HR Definitions

Corporate coaching refers to the consulting activities that are a component of Organisational Development.

These activities can also be referred to as corporate consulting programs.

In our section on coaching we state that a coach works closely with a person, or group of people, to develop a particular aspect of performance.

There is a growing presence of coaching for a variety of issues in the workplace, especially in Executive development.

We need to differentiate between coaching and mentoring in the context of the workplace.

Coaching refers to close training advice provided by a professional with either formal, or experiential skills in the particular topic area.

At HRworkbench® we refer to a:

• Coach as a subject matter expert who provides close instruction to a person or group of people on a particular aspect of behaviour, skill, or knowledge



• Mentor as a type of coach who has actually experienced the workplace situations that the person seeking mentoring is engaged in, and they become a trusted advisor who counsels and becomes the source of wisdom

The corporate coach usually provides direction for the senior management and executive on moving through a major change process.

Best practice for corporate coaching is difficult to define in all aspects.

The most important aspects of corporate coaching are to:

• Have a clear set of objectives and agreed outcomes for the consulting project
• Plan the milestones and sign these off with the executive in advance
• Progressively measure progress towards the objectives
• Create close dialogue between the coach and the executive
• Get agreement that the objectives were achieved at the project end

Coaching
Consulting
Mentoring
Performance Management