Category: Blog

Categories
Blog

Four challenges for retail leaders and how coaching is providing the solutions

26 October 2023

According to Mindbeat’s global network of coaches, retail leaders struggle with long-term planning,  innovation, collaboration and professional development. Our Partnerships Director, Simon Morris looks at each of these challenges and asks how coaching is helping retailers to reframe their thinking. 

Retailers have made a stuttering start to the 2020s. The turn of the decade brought with it excitement and optimism that artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality and increased swathes of customer data would transform the way we shop, presenting retail leaders with enhanced opportunities for personalisation and technological innovation both in-store and online. 

However, the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, political instability, rising inflation and supply chain issues have all taken their toll. 

Retail leaders have had to fire-fight and adapt rather than innovate and grow. Leadership skills such as recruitment, staff retention and strategic investment have all suffered as consumer behaviours evolve and retail experience expectations shift and continue to change. 

In its Retail Trends report for 2023, Deloitte believes that retailers are now ‘finally ready to get out of first gear’ – highlighting the importance of strong, effective and empathetic leadership to capitalise on the tailwinds of opportunity still blowing through the retail landscape. 

“Leadership is a theme that runs throughout all our trends, whether it is making strategic investments or decisions on cutting costs to unlock value, ensuring your business stays focussed on the customer experience in the face of extreme challenges, pushing your net zero agenda or transitioning to a skills-based organisation. However, leadership is not just demonstrated in the boardroom. To be successful, retailers will need employees across their organisations to step up and demonstrate leadership traits.” Deloitte’s Retail Trends 2023

With these words ringing in our ears, we spoke with those Mindbeat coaches around the world who work with retail leaders and their teams across the grocery, fashion, cosmetics, healthcare and luxury goods sectors.

They gave us the four most common challenges they’re helping retailers navigate and the leadership initiatives they’re encouraging clients to implement. Let’s look at each in turn. 

Four key challenges facing retail leaders today

  1. Short-term focus versus long-term strategic thinking

Almost 90% of our coaches report that retail leaders lack the ability or head space to think long-term. This remains a hangover from the Pandemic when reactive decision-making and short-term survival trumped longer-term strategic planning. 

Junior leaders in particular still find themselves caught up in immediate, day-to-day issues and feel constrained by a focus on KPIs and quarterly results. 

How is coaching helping? 

Leadership coaching centres on effective delegation, setting aside time for planning and reflection, fostering a team environment conducive to individual growth, and ensuring that everyone can perform at their best. 

2. Openness to experimentation and innovation

Almost 60% of our coaches say that retail leaders are avoiding experimentation and innovation due to organisational views of failure. The association between financial rewards, bonuses, and promotions often casts failure in a negative light, discouraging individuals from taking risks. 

When organisations do encourage innovation, the crucial element of trust is often missing, leaving leaders fearful of the ramifications associated with perceived failure. 

How is coaching helping? 

Organisations that prioritise talent retention are often more inclined to embrace a culture of ‘failing forward’ and risk-taking. Leaders are coached to create workplace environments where making mistakes is acceptable, provided there’s an open dialogue around growth and learning through trial and error and a demonstration of trust from the top down. 

3. Collaboration across borders

Over 60% of Mindbeat coaches agree that retail leaders tend to operate within silos and lack the ability or motivation to collaborate across boundaries. 

This is mostly due to organisational cultures that prioritise competition over collaboration. There is also a disconnect between headquarters and store-level managers, which can leave stores understaffed or under-resourced. 

How is coaching helping? 

Our coaches highlight a need for more retail organisations to establish formal processes that promote collaboration and foster a learning culture, facilitating the exchange of ideas and insights. The transition from functional management to cross-functional leadership demands that leaders focus on enhancing their abilities to influence, build internal and external stakeholder networks, and encourage collaboration. 

4. Investing time in personal and professional development

Some 97% of Mindbeat coaches report that retail leaders struggle to find time for their own personal and professional growth. While 84% say that retail leaders lack sufficient time to invest in their team’s development. 

