...Continued from December Newsletter
Who works in a company where the biggest investment is in the desks? Or the water-cooler? Or the printer? The biggest asset most companies have is their staff. So why neglect them, why not make the most of those bright minds that stood out at interview?
Around the globe, HR is fighting to keep their best people as new opportunities open up to them post-recession. How are they doing this? They are bringing in external coaches to coach their A-team, to work out what motivates them and find ways to put it into practice. Managers and directors are also training in coaching to learn to perform more effectively.
“But it’s too expensive...” we hear you say. In fact, recent research shows the opposite. Coaching in business has been proven to produce a large return on investment. For specific case studies from the ICF please click here. This will be explored further at the conference this week and we look forward to bringing you further news on this topic.
Aside from ROI, coaching has been proven to have significant links to individual skills and behaviours, team performance, productivity and employee job satisfaction as found by a meta-analysis published in this month’s International journal of coaching. With the large amount of evidence supporting the benefits of coaching, it’s not can we afford to, but can we afford not to? Coaching really is a soft skill which produces hard benefits.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Monday, 20 April 2009
Coaching for obesity
NHS to give overweight children 'life coaching'
Sophie Goodchild, Health Editor London Evening Standard
20.04.09
OVERWEIGHT children will get life-coaching classes to help them slim in a scheme on trial in London.
NHS bosses are recruiting motivational trainers to "empower" nine- to 11-year-olds to lose weight and become more healthy.
The new attempt to tackle the nation's obesity crisis is a radical departure from "bootcamp-style" methods where children are put through a rigorous exercise regime.
Children will be nominated for the mind-training workshops by teachers or school nurses and be encouraged to make lifestyle choices to lose the fat.
Those attending will get monthly face-to-face sessions with psychology coaches as well as weekly telephone sessions. The life-coaching scheme is being piloted from this Saturday by the NHS in north-east London.
Redbridge primary care trust is the first to test the life-coaching classes but others are also signed up to the programme. Experts say mind training will transform the attitudes of children to food and exercise.
The Government has already spent £372million on anti-obesity measures, including a clampdown on unhealthy packed lunches, a ban on junk food from school vending machines and compulsory cooking lessons. But London children are among the fattest in the country, with one in three officially overweight by the time they start school.
Coaching company The Performance Solution is carrying out the free workshops to help change the mindset of children. Those attending must be above the healthy weight for their age and height compared with the national average.
The sessions will be run by ex-marine Alan Chambers, who led the first British team to walk unsupported to the North Pole. Mr Chambers, 40, said blaming children for being obese was futile.
He said: "The fact is existing methods are not working and advertising campaigns cost a lot of money. I was a dreamer as a child but if you are four stone overweight then you're limiting your chance of adventure.
"This is about motivation, not blame. It's not a case of 'by the end of the class we will have changed your BMI and you'll be running the London marathon'.
"It's about giving them the psychological skills to change their mindset. If they make different lifestyle choices the weight will fall off." The workshops will be supported by a text service and a dedicated helpline to ensure the children stay motivated.
Their parents will also be given coaching to ensure they are not giving their children unhealthy choices.
Pratibha Datta, NHS Redbridge's director of public health, said: "The goal is to help these youngsters adopt lasting change. That means encouraging them to adopt more empowering beliefs and values about what they can do. The life coaches are well placed to make this happen and it is potentially a very exciting project."
The wheel of life test
The aim of life-coaching is to help people lead more balanced lives.
Children at the workshops will have to complete a specially designed test called the Wheel of Life.
This is a simple exercise where they rate every aspect of their lives including health and well-being, self-esteem, friendships and achievements.
They also fill in a form with multiple-choice questions on subjects such as "I have an ongoing exercise programme" or "I am my normal weight and look good".
Their answers are scored according to how healthy they are and how balanced their lifestyle is.
It also gives an insight into their eating habits such as what takeaway shops they pass on the way to school or what clothes they would like to wear if they lost weight.
The life coach then sets them individual goals to motivate them to become more fit and healthy.
Sophie Goodchild, Health Editor London Evening Standard
20.04.09
OVERWEIGHT children will get life-coaching classes to help them slim in a scheme on trial in London.
