Google’s study shows that coaching is the number one most important quality of great managers (having great technical skills came in last.) Research backs this up, too: coaching helps employees achieve goals and even believe in their abilities more. Here’s what Eric Schmidt said in his book
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Does coaching make you a better boss?
Searches for such training on Google have increased 170 per cent in the past five years. Here’s why more leaders are turning to it.
At the end of every Friday, entrepreneur Cassandra Spies sits down to reflect on what she has achieved that week and plans her following week.
It may sound like a simple task. But the Twisted Healthy Treats founder and managing director says the tool, which she picked up through business coaching, has become of one of her most valuable hacks.
Twisted Healthy Treats founder Cassandra Spies believes coaches are a great sounding board for business leaders. Brook Mitchell
“When you’re in the mosh pit of the day to day of running a business, I think, it’s quite difficult to have that aerial view of what’s going on and have some clear thinking around how you can get from A to B,” she says. “And that’s where I’ve found coaching incredibly helpful.”
Spies accesses coaching through an online platform called Hello Coach. She divides her working week into four pillars: people and HR, finance, new product development and sales, and marketing.
“On the following Friday, I review what I’ve done, and anything that I haven’t finished, I roll over and add to the next week,” she says.
“Just that simple method has been a game changer for me in terms of holding myself accountable, moving the business forward, and it underpins my ability to focus on what are the important things that I’ve decided for that week.”
Spies turned to coaching after her company – which makes low and zero-sugar frozen treats – experienced massive growth, doubling year-on-year. She believes it can act as a “great sounding board” for business leaders.
“It was somebody who had external experience across many different industries and was able to give clear guidance and examples and tools I could use on a daily basis,” Spies says.
Hello Coach founder Victoria Mills says there has been a huge spike in demand for coaching services. Hello Coach is an online platform where business owners and their employees can be matched with coaches for a monthly subscription fee.
Coaching is no longer a nice to have,” she tells BOSS. “It has now become an essential piece in people’s professional and personal toolkit.”
Hello Coach founder Victoria Mills believes coaching has now become an essential piece in people’s professional and personal toolkit. Natalie Boog
Mills has been coaching CEOs and executives for two decades and some of her top tips to boost productivity include doing key work within four hours of waking and switching off notifications on smart devices to avoid being distracted.
“Each time you get distracted by a notification it takes seven minutes to regain focus,” she says. “Switch off notifications whilst focusing on key tasks.”
Another piece of advice she gives executives is to do a “next day” list outlining tasks and focus at the end of each work day, so they can hit the ground running the next morning.
For Spies, the appeal of a platform such as Hello Coach is the opportunity for staff to change coaches based on their interests.
“This month, they might want to focus on time management and if next month, they want to focus on delegation, they can change their coach depending on what they’re looking for,” she says.
Searches for business coaching on Google have increased 170 per cent in the past five years.
Mills believes companies are beginning to realise just how critical staff wellbeing is to retain and attract talent as they move to more hybrid ways of working.
“People don’t leave if they feel cared for,” Mills says. “It’s that simple.
“We’ve lost the water cooler environment. It’s been removed overnight and people are scrambling for that connection.”
Where employees don’t feel supported at work, more than half consider quitting several times a week and a third (36 per cent) consider quitting most days, recent research from workplace wellbeing platform Groov found.
Manager quality was the top reason Australian workers left an organisation, a recent survey from Gartner found.
“It’s really hard for employees to take personal issues to their managers and managers aren’t equipped,” Mills says. “Not only are they time poor, but they’re not qualified, and their eye needs to be on driving results.”
Mills says interest in well-being coaching is on the rise, as employees become increasingly burnt out and question their purpose at work.
Bosses are increasingly seeing the value in talking openly about mental health in the workplace. A recent survey of 130 chief executives by Headspace Health found that two-thirds of CEOs believed talking about their mental health made them a better leader.
“So many people are suffering from professional fatigue,” Mills says. “And it’s going to take time and resources to be able to move out of this fatigue that COVID-19 has enforced upon us.”
