The benefits of coaching

1. Coaching provides the structure for translating performance targets into performance improvement. Having a goal, or learning a new skill and not giving it regular attention and practice is like looking at yourself in the mirror, walking away, and forgetting what you saw. That's the experience of many when they stuff themselves with seminars, training and work goals. Coaching can change that. Regular accountability and focus will create the new habits and thinking that lead to effectiveness. This is a reality rooted in how our brains work. Visiontracks uses a brain-based model of coaching which takes advantage of the natural way in which we create new neural pathways and thus new learning. For more information on the science behind this, click here.

2. There is a benefit to doing more than simply a performance review with an employee and then leaving them on thier own to sort out the next steps. The International Personnel Management Association (IPMA) in a 2008 survey on performance management concluded that:
   
   “In terms of the success of a performance appraisal system, one thing is clear. Respondents who do more than simply conduct annual performance reviews feel their systems are more successful than those who do not. This result appeared across the board. More surprising is that aligning individual goals to organizational goals has a positive impact in all other areas as well – including communicating expectations, identifying developmental and training needs, identifying and addressing poor performance, and retaining good employees.”
   
   Click here for a statistical survey on the ROI of coaching to an organization.

3. Coaching adds value to both your business and your employees' personal lives. The two benefits are closely linked because empowered, engaged employees are more likely to remain with their employers. Personal benefits from leadership coaching include greater self-awareness and positive change of perspectives and behaviour; improved emotional intelligence and interpersonal communication; and a shift towards greater work/ life balance. Knowing that you invested in their development leads to greater confidence and personal empowerment.
   
   

The Benefits of Facilitation

1. Facilitation uses the skills of coaching in a team context.

2. Facilitators probe for and draw out valuable information, provide a structure for the information and create a process that is actionable, measurable and accountable. Unlike moderators, facilitators create a product, one that can have a profound and lasting impact on an organization, its people and its future.

3. Why use external facilitators? People in teams, while they may be focused on one goal, still tend to be guided by their personal assumptions. Those assumptions are often varied and unarticulated, impacting the execution of organizational goals. It can often be difficult internally to challenge those perpectives. An external, strictly impartial facilitator can help to identify those different assumptions and then map the way to productive outcomes.