Coaching at work: what is it and what are its benefits

In recent years, coaching is in vogue, because professionals in this discipline help many individuals to empower themselves. face change, improve their interpersonal relationships, to know themselves better and to achieve the goals and objectives that wish. This methodology is applied in different contexts: in the personal field, sport, school and companies.

And in the latter case, more and more organizations are aware of the benefits of have the help of a coach to improve the well-being and performance of your workers, which in turn affects the performance of the company.

• Related article: "Psychology of work and organizations: a profession with a future"

What is coaching at work?

Coaching at work is applied coaching in organizations. And although the job coach can sometimes be associated with the false belief that he is a simple speaker or motivator, this method goes much further: truly It comes to making people, thanks to systematized work, empower themselves in the face of change and correct those limiting habits or thoughts that separate from achieving your goals.

The purpose of this discipline is to maximize the professional and personal development of people. It is an educational process that allows learning and encourages cognitive, emotional and behavioral transformation, by creating an ideal context for this to occur.

The coaching process enables a relationship between the coach and his client that fosters self-observation, self-reflection and empowerment, generating in this way the transformation of people and companies, and causing changes in perspective while increasing motivation and responsibility. Not everyone can be a good coach, and it is important to train well to be able to put it into practice correctly.

• You may be interested in: "The 10 benefits of Coaching (keys to your personal development)"

Where to train in coaching?

Such is the usefulness of coaching that in the last two decades many training centers have emerged that allow that those interested in becoming professionals in this discipline do so with the maximum guarantees of quality.

However, it is true that not all educational institutions have these guarantees. Thus, To receive the best training we must look at some characteristics of the centers. For example, what is the content of the program, the testimony of former students, if the title is recognized and approved or not, or if the institution that teaches it is prestigious.

An example of coaching training

In this sense, it is a good idea to study at a prestigious center, such as a university. One of the most important training courses in Spain is the "Postgraduate Course in Coaching in the Work Environment" taught by the Continuous Training Institute-IL3 of the University of Barcelona.

This degree is intended for those individuals who wish to acquire practical theoretical training for improve both their skills and job competencies and those of others.

It focuses on three main areas: improving the self-awareness of the organization, helping work teams to achieve their objectives and solve their problems more effectively, and enhance the work of managers in personnel management and in the performance of their own work, by promoting the development of their managerial, emotional and personal skills, and by applying new leadership models thanks to coaching.

In addition to imparting very valuable knowledge, this training action offers an individual coaching process, so that the participants can develop the emotional skills necessary for professional practice as a coach.

The course has an extension of 30 ECTS credits, lasts one year and begins on October 19, 2018. For more information, you can click this link.

Benefits of coaching at work

Coaching provides many benefits for both workers and companies. What are these benefits? We will see them below.

1. Improve teamwork

Group cohesion is necessary for workers to feel comfortable in their job, to be motivated and to perform better. This can be achieved thanks to the coaching methodology and, especially, team coaching, and is key to achieving healthier and more productive relationships.

2. Allows you to define realistic goals

Coaching helps workers and organizations to be realistic about their goals, to be aware of whether they are achievable or not and, if necessary, to restructure their beliefs and behavior to achieve goals.

3. Strengthen individual skills

the coaching not only help organizations, but the people who are part of it also enhance their personal skills and improve their performance and occupational health.

4. Improves well-being

And it is that the occupational health of workers must always be a priority for companies. Happy workers perform more and better.

5. Increase creativity

Thanks to coaching, employees and senior managers are much more creative in solving problems, as this methodology encourages self-discovery and allows to work in “flow state”.

6. Reduce conflicts

This practice provides tools that help coachees overcome obstacles and resolve conflicts that can affect the work environment.

7. Promotes adaptability to change

Resistance to change is a big problem in companies, because the environment is changing and it is It is necessary that employees, at times, have to learn to work differently from what they they did.

This is especially crucial if the upper layers are the ones that are not flexible to change, because the decisions they make affect their subordinates. Thanks to coaching, managers improve their adaptation skills and those of their work team.

8. Increases motivation

When employees feel aligned with their work and feel comfortable in the company they are with, their motivation increases. Motivation is one of the most important personal variables and one of the essential skills to perform optimally in a workplace.

9. Higher productivity

When employees and managers resolve conflicts better, are more motivated and happy, are more creative and better adapt to change, the company notices it. After all, the results of the company are the result of the work of its employees.