The Challenges of Coaching - Coaching Academy | Episode 4

Picture this: George, a new coach at Alan, sits down for his first session with his coachee. They spend 45 minutes discussing weekend plans and the latest Netflix series. Both leave feeling good about the connection they've built. But three months later, his coachee is still struggling with the same performance issues, and George wonders why coaching isn't working. Sounds familiar?

It’s the age old story of: you build a system, you’re happy with it, you step back and … that’s when you start noticing some cracks in the walls. Alan’s coaching is no different. As someone working with the People community on coaching topics and a coach myself, I know firsthand that, while we have a strong foundation, we’re also facing challenges. What are the ones we face today you ask (or maybe it’s me talking to myself, who knows)? Let’s take a tour.

Step behind the scenes of our Coaching Academy! Through our experience, we reveal the coaching practices that prove effective daily, putting employee fulfillment at the heart of everything we do.

While we all love a good chat with our colleagues, this is not what coaching sessions should be about. Instead they should be prepared, both by the coach and the coachee, and vehicles to dig into the current challenges faced by the coachee thanks to relevant questions and thorough discussions.

We’ve noticed however that sometimes the fundamentals of coaching get lost along the way. Helping coach and coachee get back on the right track usually starts with a reminder of the aim of coaching - without a clear goal, it’s harder to build a strong practice (insert clever sport metaphor of your choosing). For instance, by issuing reminders that coaching isn’t only a place to vent but that the focus should be on supporting professional growth.

Accompanying individuals is one thing but when we notice a problem on a larger scale, that of a team for example, we approach things differently. This is what led me to spend three months with our team in Belgium at the beginning of the year, working with them to rebuild a strong coaching basis. This was done via different initiatives, such as group trainings around the basis of coaching, as well as weekly posts on slack relaying information about the milestones and tools that all coaches should have in mind.

Ensuring everyone is clear about what to expect from coaching is a long term job. As new Alaners join us and new people become coaches, we keep training and evangelising - strong systems require constant tending.

Another challenge we’ve faced is Alaners becoming coaches without clear, deep motivation. Coaching plays a key role in Alan’s culture and is demanding in terms of investment, so it’s important that Alaners becoming coaches do it for the right reasons and not because it’s seen as a way up a ladder.

This is something we’ve had to adjust on as the company grew. Recently we took the time to re-discuss our coaching operating model and align on what we wanted for the future.

Following this discussion and to ensure it was applied in practice, we clarified in our level grids that coaching isn't mandatory for level progression while still rewarding excellent coaches. And we issued the communication below in our monthly gazette for coaches and leads.

More generally, we worked with leads so becoming a coach is not seen as automatic but is part of a deeper reflexion about someone career’s growth. Now when someone raises their hand to become a coach, leads and coaches are responsible to dig with the person and see whether they are a good fit and if it’s the next best step for them. You can learn more about that in our article on How to become a coach at Alan.

To have a strong system, we need to have the right people in the right place for the right reasons. Coaching can be very rewarding but it can also drain you if it’s not the right fit, while there could be other other tasks that you would excel at!

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you might already know that at Alan we LOVE feedback - both positive and constructive, we’ll take it all! Yet, we all know that giving and receiving constructive feedback can be challenging, and coaches must ensure their coachee truly hear, digest, and act on it. It’s paramount that coaches are able to share the truth with their coachees and it’s something that doesn’t come easily to all of us. When coaches avoid difficult conversations, they hurt coachees long-term by denying them clarity they need to improve.

In order to support coaches in this mission, we provide them with documentation on sharing constructive feedback kindly yet effectively, and also have regular training sessions on the topic (among many other ones). This is an extract of the documentation around sharing tough feedback.

👉 Coaching is one of the cornerstones of Alan’s culture, which is why we invest time and resources to ensure it remains strong. If you decide to implement coaching in your organisation my advice would be not to be afraid of the challenges you’ll face (they are part of the fun) but to address them head-on when they arise and not let them fester until it erodes your culture pillars.