Coaching and Mentoring Case Studies

Reducing Turnover Through Professional Development

Industry: Financial and Professional Services

A prominent financial services client organization takes pride in being “a coached organization.” When turnover rates of top performers became much higher than predicted and much more costly than the business could tolerate, an investigation of the cause was launched. These highly valued individuals felt they received too little professional development support from their matrixed management team.

Critical Issues

360 degree type surveys show two consistent patterns— 1) top performers feel frustrated that their organizations continue to pile on more and more responsibilities but without providing energy-sustaining developmental support and opportunities. “It’s always trial by fire.” 2) middle managers worry that decision-makers are judging them based on secret performance indicators. Secret because they’ve not been told by their managers that certain subjective measures carry as much weight as technical performance in determining readiness for more challenging assignments, promotions, and compensation increases.

Solution

The company established a process by which one hundred middle managers can access the support of an external advisor—an Executive Coach from Novations.

Each individual receives from Novations up to 24 hours of executive coaching support, targeting precise development needs—learning additional influence strategies, recognizing under what circumstances confidence tends to falter, setting and implementing 3-year career goals, making a determination about readiness to go after the coveted partner role.

Results

The coached individuals report that having an external advisor has provided the confidential forum they needed to examine and improve their day to day performance without having those questions become career-limiting elements in the minds of their managers.

• “Why don’t I offer my suggestions more assertively in team meetings?
• “How am I coming across to my up-line?”
• How can I become a stronger leader of people, processes and profits?”

Coaching has helped professionals to take charge of their careers in a more proactive and definitive way, allowing them to see possibilities inside the organization that look more attractive than leaving to join a different company.

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