The Brief:

The client was a large retail business with two objectives:

  • Create a cohort of in-house coaches to support the individuals going through their suite of leadership development programmes.
  • To put the foundations in place to build a coaching culture across the business.

The Intervention:

An in-house version of the Inspired Coach Level 1 was developed and branded to fit both the culture of the organisation and the language of the existing leadership programmes. We began the project with half a dozen individuals who had successfully completed the 11-day Inspired Coach Programme. They were trained to deliver the in-house 3-day coaching skills programme and would be the ‘subject matter experts’ for the organisation. Initially, attendance was by invitation. Potential participants were identified by role, relationship with the leadership development programmes and interest.

In addition, a 1-day programme was designed to introduce a wider audience to a ‘coaching approach’ to management and leadership. It was targeted at anyone with people management responsibilities, both direct and indirect. The programme was not trying to turn managers into coaches but rather create a mindset shift. Learning how to stretch, support and inspire their people to higher levels of performance.

The Outcomes:

The programmes were well received and attended, with the majority of the board attending the 3-day training event. All the programmes now run with in-house facilitators. The organisation now has a pool of internal coaches and mentors who are in demand from individuals at all levels across the business. Further development opportunities are now being explored to continue to build the internal capabilities and tailor the programmes to fit this more challenging economic environment.