Internal Pharmaceutical Company Coaches - Facing Up to the Challenges
(Published 09 July 2004)

More and more pharma organisations are looking seriously at the skill of coaching as a method of developing their staff and teams. Some organisations insist that all line managers are competent in the skill of coaching whilst others are going even further and creating ‘coach’ roles in order to support employees and teams within the organisation. There are, however, six major challenges that the internal company coach has to face and overcome before they can really excel at their role and thus bring tremendous benefits to themselves, the employees and the organisation itself.

Challenge No.1 - Recruitment of Coaches

Correct recruitment is vital in any role if the organisation is to get the maximum for their employees and it is no different in relation to the recruitment of coaches. Great care has to be taken to recruit the right person in terms of their beliefs and their potential to take on the necessary skill set that is required for a competent coach. When I first became an internal company coach in the pharmaceutical industry, the recruitment was done internally with some people identified as potential coaches but the majority coming from a pool of ‘potentially redundant’ line managers who were in this position after a major company re-structure. The result was that certain individuals were ‘forced’ into a role in order to stay within the company. This was far from ideal and as a result a number of people did not take to the role and subsequently left the organisation. Others stayed in the role but really struggled to take on the role of the coach and actually behaved more like ‘trainers’. In order to avoid these challenges, organisations really have to take great care in the selection process of coaches in order that they get the right people with the potential to become great coaches in the workplace. Shoddy recruitment only leads to great financial loss in the long run!

Challenge No.2 - Does the organisation really understand what a coach does?

It is vital that the understanding of the coach role and what coaches do and can achieve, is fully understood by everyone in the organisation and not just a few ‘supporters’ of coaching. From the Board to the ‘shop floor’, everyone must know what coaching is, what coaches do, and what they can achieve. Otherwise, confusion reigns and chaos can ensue. In my own experience, in the early days, coaching was being promoted by the Chief Executive and a leading HR executive. Senior Management played along without really understanding what coaching was and what coaches were supposed to do. The coaches were expected to work with line managers in order to support them through the vast organisational change that was happening along with supporting and enabling them to develop their skills in leading their teams to success. On reflection, the role of the coach varied enormously throughout the organisation with coaches in some areas acting like ‘mini-managers’, others like ‘trainers’ and a few actually doing some coaching!

It is essential that everyone understands, especially the line managers who may be supporting the coach. They have to agree objectives and methods of working so that there is consistency across the organisation. The coaches have to understand what they are supposed to be doing and they have to have the skill (and the courage) to stand up to senior management when, perhaps, the management wants them to operate in a way that perhaps is not actually the coach role. The objectives of the coaches must be consistent and clear and where possible measures should be put in place in order that the success of the coaching interventions can be communicated, in order to further the understanding within the organisation.

Challenge No.3 - Contracting the Role

Many of the challenges within the ‘understanding’ of the coach role arose due to the fact that the coaches never really learned how to ‘contract’ their role with their management, their peers and those people they ended up coaching. Contracting is simply a process whereby two people sit down and discuss expectations and agree a way forward. It is an opportunity to get to know the people you are working with, to understand their roles and to agree how best the two are going to work together. It is an opportunity for the coach to get the person to fully understand the coach role, to learn what coaching can do for them, and how coaching works. Only this way will be the managers and coachees gain a full understanding of the role, the skill and what it will mean for them. In the early days in my organisation, coaches ran straight into task and started attempting to coach individuals and teams without going through the contracting phase. As a result of a lack of understanding, there was confusion and in may cases mistrust. Many coaches were seen as the senior manager’s ‘little helper’ or ‘right hand man’ and as such huge barriers appeared between some coaches and the people they were supposed to be coaching. Contracting done effectively starts to build understanding, trust and respect. Coaches cannot survive without this!

Challenge No.4 - Learning the Skills

We were thrown into the ‘deep end’. Although we were given some initial theory training we became coaches without first learning the skills and as a result we ‘bumbled’ along using the managerial skills that we had been brought up with. The result was that the coachees saw very little difference in skills and behaviours. Coaches were still operating in a ‘tell’ fashion as opposed to an ‘ask’ one. We were actually going through an intensive two year programme and although some of it was very beneficial, there was some of the course which to this day, I wonder what the reasons were for it! We were all given a personal coach in order to support us through the programme and this, for me, was the turning point in my development and in many respects, my life. My coach was excellent - challenging yet supportive with the knowledge and experience that should go with a ‘training’ coach. Unfortunately, some of my coach colleagues had coaches allocated to them, and whose coaching skill allegedly left a lot to be desired.

When creating a coach role, I would advise organisations to think carefully about how they are going to train their coaches. Training them from within an internal training department is very risky unless the coaching capability is extremely sound. It is better looking externally and choosing a training organisation who possesses a track record in training coaches and who have good quality coaches on their staff. Do not go for one or two day training courses. All these do is highlight the skills needed - they do not build the actual skills necessary. A programme which includes theory, practice and follow up coaching is a necessity. Whilst doing this it is advisable to consider putting senior and middle management on such programmes because in the future, who is going to coach the coaches?

Challenge No.5 - How do you know the coaching is working?

One of the major challenges the coaching industry faces today is actually proving that coaching delivers what it promises. Many senior executives demand to see the link between coaching interventions and the ‘bottom line’ - results. This can sometimes be a challenge because even in the sporting arena, it is not the coach that gets the results, it is the athlete or the team. How many people know the coach behind the top athletes in the world? Team coaches are more well known due the exposure that they get from the media but very few individual sports’ champions coaches are widely known. Yet, these sportspeople would never consider attempting to do what they do without a coach!

In business, internal coaches have to ensure that their interventions are proving to be a catalyst to success whether it is a team success or an individual one. Collecting feedback from coachees is one way, although the coach will have to ensure that the coachee sees the link between the coaches’ interventions and the individual’s success! Sometimes, the coaching can be so subtle that coachees do not realise that the coach as actually made the difference even though the coachee has actually carried out the successful action. Regular reports to senior management are a must. They must be kept informed, highlighting successes and challenges, and emphasising where the coaching intervention has brought success and why. Coaches really need to promote themselves and their actions so that senior management sit up and take notice. One of your greatest challenges in the early days as an internal coach was that, as a coach group, we did not stand up for ourselves and promote what we did, why we did it and the successes that were achieved.

Challenge No.6 - Keeping your Development going

Within organisations there is a great need to deliver through action and as such ongoing development can take a ‘beat seat’ with the result that skills are rarely enhanced unless through the odd ‘refresher’ course. Coaches cannot afford to become ‘stale’. Although the coach may have gone through an intensive coaching programme over a period of time, it is important that not only do they look to keep the skill levels to an acceptable they should really be looking to continually enhance them. Coaching is a skill that is continually growing and there are more and more ways to coach effectively being discovered as research into the skill grows. Many internal managers and coaches can become insular in that they rarely network outside their organisation. Coaches, in particular should look to join network groups, coaching communities and the various institutes that are now accepting coaching as an essential business school. Without continually growing your coaching knowledge and skill, the danger is that your skills become ‘stale’ with the result that some the learned coaching behaviours slip and before you know it, you are back acting as a manager or trainer!

Disclaimer

OnePharm Internet excludes any warranty, express or implied, as to the quality, accuracy, timeliness, completeness or fitness for a particular purpose of this briefing. OnePharm Internet will not be liable for any claims, penalties, losses, damages, costs, or expenses arising from the use of or inability to use this briefing or from any unauthorised access to or alteration of the Briefing. OnePharm Internet makes no warranty that the contents of this briefing are compatible with all computer systems and browsers.