Peter Hawkins, author of Creating a Coaching Culture, said, “a coaching culture exists in an organization when a coaching approach is a key aspect of how leaders, managers, and staff engage and develop all their people and engage their stakeholders, in ways that create increased individual, team, and organizational performance and shared value for all stakeholders.”

And this matters because a coaching culture in the workplace increases productivity, improves performance, and leads to a happier and more engaged workforce. A coaching culture also creates a climate where people can freely give and receive feedback, and support and stretch each other’s thinking.

Challenging each other with support, and stress-test ideas where appropriate, as well as engaging in development conversations that are short in length, but strong in impact are also by products of a coaching culture. In fact, developing a coaching culture is also an effective solution to dwindling levels of employee engagement. 

Doing this will take some planning and effort, but the rewards will be worth it. Here are three simple steps you can take on your journey to build coaching into the culture of your workplace –

1. ADVOCATE THE BENEFITS

Employees must understand how a coaching culture will impact them directly. Talk to them about the benefits and what they have to gain. Share with them the value that coaching culture can have on their work and growth. 

2. GET LEADERS ON BOARD

Research into hundreds of organizations has shown that companies with strong coaching cultures are 60% more likely to have leadership promoting it. Have your leaders not only share the benefits of coaching cultures but also demonstrate them. 

3. ENABLE YOUR MANAGERS

Offering training around topics like how to give feedback, negotiation, problem-solving, conflict resolution and delegation allows coaching culture to take shape within the organization. As employees learn they’ll share that knowledge with peers, and by doing so reinforce their own learning and engage in knowledge sharing.

Ultimately, building a coaching culture involves shifting unwritten rules, values, and norms to spread a mindset and a new practice throughout the organization so that coaching becomes a key part of the organization’s identity. A coaching culture improves not only the way employees interact with each other, but also the interactions they have with customers and potential clients.