Do you seem to be spending the majority of your time helping your direct reports successfully deal with their team’s people issues? There may not be a pattern to any of these people issues; your managers could be dealing with the whole range of people management issues, for example poor performance, conflict, de-motivated employees, long term sickness, grievances and teams (despite how hard you and they are working) who are not achieving all that the senior executives demand.

The one thing that you probably do know is that you can clearly see the untapped potential within the teams, and the risks of not engaging these employees now.  Are you dreading the time when the markets pick up and many of your talented employees will consider leaving the organisation?

Not only are you fire-fighting daily, but you have no time left to dedicate to the initiatives that would make a difference to the organisation as a whole and start to put a smile on the faces of the board (who keep asking you about progress on these initiatives…)

Poor management and leadership skills costs the organisation in productivity, creativity and customer service, but also leads to employees who are stressed, under-developed, lack progression and could be considering leaving the company.  On top of that, there is the additional cost (both financially and in time) of re-hiring, re-training and errors made by new employees, as well as the publicity issues of any grievances or tribunals.

BENEFITS TO YOU

By bringing in external Executive Coaching, you:

  • Get your time back.  This gives you the opportunity to get involved in those innovative and creative projects, which can help further your career.
  • Save costs.  You get the credit for saving the organisation costs of re-hiring, re-training and risks of errors.
  • Gain engaged employees.  You have managers and teams who are motivated and engaged, allowing for talent management and succession planning.  And, as research shows, the organisation benefits considerably on the bottom line, so the senior executives can be happier too!
EXECUTIVE COACHING

Coaching is beneficial to executives looking to develop their potential.  Some of the most successful executives in the UK’s top companies have their own coaches, as they know there is always room for improvement.  These companies offer coaching as a perk to improve retention, unlocking the talent and improving effectiveness, performance and confidence.  It can help those who are not succeeding as they or their organisation had hoped, but can also help executives look at their challenges from a different perspective and take responsibility for their own change.

Executive coaching also provides solutions for a variety of different business issues:

  • Executive development. Promote a safe and efficient environment for senior business leaders to explore and address key development areas as individuals and/or to enhance the quality of leadership/teamwork in the senior executive team. Develop a powerful and strategic approach to the integration of people, culture and business objectives.
  • Succession planning. Accelerate the readiness of potential talent through one on one or group coaching. This could be part of a high potential or fast track program that might also include leadership skills development, mentoring, cross cultural assignments and other learning interventions. Also equip managers with coaching skills to enable a focus on development with their direct reports, to identify and retain talent throughout the organisation.
  • Strategic change. Major transformations will require supportive people strategies that inspire engagement and/or changes in behaviour to meet the performance targets.  Managers can also be provided with the coaching skills to be able to help employees cope with the changes and identify solutions.
  • Workforce planning. Increase employee retention and promote diversity by offering coaching to under-represented groups. Improve engagement and employee satisfaction in those hard to fill positions.
  • Transition support. Provide assistance to individuals who are moving through critical career transitions (promotions, new functions, first global role, new responsibilities/function). Coaching can be used to effectively shorten the learning curve in new positions. It is particularly useful in reducing the number of failed international assignments, increasing employee satisfaction, decreasing stress, improving productivity and retention.
  • Learning & development strategy. Provide integrated development solutions that use coaching to hold individuals accountable for meaningful and sustained behaviour change. Offer follow up coaching solutions to leadership development activities, including stretch assignments, and use coaching to shift the focus of development from the workshop to on the job.
FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE

As an Executive Coach in the Financial Services industry, Karen helps managers and senior managers to re-find their motivation and trust, and to start delivering to their full potential again.

Karen has over 30 years’ experience up to Director level in operational management, client service, and in management consulting and coaching.  Established across the Financial Services industry and with blue chip/FMCG companies, she has a proven track record of delivering high standards of client service, productivity and efficiency improvements and operational risk awareness.  Having managed small to large complex teams, she has been involved in developing leadership skills, communication skills and executive coaching to team members, new managers and senior management. 

