The benefits of using a Career Coach

Hannah McNamara from HRM Coaching in London provides career coaching for Marketing professionals and has a team of coaches from a variety of background who offer coaching for accountants, lawyers and IT professionals. Hannah explains more about career coaching:

If you feel as if you are at a crossroads in your career and you are not sure which way to turn, you could benefit from consulting a career coach to help you make your decisions.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development goes into great length about the benefits of coaching on its website, http://www.cipd.co.uk, exploring the impact it has on the lives of those who decide to give it a go.

Most people have heard about career coaching but it is generally assumed that it is reserved only for management. However this is far from being the truth. Coaching has become a regular activity in over half of businesses, and there are distinct benefits to making it available to the workforce as a whole. Some businesses have a dedicated coach on hand whenever they are needed, while others use senior members of staff to provide a listening ear and to act as a sounding board for those who have issues that need to be discussed.

While group coaching is a possibility, many people are uncomfortable about discussing any issues they may have within the context of a group meeting. That is why individual career coaching is often taken advantage of by more people.

Simply providing access to a career coach can help the productivity of your business enormously. One of the ideas behind coaching is that it helps to identify problem areas and suggest solutions for the person in question to make improvements. The whole process always begins with the client however, and not the coach – the client may have a desire to get ahead at work but is unsure of how to do it. In this case the coach will help the client identify ways to develop their skills and talents, to better themselves and their outlook as well.

Allowing the staff to have access to coaching services can improve the whole outlook of a business. It can also encourage better communication between managers and staff, and lead to more productivity as a result.

Career coaching is about much more than just figuring out what you want to do with your career next. It’s not just about working out your next career move. It has a real and lasting value in getting the most out of the job role you have now.

Small wonder then that so many businesses are latching on to the possibilities and advantages it offers.

E-BOOK: 10 Ways to Sabotage Your Own Career

We have just published our latest e-book ’10 Ways to Sabotage Your Own Career: Are you making these mistakes?’.

Based on years of experience both in succesfully climbing the corporate ladder and making decisions on who gets promoted (and who doesn’t), this e-book gives insiders tips on what it takes to get that promotion you’re looking for in 2008!

Many professionals unwittingly make fatal mistakes at work that impact on how they are perceived by others, including their immediate bosses.

For example, in Mistake #4 you’ll find out why getting on with your job and avoiding office politics could be damaging your image and in Mistake # 5 you’ll read how in concentrating on making savings for your company you could be taking your eye off the ball in areas which are much more important to your bosses.

The e-book is free and can be downloaded by clicking on the link below:

10 Ways to Sabotage Your Own Career: Are you making these mistakes?

How to stop staff jumping ship

You and your HR people have spent a small fortune on staff recruitment advertising and selection procedures. Although you hired in aptitudes you added training and developed favourable attitudes. Your people perform well and you know this from your annual appraisals. They are an important cog in the wheel of your business. And then they hand in their notice!

Unless you have a policy of ‘go now, they have an opportunity to spread dissent among their colleagues, to squirrel away vital company information, and even to steal your stationery and equipment. That individual who was once ‘the perfect candidate’ can metamorphose into ‘the employee from hell’.

The period immediately after the summer vacation is a favourite time for your staff to explore new opportunities, to see if the grass is really greener on the other side and to jump ship. As a result you have much to lose and little to gain beyond repeating the costly recruitment and selection process.

This situation is damaging enough when people at a low level decamp with their skills and experience. It can be catastrophic when your best senior people decide to move on. The solution is to avoid the situation arising in the first place. It is a situation that is readily available to you with business coaching.

Unlike consultancy, which frequently deals with a single issue and makes recommendations for implementation, coaching is a far less expensive option that equips you and your management team with skills that can last a lifetime. Think of consultancy as providing a fish to a hungry individual, and coaching as the alternative that shows that person how to catch their own fish forever.

Staff retention is serious issue which business coaches deal with on a regular basis. Your staff will be less inclined to look elsewhere if they feel that they are truly valued, when they are motivated with an understanding of your organisation’s ethos, values and objectives, when they have the optimum possible responsibility for their own workload and actions and when they discover the benefits of self motivation and the arts of delegation.

Coaching delivers practical and effective solutions that create quantified and qualified results. Indeed, a coach is totally focused on results. When you use a coach you are assured of absolute confidentiality. Your coach will not spend time raking over old coals and past issues. You can only begin a new approach from where you are now and with close attention to where you aim to be by a given future date.

As with all great innovations, there is a possible downside. The only risk in coaching is that you might select the wrong coach! HRM Coaching can assist you with this by hand-picking your coach from our team.

The choice is clear. You can do nothing and hope for the best, which is not a sound management policy, or, you can explore the undeniable benefits of business coaching, at absolutely no risk, and ensure that the best is yet to come and is achievable within your timescale.

For more information about retaining your best people, call HRM Coaching on 020 7939 9910