The Answer is YES! – Call It C.I.T. and… it’s a refreshing alternative to management training seminars.

In fact, more and more companies are putting corporate coaches on retainer.

You know corporate coaching has been around for a long time, mostly confined to the context of executive coaching, but now it comes in the form of time management coaching, communication coaching, performance coaching, leadership coaching, success coaching, and the ever popular personal life coaching. It can be whatever you need it to be and that’s the point!

In a climate that calls for smarter use of training dollars than ever before, companies are beginning to look not only to a more blended learning strategy that includes e-learning, webinars and tele-conferences, but also one-on-one delivery and help.

Coaching is a customized version of training, particularly when you couple it with targeted learning, which is the model I use. In fact I call it C.I.T. – customized individual training. It is a way to gain the highest level of return on investment for every training dollar spent.

Here’s a couple of questions and answers to expanded our understanding of coaching and its value.

What is Coaching?
What is a coaching relationship (short-term or long)?
A partnership
A committed alliance

What is a Coach?
An objective, key relationship who listens to what you are saying, helps you to set priorities and acts as a sort of “compass” to steer you on whatever course you choose; a facilitator of change.
Can be described as:
Sounding board
Advocate
Partner
Believer
Supporter
Informer
Resource

What Does Coaching Offer?
…a structured time and safe place to address specific situations

…working with goals by setting, planning and evaluating the process of meeting them and problem solving to name a few.

… A synergy that fuels your will, mind and heart to accomplish/ attain what you desire.

In the case of career coaching, it is working through a planning model to map out a desired career track. It’s a time to get honest and objective feedback from someone who does not have an “agenda” for you, but is committed to supporting your agenda.

Coaching additionally provides:
structure to the development process
insight
measured outcomes
accountability
encouragement, affirmation, support
clarity
focus
unleashing passion
discovering & breaking down mental barriers
unlocking potential
uncovering deep desires
sorting through thoughts feelings and emotions
goal creation
life plan design

Key Advantages
o    Specific and Directed Attention -you bring up the issues most critical to you at that moment.
o    Time Usage-this most valuable commodity is used exactly how you wish.
o    Scheduling Flexibility (the times are arranged at your convenience.  If a change needs to occur, it can be done without affecting a group or any sessions being missed.)
o    Sustained Momentum – through consistent contact and action you are able to keep your goals in front of you because there are so many other legitimate needs clamoring for your attention as well.
o    Results – through coaching goal setting and planned action is discussed thereby achieving measurable progress towards your desired results.
o    Current Information – I bring the skills of research and resourcefulness to this collaboration to compliment your efforts.
o    Confidence- planning & action breeds confidence and clarity.

Coaching Tip: Evaluate your learning strategy.  Ask yourself, “Am I learning efficiently and effectively?” “How is that impacting my return on investment for the training dollars I’m using?”

If this post has prompted you to want to learn more, don’t hesitate to contact me for a quick chat.  You can so so at: joann@joanncorley.com

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

As a former career coach, I would spend many hours preparing job candidates for interviews.  We all have that list…right… the one that says these are the questions you to which we should definitely have the answers.

Creative, zanny off beat questions are an interesting compliment to behavior interviewing.

How about throwing that candidate off on purpose? In reality asking questions they are unprepared for will go a long way in getting more honest answers and gaining some insight into their personality.

Here’s a few to consider and hey, put your creative twist on these:

—What will your colleagues miss most about you when you leave?

—What about work reminds you most about what you hated in school?

—If you worked in a big glass fish bowl, what would you do differently?

—What would your company be liked if you never worked there?

—What proverb best captures the essence of your current organization!

—What’s your idea of a utopian workplace? (Ok…if they know what utopian means…that should count for something!)

Note: some of these are sourced from the book 75 Cage Rattling Questions, by Dick Whitney

You can access the book at this link:
75 Cage Rattling Questions to Change the Way You Work: Shake-Em-Up Questions to Open Meetings, Ignite Discussion, and Spark Creativity

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Consider recent statistics regarding alarming educational trends impacting the readiness of todays incoming workforce.  This information is provided from a article entitled - Employers High Demand for Students and Workers With an Informational and Technical Education in the Emerging 21st Century. You can click the link to read the entire article.

