Creating a coaching culture

With 51% of employees saying they didn’t have good opportunities for growth, and 63% of leaders identifying as first-time managers, the company saw the need to cultivate a coaching culture, and thus wanted to prioritize coaching as a capability in their line managers to develop their people and drive growth. The company designed, rolled out, and facilitated an in-house program to empower their employees, but, as the company began to experience exponential growth, it could no longer sustain managing its internal coaching program while also achieving its broader business goals. The organization began to search for a premier partner to help them implement a best-in-class coaching program.

After a vast search, the company decided to partner with BTS. Initially brought on to help coach and assist with the company’s self-designed leadership coaching programs, BTS’ role was initially limited. However, as the company grew from a start-up into a multinational network, demand for BTS’ coaching offerings did too, achieving international accolades. Following a successful first partnership, BTS and the organization began to collaborate on addressing additional needs within the company’s leadership development pipeline. As a result of this evolving partnership, BTS was selected to re-design, lead, and implement the organization’s global coaching program.

The program first launched in Amsterdam before it was rolled out in six different cities across four continents, all within five weeks. To date, over 1,000 sessions have been completed with over 370 active participants across the globe. Due to BTS’ global presence, ability to coach in 37 languages, and culturally adept teams, the program has been extremely successful. Leveraging participants’ feedback, BTS continually updates and improves the program, making it easier and more effective for participants to receive quality coaching, no matter their location.

Designing the program

To co-create a comprehensive, scalable coaching program, BTS interviewed the people development leaders of the organization in various regions across the world incorporating their different needs and ideas into one universal design.

By collaborating with the organization’s local teams BTS ensured the program was tailored to fit the business – making the learning more relevant and applicable for participants. Honoring the organization’s way of working ensured a strong partnership between BTS and the company, based on trust and mutual respect. This relationship ultimately allowed BTS to become the organization’s broader people coaching partner.

BTS and the company began designing the program by first defining why coaching is critical for talent development and retention. Coaching deepens an individual’s self-awareness around his or her personal development agenda and also enables them to have a greater impact on their teams, as well as business results. The program was to follow the 70-20-10 learning and development model and leverage the existing design and people development needs.

The journey

The program consists of a two-day experiential summit followed by one individual coaching session and three virtual coaching pods, which are completed three, six, and nine weeks after the initial workshop to ensure long-term behavior change and sustained learning. The journey begins with some pre-work, which includes a digital iCoach simulation, providing metrics of participants’ pre- and post-program understanding of key concepts, an introduction to coaching, as well as some insights and self-awareness exercises.

Day 1

Focuses on developmental conversations building on self-awareness as a coach, creating a coaching culture, and utilizing the See-Hear-Speak framework.

Day 2

Day one learnings continue, which incorporates triads and group coaching practice, so every participant receives tailored feedback to help with their individual development.

Measuring the impact

BTS uses digital tools, such as “iCoach” and “Act@bts.” iCoach is BTS’ virtual coaching simulation platform, walking participants through different real-life scenarios and recording their responses, while Act@bts serves as a hassle-free accountability resource to help participants action plan and track measurable goals they want to achieve following the program. These digital tools help the organization’s leaders solidify behavior changes throughout the journey and maintain them in the future.

After its pilot launch, the program has since been implemented globally in eight cities on almost every continent. In five months, over 1,070 coaching sessions have been completed, with over 2,000 one-on-one coaching or pod hours. Given such success, BTS was named the Global Coaching Provider of Choice for the entire organization meaning BTS, with 260 coaches worldwide, provides on-demand coaching for any employee of the organization who requests coaching and development assistance.

Feedback

Feedback from the program indicates it has been remarkably successful with participants praising the creation of a safe space to be vulnerable, the ability to practice the tools right away and often, and the real-life aspect within each scenario. Program satisfaction scores on a scale from 1, strongly disagree, to 6, strongly agree, averaged 5.52 globally, with the one-on-one coaching experience averaging 5.24. Additionally, on a scale of 1 to 10, the global average answering the question, “would you recommend this program to a colleague,” was 9.4. The facilitators establishing a safe and supportive environment also received the highest score across the board.

After the initial rollout, BTS incorporated feedback from all participants, facilitators, and coaches, adapting the program’s design to make it even more effective. The updated program contains additional coaching sessions and will be offered in a fully virtual version making the program even more convenient and accessible to all managers.

The next step is underway of developing additional localized programs for the company tailored to each region’s talent needs. Due to the strong, trusting relationship, BTS won the hearts of the organization’s people development leaders across the globe and continues to work closely with them to meet their ever-growing and shifting talent development needs as their broader people and leadership development partner.

Participant testimonials

• “The content is absolutely stellar. I think about the concepts introduced EVERY DAY. Harley is an excellent facilitator, and the overall format of the initial training session was very, very good. I highly recommend this to new AND experienced managers!” – Participant from APAC
• “One of the most impactful and well-rounded trainings I’ve had in my life.” – Participant from EMEA
• “Great content that was properly explained through examples. Even better to be able to practice the learnings. It also gave me the opportunity to get to know teammates from other regions.” – Participant from LATAM
• “I loved the way the content was presented and the multiple opportunities to practice skills that I can immediately apply. It felt like such a gift to take two days to focus on my growth and how I can better support my team.” – Participant from NA