Coaches see leaders who are stuck in an ‘it’s quicker if I do it myself’ mindset, those who report the absence of a supportive culture that encourages dedicating time for self-improvement, plus many who grapple with issues relating to employee retention, often addressing development needs reactively rather than through a strategic approach. 

How is coaching helping?

Retail leaders use coaching to develop accountability, set boundaries, serve as role models, and boost confidence. They’re encouraged to consider the strategic implications of their own development, employ creative time management, and delegate effectively. 

Conclusion

Retail leaders who make time for thinking longer-term by anticipating threats and developing an organisational culture that encourages risk-taking, self-improvement and innovation will reap the benefits.

Developing more collaborative and cross-functional leadership skills such as confidence, establishing boundaries, setting up high-performing teams, engaging in honest conversations, tailoring a leadership style depending on the audience and developing stronger networks, will enable retailers and their teams to face a more assured future together. 

To read the full report or to discuss Mindbeat coaching for retail leaders and their teams, please email [email protected]. 

Categories
Blog

How to make the last quarter of the year count in business

9 October 2023

Mindbeat’s head of client and product development, Jessica Bellwood discusses a medal-winning strategy for keeping performance high and teams focused through to the end of the year and beyond. 

As the leaves turn and the days get shorter, organisations are turning their attention to the final three months of the business calendar and how, in particular, teams are set up to achieve year-end goals and surpass financial or performance-based targets. 

It’s a challenge often made harder by hybrid working arrangements and 24/7 digital connectedness, which have introduced more workplace distractions than ever before. 

Countless teams will underperform and businesses will suffer this quarter due to our inability to focus on a single task for the time required to get the job done properly.

According to one recent poll of 1,600 employees and managers, more than 60% admitted that they rarely do even two hours of focused work each day without distraction. 

So how do you keep your teams focused and year-end objectives firmly in the cross-hairs?

As an athletics fan, I’m excited about next year’s Paris Olympics. But I already know that the long-distance running medals will go to those athletes who set a steady pace for themselves from the off, conserve their energy for when it’s most needed, and then give it their all to finish on the podium. 

In business, the last quarter is your sprint finish. So, to be in with a chance of winning Gold you need to understand at what pace your team has been running, how much energy they have left in the tank and then find a way to tap into those reserves for a strong finish. 

Prioritise for a greater payoff

Start by bringing your team together to review priorities so that distractions don’t creep in. 

Then, help them to agree on the best use of their available energy. Who needs to be directly involved and whose time could be better spent in a more supportive or administrative role? How will you measure success on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to ensure your team stays on track?

Making the last quarter count is all about ruthless prioritisation so that you remove roadblocks to team productivity and invest time and energy only in those tasks with the greatest payoffs. 

Measures to encourage focus

You can’t expect every member of your team to have the same laser-like focus as an Olympic athlete. But you can help them shut out everyday distractions so that they feel more in control and less overwhelmed by what’s left to achieve in the year. 

As neuroscientific research shows, the key to achieving huge team goals is to have the right skill sets in place to execute collective action, while optimising individual focus, task control and working memory capacity.

One way to encourage focused work is to put it on the calendar. Empower teams to block out certain days or times of the week for focused work. 

During these hours, no one (including you as team leader) is allowed to schedule meetings or interrupt workflow.

Notifications are turned off, phones are put away and unrelated emails go unanswered. 

Say ‘no’ well and discourage multitasking

Our brilliant Mindbeat coaches talk a lot about learning to say ‘no’ well and avoiding ‘switch-tasking’ (or multitasking as I’ve always known it). 

Encouraging staff to say ‘no’ well is about normalising a workplace culture in which employees understand their priorities and feel able to express themselves if they’re feeling overwhelmed or can’t move outside of their prioritised lanes. 

Avoiding ‘switch-tasking’ is about everyone’s collective understanding that spinning plates at work makes you less productive and reduces the amount of working memory available for the one task that could really matter. 

Instead of giving it their all, if your team is juggling requests and flitting between meetings, emails and the task you’ve asked them to prioritise, they’ll only provide a fraction of their aptitude for something that could make all the difference between end-of-year success or under-performance.

