February 20, 2024
3 Min. Read
Coaching is often leveraged as an executive development tool, typically reserved for employees within the highest ranks of a company. Companies like Sport Clips are flipping this model on its head, empowering employees at all levels to take advantage of learning opportunities that can accelerate their careers. In turn, the business reaps the benefit of highly trained, engaged, and dedicated employees enthusiastic about helping the company succeed.
Beyond the C-Suite: Sparking Growth at All Levels
SportClips—a retail enterprise specializing in haircuts for boys and men—believes that real learning goes beyond checking boxes. The company strives to provide more value than typical mandated training by actively investing in each individual’s growth and development. With those goals in mind, Jonathon Sorber, Manager of Learning Development at Sport Clips, formed a council with corporate leaders and representatives from franchise locations.
They found that employees not only want to be trained—they want to be developed and sharpen specific skills to prepare for advanced roles and become better leaders.
Jonathan and his team set up the Manager Development Program, where promising leaders become “coaches” to other employees. Coaches at Sport Clips are licensed cosmetologists and barbers who progress from coordinators or stylists to regional educators who provide in-person training and support to help each store succeed.
Since launching the Manager Development Program, Sport Clips has found better retention rates with managers who are adequately trained and actively engaged in their professional development. As a result—and benefit to the enterprise—these managers are often tapped for regional and corporate leadership roles.
Why Should Businesses Offer Coaching to All Employees?
Let’s explore three benefits of extending coaching to employees at all levels of an organization.
1. Attract and Retain Top Talent
No matter the size or scale of your business, attracting and retaining the best performers for each job is crucial to success. Organizations everywhere need specialized experts they can trust to get the job done. Everyone needs a helping hand, though; even the most skilled professionals need coaching to maximize their potential for their own benefit and that of the organization. Coaching helps build trust between emerging leaders and senior executives at your company, giving each side a safe space to explore opportunities for growth and development.
2. Nurture In-Demand Skills
Coaching opens the door toward professional development that suits the interests of all parties. Honest communication and open feedback loops provide valuable information about employee skill levels and gaps that mentors can work to address through coaching sessions. Coaching optimizes everyone’s time and productivity toward the goals defined by the organization, and it gives leaders the tools they need to measure the impact of training on more significant business outcomes.
3. Identify and Prepare High Performers for Leadership
Coaching helps remove communication silos between employees of different ranks so everyone feels comfortable sharing what’s best for them and working together toward common goals. By establishing regular checkpoints and working to develop skills and build trust, employees can demonstrate their strengths while mentors determine how to apply those skills to drive the organization forward.
The Role of L&D Technology in Coaching
By embracing coaching as a learning tool and leveraging technology, organizations can create a culture of continuous learning, fostering individual growth and contributing to overall organizational success. To bring coaching to the masses, however, organizations must embrace it as a tool within the larger learning ecosystem and not a separate, performance-related experience.
The benefits of coaching for all are clear, but the mechanics are not. It can be challenging to scale correctly, as it is such a high-touch relationship. Technology can be the critical piece of the puzzle, providing tools to connect people with the right coach, keep them connected, and maximize the impact of coaching interactions. Download our guide to learn more.
