Coaching can be a valuable tool. Like with any tool, though, it helps to know what you can use it for and, of course, how to use it.

Put me in, coach!

Coaching is a great way to help employees at any level through some sort of transition. Specifically, it is an effective tool to address substantial changes in the work environment. This could include helping an employee who has moved into a leadership role; a different role in new office; or a transfer to another location, like a foreign country.

Coaches are a constant during that period of change. They get to know both the employee and the work environment and provide a consistent, guiding hand to assist the employee with the transition.

Conversely, it is important to understand what coaching is not. Coaches are not mentors. Mentors are experts who provide their knowledge to employees junior to them, normally in the same field. Coaches are also different from psychiatrists or therapists, who normally focus on some sort of healing or possibly even behavioral/medical issues.

Coaches are sometimes consultants, but there can be a number of important differences between coaches and consultants. For example, consultants are experts in a specific issue who provide their expertise to help either an entire organization, department or individual employees address that issue. This could include anything from efficiency experts to technology specialists. Where there is often overlap is with consultants who are experts in change management.

What I have seen

Coaching is often dismissed because it is misunderstood. My most progressive clients use coaches in a positive way: to maximize the potential of their high-performing employees and to provide additional support when they are asking for a lot out of these high performers.

My more draconian clients look to coaching as a last-ditch effort before firing someone. There is usually no intent to help the employee other than to reduce liability for the inevitable termination.

Both ways work, but the coaches I work with are much more supportive of the intent of the first path. And therein lies the biggest problem: Many companies do not look for ways to invest in their great employees. If an employee is great, why get them a coach? That, coupled with the difficulty of fitting coaching ROI into traditional financial models measuring ROI makes it challenging for organizations to see coaching as a handy tool.

Further, just like with any profession, there are a lot of average coaches. Add this to the fact that anyone can call themselves a coach, and it can be confusing for companies to understand what they are getting for their money.

There are organizations that offer professional certification (such as International Coach Federation or International Association of Coaches). But there are also several independent coaching institutes and schools that offer their own certifications (examples include The Hudson Institute and Columbia University).

So basically, it does require an organization to put in some effort to determine what kind of coaching solution will work best for them. And if the organization is not already predisposed to the idea, all of the above can become hindrances to using what would ironically be a great tool for that kind of organization.

Next steps

If your organization is going through a transition, or if one or more of your key employees are, then consider coaching. Take a few minutes to do some research, ask some colleagues if they have had any luck in the area, and check out the sites above. It is quite possible this is an important tool you are missing from your toolkit.