In its Selhurst depot, for example, the number of miles between breakdowns for serviced carriages has doubled from an average of 8,000 to 16,000, attributed largely to the coaching programme. Southern’s managers can also point to record levels of customer satisfaction, reaching 84 per cent this year. Staff turnover, meanwhile, has fallen from 14.5 per cent annually in 2003 to 8.8 per cent.
Another success came in October when, along with external coaching specialist Buonacorsi Consulting, the business won a coveted National Training Award for its approach. The core of the programme has involved taking a select group of line managers and teaching them coaching skills. It has been devised by a team comprising individuals from Southern’s learning and development department and Buonacorsi, and represents one of the biggest initiatives ever in teaching coaching skills to line managers.
On the line
As team members began the programme, they would hear the dreaded phrase “pink and fluffy” uttered by sceptical engineers and operations managers. That is heard less often now. “One manager said that at first he thought it was pink and fluffy, but he added: ‘Now I know the coaching style is much harder than simply telling people what to do and you get better results,’” reports Gill How, director of Buonacorsi.
The approach forms part of a culture change away from command and control towards team autonomy. The change has been overseen by Southern’s managing director, Chris Burchell, who was sponsor to and a participant in the first programme of accredited coaching in autumn 2005.
Both How and Zoey Court, leadership and behavioural development manager at Southern, point to the importance of Burchell’s commitment. “Having a top-level sponsor is crucial,” Court says. “Chris went through the programme and it was very much a learning experience for him as well. That gives it kudos and gravitas.”
The timetable
The programme has involved selecting line managers, 18 in the first year, 20 in the second to study for a level 5 diploma in management and mentoring, a qualification accredited by the Institute for Leadership and Management.By no means are all the individuals senior: participants come from all levels and divisions, including central support functions. The course consists of a session with a coach informed by the results of 360-degree appraisal. The manager then carries out three coaching sessions with managers from other functions, before his or her own next coaching session. These individual sessions are held bi-monthly. There are also four group learning days throughout the year. All participants in the first programme achieved the diploma.
The reason for coaching a person from another department is that the agenda stays strictly on personal leadership, and there is less risk of drifting into advice-giving, for example, “When I did your job I did it like this.” Buonacorsi has also equipped Southern’s leadership and training team to take over the running of the course. As such, the external budget has come down from £100,000 in the first year to £56,000 for the second programme, which ran in 2006-07, to £26,000 for programme three.
The programme was built on an earlier leadership development initiative. This followed 360-degree appraisals of managers in 2003-04, which revealed some worrying findings on how leadership styles were perceived. It “resulted in an ‘ouch’ response for some managers”, says Court. “We needed a mechanism to deal with that feedback. The organisation started to see benefits from one-to-one coaching sessions, and the programme evolved from that,” she adds. There has been a strong emphasis on learning as the programme developed, and on tailoring the intervention accordingly. “Each step taught us something to take into account in the future,” How says.
Busy service
Coaching will not work wonders automatically, of course managers have to be receptive to the idea. You need “permission to coach”, How points out, and one of the distinguishing features of the programme has been the emphasis on volunteering. “Matt [Watson], the head of HR, was not so in favour to begin with. This was because of negative experiences with previous employers, where it was career-limiting if you didn’t do what you were told: for example, being told that you have to be mentored. At Southern it’s a volunteer process.”
This leaves two questions: what happens if a manager does refuse, and how do you handle the opposite problem, over-subscription for courses and having to turn people down?
On the first question, the team tests on the results of the 360-degree appraisal, not participation per se. “If you get feedback that you need to improve interpersonal skills, it probably would stop you going far up unless you tackle it, but you can be in charge of how you do it,” says How. The second question, and the bigger problem, has been excessive demand. “We do select quite carefully,” Court says. “Coaching requires a high level of skill: you need quite a lot of in-depth knowledge, awareness, self-awareness and emotional intelligence.”
Communication of the selection has to be carefully managed, she adds. “If only 20 managers per year become qualified coaches, you’re not going to achieve culture change. How do we now equip all managers to deliver in that style? So we have a new appraisal process, launched two or three years ago, with coaching at its heart. We offer everyone the opportunity to be coached, if not to be coaches.”
Coach class
Some of those who are initially sceptical of the emphasis on soft skills are shocked to discover hat it’s actually about strengthening accountability. When confronted with someone who tends to blame the culture or the environment for an inability to improve performance, How will ask questions such as: “What can you do about it?” “And they realise that you mean it and that you’re waiting for an answer,” she says. “You use a neutral tone of voice. That’s when it ceases to be pink and fluffy, it’s about turning it into some sort of action.”
Continual reinforcement is a feature of the programme, as is embedding the approach throughout the management population. How says teaching coaching is a particularly effective way of ensuring that change is lasting, and does not depend on an external contribution. This is seen in the example of Southern’s Selhurst depot, which has achieved a 100 per cent service record improvement in train maintenance. Depot manager Jim Pinder says: “The improvement isn’t solely down to coaching modifications and design improvements have helped too, but coaching has played a big part.” When a rail franchise comes up for renewal, the operating company’s coaching programme is not generally a factor in the decision. Following the example at Southern, perhaps it should. .
Philip Whiteley is an author and journalist, specialising in people management.
For more information on the National Training Awards, visit www.nationaltrainingawards.com
Learning points
- A top-level sponsor is crucial
- Make coaching optional
- Link coach selection to appraisal
- Build in continual reinforcement
- Teaching coaching ensures sustainable change and does not depend on external contribution
Volume 3, Issue 1