For many businesses, the last quarter of the calendar is the most important one as success or failure will shape the outlook for the year ahead. 

By formalising individual focus and team priorities while having the right support in place, not only will you make the last quarter count, but you’ll also set yourself up for success of Olympic proportions in 2024 and beyond. 

Talk to Mindbeat about how our network of expert coaches can help your teams remain focused and prioritise success. 

Categories
Blog

Meet a Mindbeat coach: Søren Holm

25 September 2023

Mindbeat is privileged to offer a global network of expert coaches. In the first of a new series of interviews to introduce you to our much-loved coaching personalities, Mike Fletcher talks tomatoes, training and playing the accordion with Søren Holm, who lives in Sweden. 

Søren Holm brightened my day even before he began to speak. Admitting him to our Zoom call, the 66-year-old former vice-president of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) appeared on my computer screen wearing a fuchsia-coloured shirt and holding a beautifully crafted accordion. 

“I’ve been trying to learn how to play this instrument ever since my wife bought it for me 15 years ago,” he confesses. “I keep picking it up, learning a bit but then leaving it alone for too long so I have to start over.”

It seems the business of coaching leaves little time for accordion playing. After our chat, Søren will need to dive straight onto another Zoom call with a new client who wants him to develop a career progression programme for future female leaders. He then has a one-to-one session with a female mobile communications executive based in Iraq. 

“It’s a huge privilege to coach people of different nationalities, backgrounds and cultural characteristics,” Søren says. “My background is in behavioural science, so understanding different cultural traits and seeing how different people learn and grow is fascinating to me. 

“I once had a spate of coaching candidates from The Netherlands, who are thought of here in Sweden as being very direct and outspoken. I found out through our coaching sessions that they felt pressure in business to live up to this national stereotype of being forthright, when in fact many of them were much more introverted.” 

Søren’s coaching strengths

Søren’s coaching strengths lie in his ability to listen, ask considered questions and provide the much-needed space required for candidates to develop new thinking that leads to growth. 

He admits he’s never had a coaching specialism but in an increasingly noisy world, his calm and amiable style must be a welcome breather from the turmoil of the corporate workplace for any level of employee. 

“The whole point of coaching is to help someone move in the direction they want to go. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that,” he says. “I talk with people on an equal footing, which is rare in any profession as usually there’s one person who’s the expert or the authority. I listen, we talk and I contribute perspectives that help shape their thinking. 

“It’s not about getting them to move – it’s about helping them figure out where they’d like to get to, what’s preventing them from getting there and how you navigate the roadblocks.”

Søren now lives 100 km from Stockholm but grew up in Denmark and spent three formative teenage years living in the US. He coaches in Danish, Swedish and English but can also get by speaking in German, Spanish and French. 

By his admittance, he’s ‘been around the coaching industry a long time’. In fact, he’s believed to have been one of the first professional coaches to have operated from the Nordic region  – although he’s quick to acknowledge that it’s a claim he finds hard to substantiate. 

He did however help to launch the ICF’s Nordic Chapter and has served for five years on the ICF global board, helping to drive the organisation’s growth throughout Europe. In 2022, he was inducted into the ICF’s Circle of Distinction. 

Early adopter

Søren was almost certainly the ICF’s first Nordic member though and considers himself a pro-typical early adopter of not only the discipline of coaching but most things in life. 

“I’m not sensible enough to wait for second or even third generations of technology. I have to be among the first to get my hands on the latest Apple product or experiment with new gadgets,” he says with a laugh. 

“I like to keep up with new thinking in behavioural science too. The last 15-20 years of data-driven research into personalities is so different from the traditional Jung and Freud ideology taught in the early Eighties. I subscribe to newsletters and extracts of research papers and receive a bunch every day that I read and find interesting. Some people stop learning as soon as they leave school. I just love learning and understanding new things.”

Søren rarely travels to coach in person these days, partly because he’s grown more conscious of his carbon footprint and ‘no longer wishes to fly’. 

