Coaching on Call Case Studies

Kantar Worldpanel

Kantar WorldPanel set out to balance their commercial, task focussed culture with developing good leaders and valued employees. The People Development Director, with her strong commercial background, introduced a Performance Leadership programme together with personal development plans and wanted to ensure that line managers developed their performance against a framework of core competencies and role specific behaviours. One of the key outcomes they are striving for is a coaching style of management culture that is in balance with their strong commercial ethos.

Methodology

Coaching on Call was made available to an initial population of 120 line managers to support them in this process. Programme evaluation criteria were agreed. Coaching categories reflecting the core competency areas were built into the system to indicate performance in the audit trail and reports. Managers were offered:

unlimited expert coaching between 0800 to 1800 Mon – Fri plus some evening slots
only 30 minutes– no travel or lengthy periods out of the business
available on demand
timely & flexible
immediately relevant
practical & focused on key performance issues
output of agreed action points for immediate implementation
built-in quality control through immediate feedback loops
an external objective resource

After each coaching call, the actions that have been agreed are emailed direct to the coachee. Feedback is given by the coachee online – to date this has been 100% positive. Regular reviews of the programme are held and reports generated.

Outcomes and feedback

The initial 15 month programme has been extended with a growing number of managers asking for access to the service. Coaching on Call is costing Kantar a fraction of the cost of executive coaching and training. Acknowledged benefits include:

improved line management, with a positive systemic effect on teams
help to avoid poor decisions, procrastination, waste of time, indecision etc.
reassurance and confidence to managers that they have a confidential, independent resource to draw on for help at any time

Feedback shows that it has been used within Kantar to effectively:

raise line management performance
improve competence in presentations/meetings/negotiation/ managing people
enhance client relationships & spend
motivate teams
raise morale and confidence
improve preparation and decision making
take effective & appropriate actions

Example feedback comments

"This session was an absolute success and resulted in a positive and practical outcome for myself as a line manager as well as my line report. I am certain that without this coaching session the outcome for both parties would have been less positive."

"It provided me with some useful and actionable techniques to use in the meeting and a framework to use which was successful."

"It was refreshing to talk to someone who does not know the person concerned. It was a massive issue for me so could not be resolved in one session but it did take the pressure off the situation and so I did not respond unprofessionally as I think I would have done without the call and the useful techniques used."

DSG International

Coaching on Call supported managers on successive Executive Development Programmes to transfer and catalyse the theoretical learnings back into actions in the workplace. These were disparate management groups, including international diversity, with big performance challenges operating under severe economic and commercial rigours.

Example feedback comments

"This is my first experience of the service and I am really impressed with its potential. It’s a powerful enabler and clearly differentiated from other learning tools at my disposal. I really like its accessibility, capability and approach."

"Great questions to get me thinking so that I actually found a solution to what had seemed an intractible situation within my team."

"Useful guidance in bringing my own thoughts together, and in arriving at a plan of action that enabled me to have a difficult conversation with a colleague that ended with a mutually agreed and very practical positive step forward for all concerned. Thank you."

World Duty Free

“We engaged Coaching on Call at a time of change and challenging financials to help managers with making different kinds of decisions and to build their commercial ability. This led to greater accountability for decision making. In addition, we needed support as a management team to cement the new team spirit whilst on a learning curve and needing to embed the values of a newly merged business.”

Jo O’Connor, Commercial Director, World Duty Free

Example feedback comments

Very structured, but also personable and friendly call. Made me feel at ease even when I am not used to doing something like this and do not naturally enjoy this type of thing!! [the coach] had a knack of making me talk though the issues and find the answers myself!! He was reluctant to guide me to what he thought the answer should be and instead made me question every element.

Used this immediately after the call in a 1:1 meeting - hugely successful!! All points discussed acted upon! Discussion much appreciated.

Helped to crystallise ideas and prepare for important meeting towards end of week. A very effective half hour session!

Portsmouth City Teaching PCT

A time of great change and uncertainty with many complex demands on managers. Coaching on Call was piloted as a support for managers to develop personal resilience and ensure the competent navigation of the challenges of this demanding transitional time.

“Overwhelmingly managers commented that Coaching on Call has enhanced performance and confidence as well as giving them the reassurance of an external, secure and confidential resource. Our experience of working in close partnership with Coaching on Call has enabled us to begin to systemically influence the culture of organisational behaviour by embedding a ‘coaching’ mindset.”

Senior Learning and Development Advisor, NHS Portsmouth.

Example feedback comments

"Excellent. Not having had coaching before I was unsure of what to expect. I found it very useful and positively constructive. At the end I had a positive, confident approach to take and felt completely empowered to action the plan we had mapped out."

"This was incredibly powerful. I went to the meeting very confident and felt I handled the meeting and the difficult person much more confidently."

"Great - practical, thoughtful, insightful and I came away with more than one way of taking things forward. Thank you."

All quotes printed with permission