NHS bosses are recruiting motivational trainers to "empower" nine- to 11-year-olds to lose weight and become more healthy.
The new attempt to tackle the nation's obesity crisis is a radical departure from "bootcamp-style" methods where children are put through a rigorous exercise regime.
Children will be nominated for the mind-training workshops by teachers or school nurses and be encouraged to make lifestyle choices to lose the fat.
Those attending will get monthly face-to-face sessions with psychology coaches as well as weekly telephone sessions. The life-coaching scheme is being piloted from this Saturday by the NHS in north-east London.
Redbridge primary care trust is the first to test the life-coaching classes but others are also signed up to the programme. Experts say mind training will transform the attitudes of children to food and exercise.
The Government has already spent £372million on anti-obesity measures, including a clampdown on unhealthy packed lunches, a ban on junk food from school vending machines and compulsory cooking lessons. But London children are among the fattest in the country, with one in three officially overweight by the time they start school.
Coaching company The Performance Solution is carrying out the free workshops to help change the mindset of children. Those attending must be above the healthy weight for their age and height compared with the national average.
The sessions will be run by ex-marine Alan Chambers, who led the first British team to walk unsupported to the North Pole. Mr Chambers, 40, said blaming children for being obese was futile.
He said: "The fact is existing methods are not working and advertising campaigns cost a lot of money. I was a dreamer as a child but if you are four stone overweight then you're limiting your chance of adventure.
"This is about motivation, not blame. It's not a case of 'by the end of the class we will have changed your BMI and you'll be running the London marathon'.
"It's about giving them the psychological skills to change their mindset. If they make different lifestyle choices the weight will fall off." The workshops will be supported by a text service and a dedicated helpline to ensure the children stay motivated.
Their parents will also be given coaching to ensure they are not giving their children unhealthy choices.
Pratibha Datta, NHS Redbridge's director of public health, said: "The goal is to help these youngsters adopt lasting change. That means encouraging them to adopt more empowering beliefs and values about what they can do. The life coaches are well placed to make this happen and it is potentially a very exciting project."
The wheel of life test
The aim of life-coaching is to help people lead more balanced lives.
Children at the workshops will have to complete a specially designed test called the Wheel of Life.
This is a simple exercise where they rate every aspect of their lives including health and well-being, self-esteem, friendships and achievements.
They also fill in a form with multiple-choice questions on subjects such as "I have an ongoing exercise programme" or "I am my normal weight and look good".
Their answers are scored according to how healthy they are and how balanced their lifestyle is.
It also gives an insight into their eating habits such as what takeaway shops they pass on the way to school or what clothes they would like to wear if they lost weight.
The life coach then sets them individual goals to motivate them to become more fit and healthy.
Monday, 16 March 2009
Reflections from Neil Crofts
it’s not a recession it's a transition.
It’s a transition from the industrial economy to the networked economy. This transition started 10 years ago with the dotcom boom. Over the last 10 years we have seen many industries collapse under scrutiny of the digital spotlight.
Now it is the turn of the banks, car makers and other monolithic industrial structures to transcend to the new level or succumb. It is the older, less culturally advanced businesses that are suffering the most. It is not so much the technology that makes businesses vulnerable or brilliant, but their culture.
The culture of the network paradigm is - flexible, transparent, insanely creative, cellular, distributed, diverse, inspiring, permeable and authentic.
The culture of the industrial paradigm is - structured, opaque, incremental, hierarchical, monolithic, homogenous, predictable, obedient, and bounded.
In today’s connected world customers want to buy from businesses that inspire them. People want to work for organisations that inspire them and politicians want to support businesses that contribute more than just money to society.
The next generation of hyper successful business will be networked. The boundaries between employee and customer will blur as with Threadless and Digg. Where people outside the company help create the product.
Businesses like Plenty of Fish where one man who works around one hour per day brings in $10 million per year, o-desk, e-lance and guru will change the dynamics of employment. It will become more and more difficult for uninspiring companies to attract great people.
The whole notion of employment will shift, more and more, from 9 to 5 to flexible, multi role, portfolio careers with individuals working for multiple employers.
Instead of commuting to corporate HQ more and more people will use flexible office spaces like The Hub or online spaces like Linkedin or Facebook to find their community and collaborators.
