Developing leaders into coaches: Transforming culture using coaching

Client need

Facing major competition for the first time in its 150-year history, the marketplace for a leading North American mine site was changing. Disruptive new movers and changing customer demand was challenging the status quo. Potential growth from sustainable and renewable technology was creating a new opportunity, and the site needed to quickly adapt to realize the benefits. To do so, teams needed to deliver even more value and productivity, while keeping a focus on safety.

The organization partnered with BTS to bring the transformation to life, using coaching to drive improvement in safety, productivity, and team engagement.

The solution

As part of a global mining giant, the North American mine sought to align its leader development with its global counterparts. This meant ensuring every single Superintendent, Supervisor and Leader had the BTS Leader as Coach experience.

Rather than simply providing frameworks and checklists to the site’s leadership teams, BTS equipped each team with the mindset and capabilities to lead as a Coach.

The experience transformed the leaders’ approach, enabling them to deliver coaching in the flow of their work. The solution targeted both the mindsets and capabilities required for change. While it was designed to keep in mind core safety and procedural coaching moments, the solution focused on how each leader could have a great coaching conversation every day, giving and receiving frequent feedback. Fundamentally it focused on how leaders could drive high impact coaching conversations, create behavior change in others, and support powerful safety engagements.

To bring this transformation to life, each leader completed work in advance of the program and was assigned work to be completed on the job. In addition, all levels of leaders would complete group work with colleagues, either face-to-face or virtual group. Through peer-to-peer coaching and a unique GM-to-Supervisor cross-functional shift, the experience breaks down old silos and hierarchy, which enable the culture shift.

Beyond this, leaders went through leader-led sessions to learn how to apply the learning to their teams and monthly learning sessions with colleagues across the site to review changes with rituals and safety procedures in order to drive and sustain change.

Results

Leaders who went through the experience felt with 96% probability it would improve safety, productivity and engagement on site.

Leaders who went through the experience increased their engagement scores (eNPS) by 13 – 15 points.

Engagement scores (eNPS) for teams reporting to these leaders increased by between 5 – 16 points in the six-month period after the learning experience.

• “Honestly, one of the best [learning programs] I have attended. Very interactive which keeps people engaged.”
• “Overall, I really liked the class and I received a lot of great tools to use in the future.”