Working with or for companies such as Fidelity Investments, Barclays, Coca Cola, Premier Foods, Buena Vista, Tropicana, Kraft, Neuhaus, Harper Collins, Allied Domecq, Bass and EMI, Karen has first-hand experience of the challenges and demands faced by managers in the high pressured environments of today’s organisations.  Her approach to developing self-awareness and leadership skills has helped managers improve team annual KPI results including increasing productivity by 20%, customer satisfaction by 14% and tenure by 26%.

As a previous Director at Fidelity Investments, Karen fully appreciates the fast-paced and time sensitive environment of Financial Services and the need for changes to be communicated and integrated quickly.  With a thorough  understanding of the needs of the senior executives, Karen is able to combine the organisational necessity for budgetary control, productivity and service with the employee needs for motivation, engagement and communication.

“Karen has a number of strengths, chief of which is her ability to get the best out of people. She is an excellent people manager but is also able to build powerful business cases through the use of complex management information and customer feedback.   Karen can see the bigger picture but understands the detail and is an effective change manager as a result. Her breadth of experience means that she is highly flexible and can tackle a wide range of roles.  Her enthusiasm and  commitment make her a safe pair of hands.”

Lisa, Associate Director, Fidelity

“Karen combines a thorough understanding of the detail, with a strong strategic vision. Her energy and drive are considerable, resulting in a positive impact on those working with and for her.”

Matt, Associate Director, Project Mgt Fidelity

If you’re looking for a coach who can quickly get up to speed with your needs, understands the complexity of the environment and has a track record of turning around de-motivated and under-achieving teams, then contact Karen for an initial discussion.

Karen says: “Most traditional coaches are trained to be non-directive, to listen and ask questions and help you come to your own conclusions/solutions, staying within your original objectives.  I have a slightly different approach, and one which I don’t apologise for.  I am passionate about and fascinated by people and convinced of their potential.  And although it’s vital that I’m supportive and encourage you to find your own solutions, I will also challenge you, hold you accountable and push you with more direct questions, to fully explore your current thinking and potential for future success.   As a leader, I  would challenge others honestly and openly, aiming to face the facts to improve organisational effectiveness; not being one to blindly agree for fear of upsetting the status quo.   My approach to coaching is based on the same principles, now using a combination of interventions by mixing the traditional coaching skills of listening and understanding your unique style with the ability to question from experience established over 20+ years of leadership.  It’s not advice, telling people what to do or how I did it, but it is different to standard coaching practices. Ultimately it’s important to me that you benefit personally, but believe it’s also important to bear in mind the objectives and needs of an organisation and those who work with you. If you like to be supported while exploring beyond your comfort zone, then my style of coaching may well suit you.”

A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES OF COACHING IN ACTION:
  • With the business picking up quickly, the client needed to ensure that the structure of the team was effective for the next stage of growth.  A rounded leadership team, who could take responsibility for driving the organisation forward needed to be set up and coached as quickly as possible.  Karen provided a fresh perspective and sounding board for the decision-making process of the senior management, as well as developing improved communication and leadership skills needed to facilitate the changes agreed. The team over-achieved on all their sales and revenue targets.
  • A client came to Karen looking for answers around how to lead more effectively in a post recession age where he believed loyalty, risk taking, and personal responsibility within a trusted team environment all appeared to be under serious threat. Karen put together a coaching outline which worked on self-awareness and how understanding oneself could be used to positively address those questions. By the end of the programme, the client found that he had a better grasp of motivations and was better equipped to deal with leadership challenges using various tools covering personality types, to conflict styles, to reframing.
  • A client asked Karen to help develop his self-awareness and impact and clarify his future career options. By using a number of management tools and questioning techniques Karen helped him identify his strengths/preferences and potential areas these skills could be applied.  The client went on to gain a number of NED, trustee and charity roles.
  • When asked to take on the leadership of a 14-employee team, Karen quickly discovered that all of them were actively involved in looking for new roles outside of the organisation.  By a combination of individual meetings, development, goal setting, coaching and a departmental restructure, all of the team members were maintained, tenure improved by 26% and one progressed to a senior management position.
SERVICES

Assiem Ltd can provide Executive coaching to individuals or small groups of managers who want to inspire their teams to better performance.

We also provide Leadership Services and Personal Coaching, all tailormade to your specific challenges.