Executive Coaching - A Guide For The HR Professional.pdf

66 EXECUTIVE COACHING
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effective. I have also found that good communication is so important
between the HR professional and the client’s boss so that the
HR person can provide the coach with further insight on the supervisor’s
observations. At very high levels in the organization, the
client’s supervisor may meet more frequently with the HR professional
than with the coach. That means that the HR person may
be in the habit of obtaining more up-to-date feedback from the boss.
Passing along this information to the coach improves the coaching
outcome because the coach is able to adjust the coaching content
to suit the client’s and the organization’s needs.”
The image of a bridge can, however, be somewhat misleading in
that it is passive. If you are the responsible professional in an organization
with an established coaching program, you may have to
actively manage both the overall coaching program and, to some
extent, each of the assignments. If you are not in an organization
with an established program, you will need to manage each of the
individual coaching engagements. In this chapter we will touch on
many of the tasks HR people usually handle in regard to their
coaching–oversight responsibilities.
After reviewing these tasks, you may come to the conclusion
that “managing” just isn’t the right word to use here. True, there is
no good way to manage all these activities in the same way as one
manages events that are largely under your own control. Coaching
doesn’t easily yield to standardized performance expectations and
timelines. Different assignments use different measures of success.
Almost all the really important things happen when no one else is
watching or listening. Confidentiality blocks full communication.
Nonetheless, it is a reasonably manageable process. It takes time
and effort to build all the appropriate relationships, of course, and
to develop a “feel” for when things are going well. For the HR
manager who is new to coaching, it may feel like a really slippery
responsibility. But before too long you should bring coaching activities
comfortably under your purview—even if it never becomes
easily measured and managed. Used properly, coaching can be a