Scaling New Heights with Team Coaching
The leadership and business problem
A newly formed Senior Management Team in a medical services organisation was faced with a high turn-over rate of staff of 38.8% and it was difficult to recruit new staff and retain them. One team member said they were “treading water at the moment”.
Context
The managing director of the UK operations of a European medical services organisation was forming a Senior Management Team. The director engaged the services of a pair of team coaches to support and accompany the team in it’s development in changing the culture of the organisation to be more cohesive and collaborative.
The director had 5 direct reports and several indirect reports from HR and finance who reported into the European Executive Leadership Team, thus creating a matrix structure.
Many of the medical clinics saw themselves as independent units (silos) rather than part of the overall UK or international operation. There were unclear lines of responsibility between the team and the European board, and the employees were being overworked and stressed.
The solution
A pair of team coaches co-designed with the client a coaching process that included preparation sessions with the team leader, discovery interviews, four half-day team coaching sessions (hybrid and in person) and debrief meetings over a 4-6 month time period.
The coaches used deep active listening, dialogue and a systemic team coaching approach, that raised the leadership team’s awareness so they would take actions and experiment between coaching sessions. These actions were reviewed, so that the team moved towards collectively achieving its purpose, improving interpersonal relationships, external and internal systems/processes, team learning and leadership.
The results
Creation of a well respected, visible senior leadership team, for the first time in 3 years. Positive feedback from the clinics – qualitative and quantitative
Development of two previously less senior individuals promoted from within the business. One of the less experienced leaders in particular grew in capability and confidence, she said, “I never felt part of a team before this moment”. The coaching made her feel she had a right to be at the leadership table.
Reduction in staff turnover from 38.8% to 17.4%. There were no additional HR strategies during this time (no increased pay, benefits, L&D etc.), only the Senior Team coming together and taking responsibility for the UK – and implementing staff roadshows, Inductions, newsletters, monthly board and regular team meetings
Staff recruitment – the team working together hired some exceptional talent, many of whom stated their reason for joining was one or many of the leaders they met as part of the process.
The coaching brought the team together and created trust. Team members said, “we’ve got each other’s backs” and “we can talk about anything”. The team achieved something unexpected, it was a team that felt solid, safe, and secure in an unstable business which was in almost constant flux. The team felt completely unpolitical in a company which is riddled with politics. The team felt both ‘hermetically sealed’ to each other but at the same time very able and capable of interacting with the wider business.
The coaching meetings were used to “develop a team culture and spend time with each other to set up success as a team.”
References
Book: Coaching the team at work, 2nd edition by David Clutterbuck
Video: Complex Adaptive Systemic PERILL (CASP) model https://www.wbecs.com/team-coaching-perill/