career coaching: out of the boardroom and into employees’ hands.
find out why it’s time to deliver the benefits of career coaching to people across your workforce, not just leaders and executives
Career coaching, often considered exclusive executive coaching, has long been a privilege reserved for members of the C-suite to help them grow and increase their value to their organizations. If it is offered to those outside the C-suite, coaching is typically done at the discretion of the leadership team and provided mainly to those identified as high-potential employees. While the discussions stay confidential and organic, a significant part of the coaching agenda is driven by the organization, rather than the individual.
But by limiting coaching to just a select few, companies may be limiting the potential of their larger teams. And organization-driven coaching agendas do not ensure ownership or a sense of empowerment, which can limit employees’ ability to get the most from these development opportunities and learn to achieve their true potential as well.
What if all talent in your organization could access personalized, one-on-one coaching to help them plan their careers and achieve their professional goals? The results can be transformative. For instance, ICF finds that 54% of high-performing companies have a strong culture of coaching. And the investment in coaching can pay for itself; companies that utilize coaching report an ROI 3.44 times greater than their investment, based on increased earnings.
Aside from financial aspects, companies that provide coaching opportunities empower their people to elevate their value, enhance their capabilities and make a difference for the company. But that’s just the beginning of the many benefits of organization-wide coaching.
help your people flourish
The benefits of extending coaching opportunities to all employees are numerous and far reaching, contributing to improved engagement and productivity and resulting in a highly skilled workforce. With access to coaching, employees are empowered to take ownership of their growth and development, which is crucial to keeping them satisfied in their work and eager to do their best. Also, it enables them to see how they fit in with the company for the long term and chart their own path, thereby increasing retention and decreasing turnover costs.
According to the latest Randstad Workmonitor research, nearly one-third (29%) of employees worldwide say they would quit a job that didn’t offer adequate learning and development; coaching is one of the most powerful methodologies available to learning and development leaders today. In fact, one global insurance company that implemented a universal coaching solution reports a 76% increase in the number of employees who report being clear about their career development plan.
attract the best of the best
Coaching serves another crucial purpose in building a high-performing team: contributing to a strong employer brand that shows the company values professional growth and learning. Doing so will help to attract the best and brightest talent eager to join a company that supports their ongoing development. This is especially true for those who are early in their careers. One study finds that 54% of new college graduates would turn down a job offer if the company doesn’t provide opportunities for career growth.
Just as executive coaching has been included in benefits packages to entice new leaders to join, this is a key benefit in winning over talent at all levels — especially at a time of intense competition for skilled candidates. But most importantly, it demonstrates to candidates that you care about your people and are committed to giving them the resources they need to thrive in their careers.
prepare talent for what’s next
Given the ongoing talent scarcity facing the market, internal talent mobility has taken a front row seat, helping organizations meet talent needs. And a universal coaching program can help facilitate the process.
At a time when companies often struggle to hire relevant talent due to rampant skills shortages, more are focused on finding promising talent already in their ranks. But identifying those individuals can be challenging. By enabling more employees to have meaningful coaching sessions, they can gain confidence to pursue new roles internally, learn new skills that will increase their value to the organization, and better understand their career goals within the organization and how they can achieve them.
According to the 2024 Randstad Enterprise Talent Trends research, 80% of talent leaders say their companies are investing more in employee skill development and career engagement. Meanwhile, 65% report investing in internal talent mobility technologies this year, compared to 56% in 2023. Coaching plays a crucial role in internal mobility, helping talent determine what they want to do and the steps they need to take to get there. The result is a steady pipeline of qualified internal talent ready to help fill skills gaps, assume new roles and take on greater responsibilities.
how to bring career coaching to all
While the many benefits of extending coaching across the organization are clear, implementing such a strategy may be less so. Any approach should include the following features.
- personalized and employee-led
The cornerstone of an organization-wide coaching deployment strategy includes equitable access to growth opportunities, employee engagement, impacting talent development at scale and more meaningful career conversations. Yet, when organizations yield to the temptation of getting prescriptive with the coaching agenda rather than meeting employees where they are, it could compromise coaching impact.
Instead, coaching is most effective when individuals have a say in the process and explore areas they want to develop. From selecting the coaches they want to work with to being free to address the topics most important to them, enabling employees to steer their coaching sessions is key to ensuring each session is meaningful and impactful. - a consistent, global to local experience
Career coaching for all needs to be delivered consistently and equitably no matter where your employees sit or from what markets in the world they work. The best way to achieve this is through a technology-enabled program that provides anytime access from anywhere, coupled with coaches who speak the local languages and understand the cultural nuances of wherever you have talent.
Beyond facilitating one-to-one coaching sessions, a strong program will offer access to additional resources, like articles, videos, reflection documents or podcasts in bite-sized, easily consumed portions to support the insights and learning. Be sure to implement a program that offers development options for the personal and professional skills your organization would like to develop further among your workforce. - actionable insights
While conversations employees have with their coaches always remain confidential to ensure psychological safety and maximum growth, the platform should be able to provide aggregated and anonymized information that is useful to your organization.
Key metrics, such as uptake and usage of coaching, most discussed topics, most searched resources, and satisfaction with the program and coaches not only help talent leaders understand the value their program is providing to the organization and its people, but also help strengthen employee-listening to enable appropriate actions and support employee needs internally. - cost-effective and sustainable
The price of the investment is often a major factor in determining the size and scope of any traditional coaching platform. But emerging “pay-as-you-go” pricing models have been game-changing, making career coaching for all more accessible to organizations than it has been in the past.
In this model, the company only pays for sessions used, in addition to program maintenance fees, while setting parameters for the program to ensure usage will stay within budget. This approach enables you to launch a scalable coaching program that shows the whole organization you care about their growth and development, while also giving talent the support they need to perform at their best.
unlock your team’s potential through career coaching for all
Challenges like skills shortages, increasing competition for talent and the need to keep current talent engaged show no signs of letting up. At the same time, as the rapid advancement of AI and digital transformation continues, it will create new pressures on your team — from uncertainty about the future to worrying about staying relevant.
From unlocking hidden potential and uncovering new skills, to building confidence among your people and empowering them to take their professional lives into their own hands, the benefits of career coaching are limitless. And when career coaching is made available to all, regardless of tenure or experience level, the incremental improvements at the personal level can translate into positive transformation at the organizational level.