Driving organisational change with internal coaching programmes: part two

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this two‐part paper is to outline a new way of utilising coaching to drive wide scale organisational change. Design/methodology/approach The various benefits to using internal coaches are illustrated by fleshing out the cost benefits, and highlighting a range of ways that organisations can integrate coaching into their people, performance and culture frameworks. The paper covers training, design and implementation issues as well as looking at aligning coaching models with the organisation's strategic approach; draws on extensive case studies and posits some best practice principles, then addresses some of the key questions around this topic. This paper also draws on interviews with over 50 internal coaches over two years, and several other research papers on this topic. Findings The paper illustrates how training leaders to be internal coaches is a more scalable, sustainable and robust approach to driving change and improving performance than hiring external coaches. Early indicators are showing significant increases in retention, engagement, productivity and performance, as well as ROI (17X), across organisations that have developed internal coaching. Practical implications Data are critical to understanding coaching impacts within organisational contexts. Thanks to those organisations using measurement, impacts to the business can be determined. Originality/value These positive data are significant for organisations making decisions around introducing coaching initiatives, driving organisational change or adopting a coaching culture.