Virtual coaching suits him anyhow. His original training to qualify as a coach was conducted over the phone with a US company, long before video conferencing came along. 

“Through Mindbeat, I can now meet candidates across the globe from the comfort of my own home. I do one-to-ones and group sessions involving line managers and team leaders so that we can work through appraisals and everyone from an organisation has bought into a thoroughly planned out process,” he says. “The advantages to meeting and talking to people face-to-face are so small that they’re outweighed by the practicalities of being able to coach and receive coaching online from wherever you are in the world.”

In theory, the absence of travel that comes with virtual coaching should afford Søren at least evenings and weekends to continue teaching himself the accordion. I get the impression though that he prefers to spend quality time with his grandchild as well as outside with his keen gardener wife, tending to his tomato plants.

“When I finally retire, I’d like to grow tomatoes semi-professionally,” he says. “It’s the visual appeal of all the different colours, sizes and shapes – you just can’t buy anything like organically grown tomatoes in the supermarket and they certainly don’t taste the same.”

Still, just as learning and growth development occur over time with the right coaching programme, the same commitment and patience that Søren already shows his tomato plants will see him one day become an accomplished accordion player, I’m sure of it. 

Perhaps the next time we meet online, he may even play me something – I do hope so. 

Categories
Blog

Are your new hire attrition rates costing your organisation dearly?

12 September 2023

Mindbeat’s head of client and product development, Jessica Bellwood discusses the importance of strategic onboarding and reveals plans for new research into attrition. 

After weeks of trawling through CVs and interviewing candidates, you’ve finally landed your perfect hire. You made the right choice but what happens next will determine if that individual flourishes within your organisation or, like around 40% of recruits, decides to quit within a few months. 

It’s a commonly held belief that finding and recruiting a new employee takes 40 days on average and costs businesses upwards of 35% of an employee’s annual salary. So seeing new hires resign, in the knowledge that you’ll need to start over the recruitment process, is both a huge time waste and a financial migraine that all companies could currently do without.  

The first 90 days in the life of a new hire are therefore crucial. 

Since the pandemic, companies have spent too much time and energy on knee-jerk responses to headline-grabbing trends such as the ‘Great Resignation’ or ‘Quiet Quitting’ and not enough on ensuring that their onboarding strategies are carefully planned and fit for purpose. 

The consequence is high attrition and new employees left ill-prepared to understand their roles within teams, navigate team dynamics, and even indoctrinate themselves into the new company culture. 

Onboarding, or helping new hires adjust to social and performance aspects of their jobs quickly and smoothly, is the very first building block for better retention, efficiency and overall business performance. 

Programmes vary across those organisations that do it well, with some offering complex and detailed ‘assimilation’ frameworks and others providing checklists and coaches to help analyse workplace situations and prospects for new employees. 

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, onboarding best practices can be distilled into four Cs – Compliance, Clarification, Culture and Connection.

Compliance is the policy-related rules and regulations you’d expect to learn about when starting a new role. Whereas, the other three focus on how a new starter gets to grips with all related expectations around their role, how they settle in and how they establish interpersonal relationships. 

Here at Mindbeat, we talk a lot about an additional C – Confidence. 

Let’s look at the levers you can pull as an organisation to keep attrition rates low by actioning these Cs, plus how coaching contributes to building stronger employee engagement and commitment during someone’s first 90 days in a new job. 

Clarification

Ensure that employees understand their new job. If expectations are ambiguous, their performance will suffer.

The role of the hiring manager is key to ensuring that the job description is an accurate representation of the ‘actual job’.

Around one in four people say they left a job because it wasn’t what they had expected. Provide clarity on both the day-to-day role and what success will look like in their first three months.

Culture

A welcoming and open company culture will encourage new hires to help themselves during their first 90 days by making time to chat with colleagues, mixing socially, participating in company activities and displaying proactive behaviours such as asking questions and seeking feedback.

An external or in-house onboarding coach will discuss how the individual fits in socially and facilitate questions and appraisals with line managers. 

