Company Culture is a difficult concept to pin down. But working on developing and strengthening culture has real benefits for organisations and staff. At Know You More we believe that the success of Leadership Coaching programmes are intrinsically linked to a strong company culture.

Firm Foundations

Programmes that provide coaching and development work much more successfully when embedded into company culture.   The mission is clear to all stakeholders, both internally and externally.  Providing staff and new hires with confidence that they are valued - and that their personal development is a key part of their employment -  will help you to retain and attract the best talent.  Outside the immediate organisation, you are displaying a clear objective for growth. Great for attracting additional investment, and reassuring existing shareholders.

There are of course, more tangible benefits.  From creating clear succession plans, to allowing staff the space to grow and reflect on their skills and learning and ultimately, to increase profit and productivity.  

Start at the beginning

However, all the leadership training in the world won’t work if that programme isn’t an integral part of the day to day culture of the workplace.  Application is vital in getting the most benefit from any programme. Learning about good leadership, personal development and change management in an external environment may well be a positive experience.  But unless all that new-found knowledge is harnessed for real-work situations, the likelihood is that those positive learnings will never be implemented effectively.

We understand that with the support of a coach, leadership programmes come to life. Encouraging individuals to identify, question and alter behaviours that are holding them and the business back.

Case Study

With our help, the Ambassador Theatre Group, have created a strong culture centred on coaching as a key part of the development of staff in leadership roles, and for those earmarked for similar roles in the future.

‘Coaching plays a fundamental role in developing leaders at the Ambassador Theatre Group. We have a pool of internal coaches who support participants on ‘Rising Stars’ (a two year programme for emerging leaders). We have found that by giving talented people at the beginning of their leadership journey, the time, space and opportunity to talk through challenges and find answers for themselves, really succeeds in accelerating development and growing confidence. 94% of programme graduates have been promoted, some multiple times.’

‘Leading Lights’, is a leadership development programme for senior leaders at ATG. The programme has two residential weeks of learning, including up-to-date leadership theory, interactive workshops, inspirational guest speakers and a course of coaching sessions with an external executive coach. As well as having access to some of the world’s leading coaches as facilitators (Dr John Blakey, Dr Carole Pemberton and John Leary-Joyce), participants also learn advanced coach skills.

‘We have seen real business results from those leaders that have participated in our in-house programmes. Improvements in the financial performance of their area of the business, and higher levels of engagement from their teams have been evidenced, building a strong business case for ongoing investment.’

So, not only have their coaching programmes produced hard evidence as to the personal and professional benefits, they also prove their worth in financial terms too.  Interesting that the programmes now include the participants developing coaching skills themselves, so that their interactions with other staff are driven by new found knowledge and a top down approach, creating a solid culture of coaching that can only benefit everyone involved.

If would like to learn how Know You More can support your development programmes with digital coaching (including leadership, graduate, apprenticeship, maternity, entrepreneurship and returners) please contact us.