Cost effective online collaboration tools like ning, powownow and Skype enable those with a mission to access greater global collaboration.
Success will come from doing something valuable and inspirational with a culture of creativity, innovation and challenge.
Businesses and organisations who are unable to make the shift will succumb.
What can we do?
Invest in personal development. If you don’t already know what you are great at and what you are most passionate about - find out.
Invest in the next generation. We need to take the next generation beyond education. My contribution to this is to be part of www.amentorforeverychild.com, please join the web based community and contribute what you can.
Transform the culture of your organisation. If you recognise that the organisation that you work for is following the industrial model and you want to keep your job, start working to change it.
It’s a transition from the industrial economy to the networked economy. This transition started 10 years ago with the dotcom boom. Over the last 10 years we have seen many industries collapse under scrutiny of the digital spotlight.
Now it is the turn of the banks, car makers and other monolithic industrial structures to transcend to the new level or succumb. It is the older, less culturally advanced businesses that are suffering the most. It is not so much the technology that makes businesses vulnerable or brilliant, but their culture.
The culture of the network paradigm is - flexible, transparent, insanely creative, cellular, distributed, diverse, inspiring, permeable and authentic.
The culture of the industrial paradigm is - structured, opaque, incremental, hierarchical, monolithic, homogenous, predictable, obedient, and bounded.
In today’s connected world customers want to buy from businesses that inspire them. People want to work for organisations that inspire them and politicians want to support businesses that contribute more than just money to society.
The next generation of hyper successful business will be networked. The boundaries between employee and customer will blur as with Threadless and Digg. Where people outside the company help create the product.
Businesses like Plenty of Fish where one man who works around one hour per day brings in $10 million per year, o-desk, e-lance and guru will change the dynamics of employment. It will become more and more difficult for uninspiring companies to attract great people.
The whole notion of employment will shift, more and more, from 9 to 5 to flexible, multi role, portfolio careers with individuals working for multiple employers.
Instead of commuting to corporate HQ more and more people will use flexible office spaces like The Hub or online spaces like Linkedin or Facebook to find their community and collaborators.
Cost effective online collaboration tools like ning, powownow and Skype enable those with a mission to access greater global collaboration.
Success will come from doing something valuable and inspirational with a culture of creativity, innovation and challenge.
Businesses and organisations who are unable to make the shift will succumb.
What can we do?
Invest in personal development. If you don’t already know what you are great at and what you are most passionate about - find out.
Invest in the next generation. We need to take the next generation beyond education. My contribution to this is to be part of www.amentorforeverychild.com, please join the web based community and contribute what you can.
Transform the culture of your organisation. If you recognise that the organisation that you work for is following the industrial model and you want to keep your job, start working to change it.
Friday, 13 March 2009
Recession is a blip in time, integrity is for life and once lost can be very hard to regain.
We are all experiencing similar challenges from credit crunch, to regulation of our profession, debates about CPD and professional standards, increasing overheads, reducing margins, the old chestnut of using time effectively and with all of this my plea today is to hold fast to our values and our integrity. We can all benefit from a value chain management approach,adding value to our clients by referring them to the best possible solutions even if that means we may lose a sale in the sort term. In the longer term our brand image and integrity is retained, our client will return and those to whom we referred our clients will refer others to us. This is not about commission systems and control, this is about trusting in the wider system, in abundance and elevating to a strategic process that will ensure longevity of our brands even if in the short term it impinges on cash flow and profitability. It's all about being 'fit for purpose'.
Today (Friday 13th) we found we had a new competitor for some of our work. That's fine, it's a free market and more competition spreads the word about the value of personal development in business. What wasn't acceptable is that the competitor had repointed one of our websites to their own. Luckily we picked this up before it had any effect on our business. Are those really the suppliers we want in a leaner world?
So today, let's question the values that our behaviour is exposing. Are those the values that we want to be remembered for, are they the values that make us congruent human beings and will our children be proud of the behaviours we are exhibiting in these interesting times? I can guarantee that coaches and consultants from The Performance Solution are chosen for their integrity, alignment and professionalism and that we will stick to this standard come what may.
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