaching will be used across Leeds Metropolitan: Rather than take an „ad-hoc‟ approach to coaching, where any staff are offered 1-1 coaching, workplace coaching will initially be offered in some, or all, of the following areas: 1. Coaching of all delegates on future ILM Management & Leadership Programmes. 2. Coaching of new leaders or those with a potential for leadership within the organisation. There is

an increasing body of evidence to highlight the impact coaching can have during the transition of new leaders from one role into another. Richard Elsner, in his book “Lost in Transition” (Cyan/Marshall Cavendish, London 2006) suggests that some transitions are trickier than others, the most difficulty being moving up and moving organisation,and that such transitions can be shocking = role shock; culture shock; context shock. These shocks have the potential to de-rail a transition. He suggests that coaching provided during the first 100 days in a new leadership role has been shown to significantly reduce this risk of „derailment.‟

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3. Coaching will be offered to managers directly affected by organisational change. 5. How Effectiveness will be assessed: With the introduction of coaching to the organisation it is important to begin with the end in mind. How will we know when we have a coaching culture? This question highlights the importance of defining what Leeds Metropolitan wants from coaching at both individual and organisational level. One of the reasons for a more structured approach to the coaching offered across our University is the need to demonstrate a return on investment, as it is traditionally difficult to measure degrees of behavioural change. It is therefore proposed that effectiveness will be measured in the following ways:

The involvement of the coachee‟s line manager prior to any coaching starting, with joint completion of a 3-way coaching contract.

The use of control groups has been used particularly effectively in measuring the impact of coaching. One group of delegates could be provided with coaching on a particular ILM Programme, and another not. Use of pre and post-Programme questionnaires could be used to compare experiences.

Use of specific development tools pre and post coaching, such as the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQI), and 180/360 questionnaires.

Use of pre and post coaching interviews and case studies.

A structured approach to the definition of goals at the start of a coaching relationship, and the measuring of the achievement of such goals after the coaching.

4. Ongoing Developments:

The communication of the University-specific definition of coaching and its purpose within the organisation (see Appendix A).

Leeds Metropolitan to retain membership of the EMCC, one of the main coaching bodies. Currently there is no one body with overall responsibility for the regulation of coaching in the UK. Membership of the EMCC (European Mentoring & Coaching Council) allows us to sign up to their Code of Ethics, gain access to useful publications, attend local networking events etc..

Possible move towards Faculty Coaching Champions who will be the central point of reference for coaching enquiries within that Faculty.

Longer-term – opening up an in-house ILM Coaching Programme to partner organisations, both within HE and external to HE. This would both generate income, and allow for cross-organisation trading of internal coaches.

Provision of group supervision and CPD to all internal coaches – attendance to be a requirement for coaches practising internally.

Kathy Ashton October 2010.

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Appendix A Definition of Coaching and its purpose for Leeds Met:

“A coaching culture at Leeds Met will support and develop staff to utilise their talents to the full, and to create a high performing organisation. A coach will not offer the answers but will ask questions to enable staff to find their own solutions”.

We will know we have a coaching culture when:

coaching is seen as contributing to the core business.

managers are equipped with the skills to use a coaching style of management when appropriate.

staff are empowered to make appropriate decisions for themselves.

staff are working autonomously.

staff adapt to change positively.

staff are increasingly aware of their own values and how they align to those of the organisation.

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Appendix B

Overview of ILM Level 5 Coaching Programme:

Staff of certain management grades 7 and above interested in becoming workplace coaches would apply for the in-house ILM Level 5 Certificate in Coaching & Mentoring in Management.

The Certificate would consist of 8 taught Modules, commencing April 2009, and would include „live‟ observation of practice and the requirement to attain a certain standard of coaching prior to commencing 1-1 workplace coaching.

Prior to attending the Programme there would need to be a commitment from the staff member, their line manager and Faculty Dean to the following:

1. Attendance at the 8 days of training. 2. A commitment to bi-monthly learning sets (3 hour sessions) for the duration of the

Programme. 3. 3 sessions of 1-1 coaching for themselves as part of the Programme. Each session =

90 minutes of coaching. 4. Completion of a final assignment and reflective journal. 5. 12 hours of 1-1 coaching to be provided to 3 coachees by the delegates as part of their

learning for the duration of the Programme. In addition, once qualified, the staff member would need to commit to the following:

to go onto an internal coach register.

to provide 1-1 coaching to staff based on a minimum of 1 session of coaching provided every 4 weeks.

to attend regular coaching supervision.

to access ongoing CPD.