Why business coaches are needed

Hone employees’ skills and create their training system in the company.

There is no doubt that managers are an important part of any business. They are responsible for the success or failure of the business they serve. But they are performing several tasks at the same time: they are controlling their subordinates, holding meetings with customers, business partners, and colleagues, and they are working on the administration and planning of business development tasks.

There is much information to manage! That’s why every manager should have a coach, a confidante. He will help the manager to get in the right direction and understand what he should do with his team and business to achieve the desire.

Who are business coaches

Because there is no professional standard on the market for business coaches, there is confusion. For example, in general, all people who are engaged in training can be called this way – specialists in psychological preparation, organizers of “wealth marathons,” and other people who are far from real learning, who do not have pedagogical competencies, and skills of a systematic approach to education.

If we are talking about people who train personnel and company management, then the tasks of a business coach can be formulated as follows:

A business coach for business is an expert in a professional field who trains other professionals using different techniques and methods.

For example, it can be a business coach in the field of negotiations – such a teacher, as a rule, came out of practical business, can tell numerous cases, and share the insights that he learned from his work and the experience of colleagues.

A business coach can be a freelancer – a specialist invited to conduct training, seminars, or business games, or work in the staff of one company and train its employees, developing various programs and constantly improving them.

Although these concepts are close, one should distinguish between business coaches and coaches. So, a business coach is usually called a specialist who works with short-term formats. For example, this person is giving a workshop on a specific topic over the weekend or teaching an intensive two-week course.

A coach is a trainer who usually works with the customer, analyzes his problems, and helps formulate questions and find answers. A business coach is closer to education – he gives information and trains skills. On the other hand, the coach works with a specific request and helps a person achieve what he wants.

A business coach is an educational specialist who combines the skills of two professions. He is a professional teacher who knows how to teach. And a good specialist in the industry, which he tells students about. He knows how to structure his experience and pass it on to others through an educational program.

What does a business coach do, and how can he be useful to a business

Depending on the size and type of activity of the company, teachers can conduct several types of training:

• Product training – the trainer develops and implements an educational program that helps beginners understand the features of what they sell or improve, how customers use the company’s product, and their needs.
• Technical skills training – such business trainers develop educational models, competency cards, and a grading system for a specific profession, and then, on their own or with the help of attractive teachers, conduct classes with specialists.
• Soft skills training. Such a business coach develops the skills of negotiation, communication, leadership, public speaking, and presentations.

Companies sometimes invite external specialists to train personnel – as a rule, they come with specific training that helps develop a certain skill of the trainees. For example, these are specialists in oratory or customer focus. Or he introduces a business coach to the staff and gradually creates his training department as the business develops. Then training can be developed specifically for the tasks of internal customers, taking into account the position of the business in the market, customer needs, and product specifics. The purpose of business training is to transfer practical and specific knowledge and techniques and teach skills that can be applied.

What a business coach should know and be able to do

A business coach’s work involves combining two areas of knowledge and skills. First, you need to understand your subject area. For example, a sales coach must know how to identify customer needs, present different products, understand how to form a sales strategy, and achieve the desired indicators. Secondly, he will have to understand the methods and features of the transfer of knowledge and skills.

Here’s what a modern business coach should be able to do:

• Organize educational events – understand the technologies for forming a methodological base and developing a curriculum.
• Understand knowledge management techniques.
• Know common training formats and features: from short seminars to full-fledged retraining programs.
• Understand how business processes work in education and know how to set them up.
• To be able to form the infrastructure necessary for training.
• Manage the processes in the study group, understand how to teach ultra-small groups and large audiences, activate students, and help them master different types of materials.
• Be able to answer difficult audience questions, manage stress, and connect with people.

A good business coach understands different training formats; for example, gaming and intensive training understand how best to conduct face-to-face or distance learning and create video courses without feedback from the teacher.

High-class trainers are able not only to teach but also to manage other trainers and methodologists and manage the development of curricula. They know how to interact with different departments of the company effectively: marketing, HR, and production, and they understand what information to request for the training to be effective.

Advantages and disadvantages of internal and external business coaches

Suppose a business coach works primarily as a visiting teacher. In that case, chances are that he is a good specialist in his industry – to remain in demand, he must constantly develop, learn, and improve his program.

Demo recordings and reviews check the quality of training from external teachers. For example, you can search for feedback from listeners in social networks and contacts of training customers from your field. Unfortunately, trainer reviews can be customized. Therefore, there is always a risk that expectations from the training will not coincide with reality.

A consistent approach to program development characterizes internal business coaches: they collect information from the manager, update it, and develop and constantly improve the training program. During the probationary period, you can be convinced of the quality of the work of a full-time employee – by collecting the opinions of training participants and analyzing how their productivity has changed after completing the course.

Staff trainers are gradually becoming experts in different industries – they must immerse themselves in business, create different programs, and communicate with company specialists. Unlike external business coaches, they can see the results of their work – for example; it’s nice when your student shows good results at work after a few weeks of practice. It motivates you to develop.

But full-time specialists also have disadvantages: if the work takes much time, they do not have time to develop. After several years of streaming work in the same organization, the trainer’s knowledge may become outdated. There is a risk that the teacher’s gaze will “blur,” and he will repeat the same training many times in a row and gradually burn out.

There are several ways to solve this problem:

• In addition to internal training, the company also practices external training – a full-time teacher can involve other specialists in training.
• The coach gradually becomes a leader and creates a training unit within the company. 
• A business can pay a teacher for training, for example, a profile course for business coaches or advanced training in his subject area.

The work of a business coach requires constant research in the subject area, development in the field of pedagogy, and deep immersion in the problems and tasks of the company.