Leadership skills are sometimes hard to deploy in rapidly changing environments, so the leadership skills and behaviours that were once highly appropriate for your organisation might be depleted, perhaps due to illness or restructuring, or may no longer be fit for purpose.

At Work Horizons, we have spoken to leaders who are now taking time to assess their preparedness for what comes next. One of the tools we use when coaching senior individuals and senior teams is the Work of Leaders tool, which is sampled in a report below. Here are some questions we think you should be considering:

• How well prepared is your leadership team?
• Have you taken time to recraft your vision and strategy, and an appropriate review process?
• How are you going to communicate with those continuing to work remotely, and returning to their previous work space?
• Have you maintained a culture that supports the effective execution of your vision and strategy?

Hear more about the Work of Leaders Tool

At our recent Coaching launch event, Dr Ann Terry spoke on the Work of Leaders Tool. Watch this fascinating video here:

Sample reports

To give you more insights into the outputs of the tool, please take a look at this sample Work of Leaders Group Report:

One of our associates, Holly Whelan, specialises in reinvigorating organisations and their teams. By reviewing employees’ energy levels, she is able to address where people are struggling and can realign the team to create a more efficient, effective, and enthusiastic team.

We at Work Horizons understand the complexity of ensuring every employee has a work-life balance and particularly the pressure that the HR function is under to not only tackle this problem, but also maintain their own wellbeing. Through coaching, leadership development, and organisational renewal, we believe both individuals and teams can address this issue to perform their best.

You can find out more about Holly’s approach here and explore our wide range of services here.

Videos

Watch clips from our previous webinar here to hear Holly’s insights:

Paper

Read our paper on Mental Health in the Workplace: Who Carers for the Carers? to find out our strategies to ensure that the HR function preserves and protects its energy so that it can better serve the wider company needs.

Recruiting a new person is expensive; not only the recruitment costs of an agency or internal recruitment, but also training costs, your time and energy, and the disruption to normal working. You probably just want full service to resume as quickly as possible, and this is even harder for all parties when it is being managed remotely; coaching is one way you can accelerate that process.

The First 100 Days

Do you remember how it felt the last time you started a new role, perhaps in a new company? It can be hard to talk through your concerns and uncertainties with colleagues, HR or your new manager. It can also be hard to ask for help, to build new relationships and to feel in control.

The longer it takes someone new to develop their networks, local information and skills, the longer it takes to see the returns on your recruitment and employment costs. If you think about the monthly employment cost of a new member of staff, how much are you wasting by not accelerating the transition into their new role?

What is Transition Coaching?

Often, individuals in new roles receive the standard induction covering Health and Safety, introductions to new colleagues, information about the department and are then left to get on with settling into their role. However, this really only addresses the minimal needs for new staff to begin to perform effectively, and in our experience the more senior the new appointment the less of an induction they often receive. 

Working with a Coach during the first few months can support a new member of staff or executive by giving them a “safe “environment to think and plan so they can perform their new role fully as early as possible. The plan could include:

• Identifying key relationships, and how to build them effectively, including with new colleagues, a new manager, new direct reports, and the wider team. 

• Making sense of a huge amount of new information quickly, including identifying questions to be asked and decisions to be made. Coaching provides time to take stock and reflect.

• Discuss fears and develop plans to manage and overcome them, building confidence and effectiveness in the process

• Help an employee new to the area  think through how to settle in quickly 

For senior leaders and executives there is an extra dimension to making an effective transition – the impact their style and first moves have on the team they’re managing, their new colleagues and the wider organisation. A Coach can work with a leader to help them meet the challenges of a new role and create an action plan tailored to their individual needs and situation, including:

• Reflecting on their personal style and that of the new organisation and understanding what they need to adapt to make the relationships work.
• Help to identify the “political” situation the new leader is in and the best way to achieve early wins, to build personal credibility and self-confidence.
• How to build useful and effective relationships. Are there people they haven’t met yet who could be critical to their success? Who are the sources of power that have influence in the organisation? Perhaps a Coach will help the client draw-up a stakeholder map.

How might Transition Coaching work?

There are many options including

• A single face-to-face session a month into a new role, with follow-on skype/telephone sessions.
• face-to-face sessions at 1 month intervals, perhaps for the first few months.

Whichever option you go with ideally there would be an opportunity for a “chemistry test” beforehand for each party to check they’re happy to work together.

What next?

So if you want those in new roles to perform effectively as quickly as possible why not review your current induction and on-boarding processes and include coaching as part of them from now on? Find out more about our coaching services here.