Connection 

Line managers play an important role by helping newcomers adjust to their new workplace environment and by providing feedback, advice and further opportunities for learning and development.

This also helps employees build trusted relationships with their line managers so that once the 90-day onboarding is complete, the Connection bond is made.

Confidence

Just as you were confident that you made the right choice when hiring, it’s paramount that each recruit quickly establishes self-confidence to aid their performance.

Self-efficacy has been shown to have a significant impact on organisational commitment, job satisfaction and even turnover. 

A coach will help new hires prepare for their onboarding orientation even before they start by bolstering self-confidence and helping to overcome any challenges individuals may be encountering. 

Onboarding a key retention strategy

Developing the coaching skills of line managers and using an onboarding coaching programme are vital for keeping new hire attrition rates low, so long as they’re offered as one element of a larger plan, have total buy-in from management, and are done in conjunction with the little things – like senior leadership taking new employees out for lunch and team leaders ensuring their first day is a positive one.

With organisations increasingly unable to afford the spiralling cost of high employee turnover, and more than half of exiting employees surveyed by Gallup admitting their managers could have done more to prevent them from leaving, effective onboarding will be a key retention strategy for the foreseeable future.

It’s something that here at Mindbeat and out in the coaching field, we’re keen to track and share insights on, to better understand the impact of how company strategies evolve. 

With this in mind, we’re currently conducting research on new hire attrition and approaches to onboarding. If you’d like to take part and share your organisational insight, let us know and we’ll be in touch. 

In the meantime, reach out and talk to us about how our coaching network can help improve your new hire experiences. 

Categories
Blog

How to lead in uncertain times

11 May 2023
Leadership diagram on chalkboard

There’s no denying we are facing a time of great uncertainty.  Ongoing war in Ukraine, looming recession, climate fear, and the rise of generative AI are just some of the drivers. At times like these the role of leaders becomes increasingly pivotal. Leaders enable an organisation to continue to build, seize opportunities and grow rather than merely survive.

Strong leadership can enable teams to navigate economic headwinds with agility and resilience.  It helps us spot opportunities for innovation, focus on the things that matter, and sustain performance. But it’s far from easy.

Leaders will need to work through some tough questions: How do we do more with less? How do we cut costs while growing for the future? How do we drive efficiency without stifling creativity? They may also need to shoulder the emotional impact that uncertainty can create. 

As Neil Khaund, Forbes, points out “You may not be able to stop the ripple effects of a recession, but you can influence how much it’s going to impact your business and your team.”

So what can we learn from the most effective leaders and organisations?

1. Communicate clearly, honestly, regularly

In times of uncertainty, it’s easy for employees to lose energy and focus, to worry about immediate, personal things that matter most to them: Will I still have a job at the end of the month? Will I be able to pay the mortgage? How do I cover two roles and not just one? 

Uncertainty takes its toll on many things, from the quality of decision making to levels of motivation and productivity.  Often what’s needed most is what organisations don’t provide enough of – good, regular, clear communication. Rather than letting the ‘narrative’ grow arms and legs, as leaders it’s important to remember we have the power to inspire and uplift those around us. One of the most impactful ways to do this is by communicating clearly, honestly and regularly.

 

2. Be human – show courage and compassion

Every person’s story and challenges are unique; each person will respond in a different way. Taking time to listen will not just connect one person, it will demonstrate to others that you care. If there is a difficult conversation that needs to happen, invest the time to prepare and practice so that no matter what the message, the person feels treated with fairness, respect and dignity.

 

3. Look up and out

It’s very easy to put your head down and pedal fast to try and solve internal challenges or keep up with an increasing workload. The strongest leaders remember to look up, look out and focus on the future. Connecting with customers and keeping close to the market helps to quickly identify not only threats to the business but potential opportunities. Many significant innovations have been initiated during a downturn whilst competitors look the other way.

 

4. Get comfortable with uncertainty

In a downturn, external forces will swirl beyond your control. The most effective leaders look to control the controllable, while letting go of areas they cannot influence. What are the areas that you can influence that will add to your competitive advantage? Double down on developing your brand, reputation, or culture; Focus on product development; Take the opportunity to fine tune your team’s agility and effectiveness. Being proactive in building strengths will enable you to bounce back stronger.