This is the excerpt of note:

“Employers complain that many college graduates are not prepared for the marketplace and lack the new set of skills necessary for successful employment and continuous career growth. Only 6 percent of todays jobs do not require at least completion of high school, which means for a student without the adequate skills, he/she will not be eligible to even apply for 94 percent of job openings. The U.S. Department of Labor forecasts that by 2012 the U.S. economy will have the largest workforce in the nation’s history culminating to more than 162 million people. However, it will not be enough to fill the 2 million job openings projected to be available. In order words, millions of jobs are expected to go unfilled because workers lack the specialized skills required to fill them. Alarming, the U.S. government predictions show a shortage of more than 10 million skilled workers by 2012.”

Here’s an important question…Does this information imply that companies will be forced to take on more of an “education role” in it’s employee training and development strategy, take on the development of more fundamental skills such as writing and math? We might have to reframe what we’re doing and call it “education and training.”

This reminds me of a current fundamental mishap in our hiring and management and that is the practice of gross assumptions of the fundamental capabilities of those we hire.  I’ve witnessed this just in the simple thing of thinking through a challenge to generate multiple solutions.  Just the act of thinking something through seems to be missing!

Coaching Tip: It’s three fold for this post…

1. Become more mindful or your assumptionns with those you lead and those you are hiring related to these kind of capabilities.

2. Assess the funding and offerings of your training plan.  It may need to include more classes on fundamentals (math, writing, grammar, communication.) or accommodate more blended learning offerings to meet the unique needs of each employee that can be embedded in the everyday work experience.

3. Evaluate your hiring protocol.  You may want to include testing to expose these capability gaps.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

It’s almost as if we don’t have a choice.  Earlier this year…(and when I checked it was January…phew has time gone fast)…I wrote a post about integrating social networking into your career management strategy, which includes career search. In that article, I mentioned being careful about what’s out there about you, at least in terms of what you have control over.

I recently ran across a site that offers a useful tool that can help you actively manage your on-line presence or brand. One of the things this tool/service helps you do is regularly monitor if your name shows up in a search and what it says.  Why does that matter?…because people are becoming more “free wheeling” with information not just about themselves but about US TOO!  AND….it may not be all good.  I mean some of the stuff I’ve read has absolutely NO discretion.  Remember recruiters search…those who hire search…for stuff about you – online!!!

Though I’ve not engaged this service yet, I wanted to bring it to your attention to consider…to let you know it exists.  This service for some of us will be a save time issue.  I mean how many of us have time to consistently do searches on ourselves one line. (Though I do recommend that’s done  at least once a quarter.) The site is Brand-Yourself.com.

In fact what drew me to the site was an article of how someone found a job using Twitter. Rather than comment, I’ve provided the link for you to read in full. Hey ready for a career move?….be ready to “tweet.”

Here’s the bottom line.  Social networking is here to stay. It is only going to gain more of an influential foothold in our lives AND in our professional lives.  My coaching tip is to embrace it, leverage it, and effectively manage it.  In fact make it a career goal to do so.

Coaching Question:  How can you use social sites more strategically than you are right now?  My next post will have  at least one practical answer to that.

Should you need help in this area, don’t hesitate to contact me…if it’s just for free advice or formal career coaching:  Work Life 911 is the link you should have and use….and pass it on to friends…just in case they need it!

To your success, JoAnn

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Additionally, a follow up report highlighted the wellness program that President Obama has touted run by Safeway Grocery Stores, that has been very successful in lowering health premiums and increasing the overall wellness of it’s employees.  You can learn more at their website: http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/About-Us

What occurred to me as I was reading this is VERY IMPORTANT in our career management and employability.  Here’s the thought:

With more focus on health, health care and employer paid plans.  Will there be a heightened focus on the perceived health of potential employees during the hiring process? Would knowing this influence or change the way you currently handle your own health and wellness?

In recent previous posts, I shared current job search strategies being used to get a “leg up” in the job search or in the office….one of which was altering their appearance. Read that post here

In posts to come, as a additional component of effectively managing one’s career, we’ll examine how health plays a role in work productivity-performance.  For now, consider the question posed above.

Blogging for your success,

JoAnn

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.