Who develops the people who lead

Your managers spend their days developing other people. Few of them are ever coached themselves.

A manager's job is, in large part, coaching: helping people see what to change in their work, and then getting them to do it. Most came into the role from somewhere else and learned the coaching side as they went.

The same is true further up. A manager promoted from within, or a leader whose team has doubled as the organisation grew, is stretched by a role they haven't done before, with little time and less support. Coaching is where developing your leaders becomes real.

Coaching works the same way for anyone moving into a bigger role, or finding the one they have harder than expected.

How it works, and what you get

Assessment first, then two or three competencies to work on, then sessions that end in specific actions.

The assessments are chosen for the person and the role. They might include our own Business Personality Reflections; the Hogan leadership reports, which include the behaviours likely to derail someone under pressure; or a 360 showing how they come across to the colleagues and staff around them.

Starting from assessment is what keeps coaching specific. Without it, sessions drift towards whatever felt urgent that week. With it, a manager and their coach are working on the two or three things that will make the most difference to how their team responds to them — and both can see why those were chosen.

Because sessions can run by phone or online as well as in person, a team spread across a region, or a country, can be coached without anyone travelling.

Built around the role they are moving into

Coaching is most useful at a change of role, and the sharpest change is into management.

Our coaching is designed to help people prioritise, work through situations with no clear answer, get past what is holding them back, and step up into more senior roles.

Often the sharpest step up is from doing the work to leading the people who do it. The habits that made someone good at the job — being hands-on, fixing things themselves — can work against them when the work belongs to their team. Coaching someone through that change costs far less than finding out a year later that the move didn't work.

What happens after the sessions

Clear actions between sessions, and a development plan that outlasts them.

Each session ends with defined actions to try before the next. Over the course of the coaching, those build into a development plan the person owns — and one that their manager can support.

A second 360 after the coaching is a straightforward way to see whether anything has changed in how their team and colleagues experience them. And where several people from the same team are coached, the themes that come up across them — the same gap showing up in several managers, say — can show what your management training should cover.

The evidence behind it

Coaching has a strong research base, and it works best with the goal-setting built into ours.

A meta-analysis of workplace coaching studies found that coaching had significant positive effects on every outcome measured, including performance and skills — and the largest effect on goal-directed self-regulation: setting goals and working steadily towards them. (Theeboom, Beersma and van Vianen, Journal of Positive Psychology, 2014.)

Coaching also makes feedback count. In a study of 1,361 senior managers, those who worked through their 360 results with a coach set more specific goals and improved more a year later. (Smither, London, Flautt, Vargas and Kucine, Personnel Psychology, 2003.)

Our coaching is delivered by organisational psychologists. Psych Press has developed and published psychometric instruments since 1995, in-house and in partnership with universities and international test publishers.

Who it suits, and who it doesn't

Current and emerging leaders in your organisation, especially when their role is changing.

Coaching usually starts from Business Personality Reflections or 360 degree feedback, and it often follows a selection report when someone new steps into a management role.

Frequently asked questions

Who coaches the coaches

Your field consultants spend their days coaching franchisees. Few of them are ever coached themselves.

A field consultant's job is, in large part, coaching: helping franchisees see what to change in their business, and then getting them to do it. Most came into the role from somewhere else — running a store, managing a region — and learned the coaching side as they went. One industry survey found most franchise organisations have no dedicated training programme for their field support staff.

The same is true further up. An area manager promoted from the field, or a head-office leader whose team has doubled as the network grew, is stretched by a role they haven't done before, with little time and less support. Coaching is where developing your leaders becomes real, and franchisees notice when their field consultant improves.

For the rest of your leadership team, coaching works the same way: for anyone moving into a bigger role, or finding the one they have harder than expected.

Franchisees can be coached as well, on the people side of running their business: hiring, giving feedback that changes what someone does, holding a team to the standard. It is offered rather than required, it stays private, and it fits around a business they are still running. Many franchisees have run a business before but never led a team of their own, and one-to-one coaching lets them work on that without doing it in front of their peers.

How it works, and what you get

Assessment first, then two or three competencies to work on, then sessions that end in specific actions.

The assessments are chosen for the person and the role. They might include our own Business Personality Reflections; the Hogan leadership reports, which include the behaviours likely to derail someone under pressure; or a 360 showing how they come across to the franchisees and colleagues around them.

Starting from assessment is what keeps coaching specific. Without it, sessions drift towards whatever felt urgent that week. With it, a field consultant and their coach are working on the two or three things that will make the most difference to how franchisees respond to them — and both can see why those were chosen.

Because sessions can run by phone or online as well as in person, a field team spread across a region, or a country, can be coached without anyone travelling.

Built around the role they are moving into

Coaching is most useful at a change of role, and in a franchise network the sharpest change is into the field.

Our coaching is designed to help people prioritise, work through situations with no clear answer, get past what is holding them back, and step up into more senior roles.

In a franchise network, the sharpest step up is from running a store to supporting twenty of them. The habits that made someone a good store manager — being hands-on, fixing things themselves — can work against them when the stores belong to someone else. Coaching someone through that change costs far less than finding out a year later that the move didn't work.

What happens after the sessions

Clear actions between sessions, and a development plan that outlasts them.

Each session ends with defined actions to try before the next. Over the course of the coaching, those build into a development plan the person owns — and one that their manager can support.

A second 360 after the coaching is a straightforward way to see whether anything has changed in how franchisees and colleagues experience them. And where several people from the same team are coached, the themes that come up across them — the same gap showing up in several field consultants, say — can show what your field team's training should cover.

The evidence behind it

Coaching has a strong research base, and it works best with the goal-setting built into ours.

A meta-analysis of workplace coaching studies found that coaching had significant positive effects on every outcome measured, including performance and skills — and the largest effect on goal-directed self-regulation: setting goals and working steadily towards them. (Theeboom, Beersma and van Vianen, Journal of Positive Psychology, 2014.)

Coaching also makes feedback count. In a study of 1,361 senior managers, those who worked through their 360 results with a coach set more specific goals and improved more a year later. (Smither, London, Flautt, Vargas and Kucine, Personnel Psychology, 2003.)

Our coaching is delivered by organisational psychologists. Psych Press has developed and published psychometric instruments since 1995, in-house and in partnership with universities and international test publishers.

Who it suits, and who it doesn't

The people who lead your network, especially when their role is changing.

Coaching usually starts from Business Personality Reflections or 360 degree feedback, and it often follows a selection report when someone new steps into a field role.

Frequently asked questions