About 85% of HR professionals say it will be critical for leaders to develop coaching skills in the next three years, according to a July 16 report from DDI.
However, 40% of front-line leaders said they received inadequate coaching from their managers, and coaching from a manager ranked at the bottom of leaders’ desired learning methods. The disconnect not only hinders leadership growth but also contributes to high turnover, DDI found.
“While many companies aspire to build strong coaching cultures to develop their leaders, our research shows a significant drop in the successful execution of these efforts,” Stephanie Neal, director of DDI’s Center for Analytics and Behavioral Research, said in a statement. “Developing capable internal coaches is proven to boost retention rates, yet it remains an area where organizations are consistently underutilizing their resources.”
In a survey of more than 1,800 HR pros and nearly 13,700 leaders, 31% of front-line leaders said they want more coaching than they currently receive from their managers. The most common topic they said they want to learn about is effective coaching, DDI said, which also improves leaders’ perceptions of their company’s development approach and culture.
Companies with strong coaching cultures are nearly three-times more likely to be capable of engaging and retaining top talent, the survey found. In addition, coaching deficiencies increased the risk of turnover among top talent, with high-potential employees being twice as likely to say they intend to leave when they don’t have a manager who is an effective coach.
In terms of business performance, leaders who received effective coaching were 2.7-times more likely to feel accountable for being effective leaders. Companies with strong coaching cultures were also 1.5-times more likely to be among the top 10% of organizations in financial performance.
Coaching may be a key strategy in addressing cultural changes related to hybrid and flexible work, according to a CoachHub survey. Coaching can help reskill leaders at various levels, including executives and first-time leaders, as well as improve employee well-being and foster inclusive leadership, respondents said.
At United Franchise Group, a dream coach guides employees through both their personal and professional goals. Housed under the HR department, the program is aimed at improving employee satisfaction and motivation, as well as developing new programs to meet workers’ needs.
Although coaching may drive high engagement, managers aren’t typically prepared to coach effectively, according to a Forrester report. Instead, managers are often promoted without training and engage in micromanagement, provide limited feedback and focus on weaknesses rather than strengths. Instead, managers who are trained in coaching can learn how to focus on their direct reports’ strengths, inspire them to grow their skills and collaborate on goals, the report found.
