career
Career coaching: benefits and why it’s important to manage your career; why organizations should seek a coach
In a world characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, known as VUCA, as well as by great organizational change led by overseas assignments and challenging career advancement paths, employees are more likely to often change careers and specialization.
In order to increase their performance and retain talent, employers need to implement and enhance continuous learning programs, enabling employees to develop their skills and advance their profession.
Career coaching constitutes a valuable resource that employers can adopt first of all, proactively to enhance employees’ performance, and avoid issues related to work performance, career transition, and cultural fit, but also reactively, to manage current challenges.
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What is Career Coaching?
Career Coaching involves supporting clients assess their fit for different jobs based on their personality, strengths and preferences. A Career Coach is a professional trained and experienced in designing interventions for a smooth transition from one role to another or for re-entering the workforce after a long period of absence, supporting employees tackle their toughest career challenges so that they achieve their highest career aspirations and find fulfilment in their professional life. Similarly, Executive Coaching refers to coaching services to executives and senior managers aiming at improving executive and organization’s performance, enhancing their time management and leadership skills through different tools and techniques to help them manage stress, prevent burn-out, improve their confidence and motivation, and encourage innovative thinking.
What you will get as a Coachee?
- Personalized support and strategies. First, build confidence and define your professional value proposition (PVP). By working with a career coach, you will identify and practice your professional value proposition, articulating your strengths and cultural fit for that role in order to stand out from the competition.
- Dedicated time to advance. Creating your personal brand will help you stand out and attract employers with your skills. Your coach will help you set goals, craft your story and create a roadmap to land your dream job.
- Experiment and develop. Gain life-long transferable career skills. Your career coach will help you understand your career progression and set the appropriate milestones to get there.
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What are the benefits of career coaching for the organization?
By implementing coaching proactively in organizations, employees will not only be empowered to aspire for better performance, adding value to the organization, but will also get the adequate support to resolve small issues before creating huge barriers and obstacles to block their success.
Some of the benefits of in-house coaching can include:
- Higher employee productivity and self confidence
- Increased quality in employee performance
- Improved employee morale
- Retention of talented employees
- Reduced time in managing organizational challenges
These benefits can be translated in a win-win-win for the three parties involved:
- Employees win because they feel valued and empowered to take charge and advance their career.
- The organization wins because the employees or the teams are more engaged, productive, effective, developing a growth mindset and innovative thinking.
- The customer wins by receiving high quality products and services from top-tier talent.
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Coaches are experts in tailoring strategies and techniques to the specific needs of people or groups seeking help. Below there are some tips to create a coaching culture in an organization:
- Introduce gamification. The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) states that visual communication will mirror the consumer apps we use every day. Allow a variety of custom rewards.
- Create a collaborative group activity on a regular basis, facilitating rapid peer to peer feedback, ensuring that learning and development is involved in the coaching interactions.
- Making the employees feel a sense of belonging and reduce their risk of burnout. Provide new parents a family-friendly work environment to stay engaged and be productive despite their sleep deprivation.
Now that you know the benefits of career coaching, what you can expect from it, next you would need to know how to find the right coach for you.
One size definitely does not fit all!
An essential aspect of the coaching relationship is the chemistry between the coach and the coachee. Many career coaches create their own website, write articles and share content on Social Media, or get interviewed in the media. Follow their content and see if it resonates with your personality and your needs. Then, ask for a pre-coaching session, often called a discovery or clarity call to see how it will feel when you are speaking and, if or how you can work together.
Start taking charge of your career!
As you can see, there are many indications you may need a career coach, as well as many benefits to having one. As Ric Charlesworth argued, “the interesting thing about coaching is that you have to trouble the comfortable, and comfort the troubled”.
About the author:
Adelina Stefan – Career Coach, Intercultural Facilitator & Executive Consultant
Adelina is a licensed Career Coach and Intercultural Facilitator specialized in the areas of International Human Resource Management and Intercultural Communication. She helps expats professionals achieve clarity in their career goals, enabling them to increase their self- and intercultural awareness and formulate their unique career blueprint. Adelina is a dual citizen of Greece and Romania, and has lived in Zürich, Switzerland for the last five years. Holding a Master Degree in Sociolinguistics and Intercultural Communication, she also specializes in translations and interpreting, being fluent in English, Greek, Romanian and German.
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