All of this represents a big ask for the leaders of our organisations. The strongest organisations recognise this and make sure they invest in coaching and personal development. This enables them to ‘put their own oxygen mask on first’ so that they have the energy, confidence and resilience to sustain their own teams.

Categories
Blog

What is coaching?

4 April 2023
Digital coach on screen

Coaching is a highly personalised form of development, where a Coach supports you to create learning, self‐development and improved performance in a way that benefits you. It is very much tailored around your unique needs, the transition you want to make at that point in time, and at helping you be your best, authentic self.

Coaching takes place through a conversation, or a series of conversations. It typically starts with agreeing on some ‘goals’ – these could be ‘inner’ or mindset shifting goals, such as building your confidence, or learning how to say ‘no’ and to feel less overwhelmed with work pressures. Or they could be about building skills, like delegation, presentation or influencing skills. Through the coaching conversations, you will have an opportunity to explore and learn more about yourself, and how you can draw on your own skills and resources to achieve your goals. Your coach will also share their insight, support and resources with you to help you accelerate your learning.

Coaching starts with the principle that you are responsible and have the power within you to live your life the way you want to, and to achieve your fullest potential.

Why do people get a coach?

People typically get a coach on board because they want to better themselves, grow and achieve their goals. They may feel ‘stuck’ in some ways, or not fully happy or fulfilled with what they are doing work wise, and coaching can help them unlock ‘old patterns’ of being or doing things, and put in place new, healthier ones to help them achieve the results they want. 

A Mindbeat coach is skilled, qualified and experienced in using a range of coaching skills such as observation, questioning, listening and feedback.  They will help you explore, hold up the mirror and to support your learning in a safe and confidential space. A space that enables you to reflect, explore and give attention to your unique learning journey. A journey equipped with greater self-awareness and appreciation of the opportunities and resources you have to go from good to great, or great to even greater!

The outcomes people commonly experience as a result of investing in their coaching are:

  • Improved performance
  • Increased sense of empowerment and confidence in themselves 
  • A greater awareness of self and of their purpose
  • A sense of being able to reach into untapped potential
  • Stronger, more honed leadership and influencing skills
  • Improved resilience and well-being

 

What coaching is not

Classroom training

Classroom training is a more structured approach to sharing a specific learning agenda, typically using a trainee who covers specific information within a specified time period. Coaching is more flexible and moulded around your unique needs, goals and context. In this sense, coaching is a partnership that relies on both you and your coach to share responsibility for learning, and relies on you to apply, test out and experiment with your learnings in between sessions.

 

Advising, mentoring or ‘telling’ you how to solve your problems

Coaching starts with the principle that you are responsible and have the power within you to live your life the way you want to, and to achieve your fullest potential. The role of the coach is to help you explore and understand your situation, challenges and opportunities more clearly. This may at times mean gently challenging you to see things from different perspectives. A coach will help you consider different options and explore different routes to action, however a coach will not be an advisor or tell you how to go about taking action. If they did, they would be taking responsibility and power away from you.

 

Therapy or psychoanalysis

We find that at times people who may have considered a need for therapy, turn to coaching instead. There are some instances where coaching can help with some of what they may be looking for, such as a safe, containing space to be listened to, and an unbiased set of ears to help foster greater self-awareness. However, coaching does not offer medical care or expertise that may be necessary to address underlying origins of the presenting problem, such as trauma or conditions that create a sense of debilitation, anxiety or depression. Please contact a health professional if this applies, to ensure you get the right support.

 

What coaching is

The role of your coach is to provide unbiased support, deep attention and commitment to your purpose and goals – of the kind that you are likely to rarely experience outside of coaching.

For coaching to be effective, it needs to be based on a relationship of trust. Whatever you share with your coach will be confidential. Where a company has requested coaching for you, your coach will agree with you the best way to keep them involved or updated on your progress.

