Coaching is a word which is bandied around a lot in these days in the business sector: development coaching, business coaching, life coaching and so on.

However, targeted coaching, regardless of the type of coaching provided, can result in long term, sustainable change and development. By targeted coaching we mean coaching which is addressing the client’s specific need within the context of the environment in which the client works.

We have recently been involved in a coaching program with a government organisation that has enabled major growth and development for all involved.

Often in very demanding environments managers are not given the luxury of personal development, bar perhaps a one day training intervention which is soon shelved due to ongoing demands back in the work place. For this reason the coaching program was designed to address specific individual issues identified using an assessment tool as well as extensive research in the environment in which they work.

A one day initial workshop allowed participants to become familiar with the term coaching and to understand why and how to go about coaching in their environment. The coaching model suggested was a result of the research in the work place, thus was relevant to the work they do.

Each participant has been given the opportunity for a number of one-to-one coaching sessions with our team of experienced, professional coaches. These sessions offer a dual benefit: firstly they offer the individual being coached the rare opportunity for personal development and secondly they offer the person being coached an opportunity to become a coach in their own environment with support and guidance.

A second one day workshop was provided to review the process up till then and to offer more advanced coaching skills to participants who were by then familiar with coaching and had done some coaching.

Further one-to-one coaching sessions followed the second workshop to help embed the learning and development.

The results that are emerging are a more skilled senior management group and the beginning of a coaching culture within the workplace which can only lead to improved relationships and results.