ELENIMarch, 2021
By Eleni Kouremeti
Business & Career Coach
True-me Breakthrough Coaching
[email protected], www.trueme.co

The aim of the article is to help companies manage “the present” effectively in order to secure an upward trend in “the post-crisis era”.

Business environment

Business experts analyze the facts that have caused such turmoil in the market and in people’s lives all over the globe and based on the practices of leading companies, suggest ways to adapt effectively to these changes.

McKinsey & Company has come up with an article named “Nine Keys to become a future ready company” (January 2021). Future ready companies share three characteristics:

  1. They know who they are and why
  2. They operate with speed and simplicity
  3. They grow by giving emphasis on learning and innovation

Top companies undertake innovative action in the following “key areas”:

  • Who we are
    • Purpose
    • Values
    • Culture
  • How we operate
    • Structure
    • Decision making
    • Talent
  • How we grow
    • Ecosystem
    • Technological platforms
    • Learning

nine keys

Exhibit 1 – Source: McKinsey & Company

Observing the exhibit 1, the most important, core, asset in a company is human resources. The successful firms handle their employees with great interest, attention and respect.

Employees work more effectively when they have a purpose, when they live their values, when they are being trusted and when the culture of the company is motivating. Employees that “live their purpose” at work manage to attain four times higher level of engagement at the work environment.

In management, leadership styles that have better results are the ones that are more supportive, value learning, emotionally intelligent, inducing innovation, motivating teamwork, and focus on goals. Leaders that have already invested in trust, effective communication, and collaboration with their teams, will be able to increase productivity, although remote work is highly popular. Whereas leaders who “micro” manage will face decrease in productivity. Management has to become more agile and responsive to human resources needs, which entails learning new skills, develop new expertise and disrupt some old practices.

A company needs to adapt to the new normal rapidly otherwise the competitor will grab the opportunity and adapt first.

How can “True me Breakthrough Coaching” help you achieve business results?

“True-me” through Business Coaching helps you achieve:

Increase ROI
Business Coaching with “True me” is focused in personal and company results. The approach is well organized and customized to the company’s needs with ultimate aim the achievement of the company’s goals.

Higher engagement of employees and reduction of costs
“True-me” supports the clients to get a new approach to their problems, that they rationalized up to that point and to set a destination in mind in order to achieve a professional objective. The brain starts working on it and supports the effort. The above lead to higher employee engagement and productivity.

Increased sales and revenue
“True-me” clients identify their limiting beliefs and learn how to disempower them. When relieved, they feel stronger emotionally and more confident, which rises their efficiency.

Acceleration of decision making
Identification of our clients values and needs helps them understand behaviors and accelerates the decision making procedures. “True-me” aims to align personal values with company values. Knowledge of values is required in a world with rapid changes.

Effective communication – Employee retention
Clients cooperate with “True-me” and realize the role of emotions and the messages that they convey. As a result communication improves among employees and with their clients. Learning how to use emotions leads to successful handling of any crisis. Higher valuable employee retention, is a direct result of effective communication in top firms.

Reconstruction of the company
Through the creation of an action plan to redesign the “self”, each client develops. Reconstructing oneself leads to reconstructing the company, which is essential when facing market changes.

Create environment that motivates and inspires their employees
Leaders are helped to create the business environment that will diminish insecurity and further on will motivate its people to be productive and innovative. The biggest challenge in human resources is to find ways of increasing productivity since remote working has become a necessity in companies.

According to Randstad’s survey (2020)-Exhibit 2, it is interesting to know that the most important criteria of a potential employee when choosing an employer, are:

Salary 72%
Pleasant work atmosphere 61%
Career progression 48%
Job security 47%
Work life balance 42%

what do employees want

Exhibit 2 – Source: Randstad

Note, that the majority of criteria are non-monetary. The leader of a group is responsible to create and maintain the culture that will promote the above factors.

Research findings

  • Manchester Inc. surveyed 100 executives, most from “Fortune 1000” and found that their investment in Executive Coaching provided an average return on investment of almost six times the cost of the coaching (Manchester Review)
  • In a survey that Randstad published concerning the trends of HR 2020 – Mrs Leigh Ostergard (Board of Directors) in her conclusion incorporated the following: … Investment in the human factor is a prerequisite for the productive and sustainable adaptation…
  • In a survey by Right Management Consultants (Philadelphia, USA), 86 percent of companies said they used coaching to sharpen the skills of individuals who have been identified as future organizational leaders.
  • Executives should seek coaching “when they feel that a change in behavior—either for themselves or their team members—can make a significant difference in the long-term success of the organization,” says Marshall Goldsmith, a high-profile Executive Coach.
  • The Centre for Creative Leadership states that the demand for Executive Coaching will continue to rise in the future (Petrie, 2011). One key requirement in a V.U.C.A. (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world is to increase employee ownership – a sense of accountability and ability to respond – and coaching is an effective engagement process to promote this.
  • Research from CIPD shows that 51% of companies consider coaching a crucial part of their business strategy (Change Recruitment Group)
  • 80% of people who receive coaching report increased self-confidence, and over 70% benefit from improved work performance, relationships, and more effective communication skills. (ICF 2009)
  • The Xerox Corporation found that the impact of using follow-up coaching after formal training gave a massive 87% increase in the effectiveness of training when compared to training alone.(College of Executive Coaching)

Conclusion

Business Coaching is an effective mean to help companies thrive. In a VUCA environment where a leader has to handle constant challenges that require new ways to solve them, human resources is an invaluable asset that the leader can coordinate and motivate effectively through Business Coaching. Top firms show the way to handle challenges and time is scarce and valuable to loose.