 

What you can do to get the most from coaching

Coaching is the kind of partnership which relies heavily on how much you put in, and how committed you are to your coaching process. That means showing up for sessions, taking notes and actions at the end of each session, and actioning any commitment you make during sessions. 

Contribute to conversations honestly and openly. For example, if something is not working, your coach needs to know. If you know why a problem is occurring, say so. The power of coaching relies in large part on how open and authentic you and your coach are to each other in your sessions.

 

What is group coaching?

Group coaching gives you the opportunity to take a step back to reflect, practice skills and dialogue with a small group of peers in support of reaching your development goals.

How does it work?

Each session is 1.5 hrs long and will be held every 3 to 4 weeks.

You will decide on the schedule for further sessions as a group in your first session.

You will be with the same persons for all sessions. Building trust is a process and we invite you to invest time in creating a safe space for the group coaching sessions. The real benefit of group coaching comes being part of a mutually supportive group where members consistently help each other work on their issues.

You will be setting some ground rules as a group during your first session. Some of the important areas that will be covered are:

  • Confidentiality – What is discussed will be kept within the group members.
  • Punctuality – What is acceptable in terms of punctuality for the sessions.
  • Attendance – What is expected in terms of attendance at sessions. What apologies should be given and how much notice should be given.
  • Minimum number of set members – What is the minimum number of people required for a group to take place?
  • Listening – each member has air time whilst other members listen. Expectations will be discussed and agreements made.

Group coaching provides a platform to unlocks a group’s potential and enhances collective intelligence.

It helps by creating a supportive climate where ideas can flourish and take shape. When people feel safe enough to make suggestions or challenge assumptions, we make better, more constructive decisions.

In group coaching, issues get brought into the light. People not only learn to deal with issues that already exist, but they develop the skills to deal with new issues that will inevitably pop up. 

 

Categories
Blog

Mastering conversations for career growth

4 April 2023
woman on a zoom call

People need to feel they are moving forwards in their job and gaining career growth. They need to feel a sense of meaning and purpose in their role.  But how do you retain, support and give your team members the progression and growth they are looking for, all while delivering the work that needs to get done?

This isn’t a new trend, but one that’s definitely exacerbated since the pandemic. 

Organisations feel they are doing the right things in this space but there is a gap as individuals aren’t recognising it or feeling it.

According to our research only 16% of people have ongoing career conversations and yet, the number one focus area off the back of engagement surveys is career growth.

We know that 8 out of 10 people would be more engaged in their work if they have regular career conversations and that 43% are more likely to leave if a manager doesn’t show interest in their career.

A Big Four accounting firm conducted some research recently; it followed up with all of those people who had been highly rated in their role but had resigned and gone elsewhere. 

The number one reason was that they didn’t see or know about any future growth opportunities. 

That same organisation said they would have welcomed them into teams across the organisation, but they didn’t have those conversations until it was too late.

So what can be done? Organisations can’t offer a promotion every 2 years, not when they are becoming flatter and leaner. 

Our answer is to have ongoing, honest, connecting conversations.

What if they want to be the next CEO?

The number one reason these conversations don’t happen is fear. Fear about the questions that may come from the employee as a result of the process. Fear about not being empowered. Fear about being caught out.

Managers seldom enjoy the prospect of being faced with questions they can’t answer, or show their lack of empowerment. The human reaction from the manager is to shy away and avoid the conversation with their team member – whether they want to be the next CEO, or just have unrealistic expectations about themselves.

With our roots in psychology and leadership consulting, Mindbeat is able to get under the skin of how to manage these difficult conversations, prevent the blocks and give your managers the equipment to deal with the array of answers that can come up. 

We’ve come up with these rules for how to instill career conversations into the regular behaviour of your teams:

The 5 rules of career growth

1. Career conversations need to be ongoing – This takes the scariness away

2. Be honest – I may not have all the answers but let’s figure this out together

3. Connect the dots to find the energy – Help people to find their source of energy and motivation

4. Uncover the super power – Share feedback, help them to build insight into distinctive strengths

5. Think inside and outside the box – Be creative and resourceful in  how you come up with solutions