A professionally trained coach can help employees to tackle poor mental health issues confidentially. It is possible that employees are not responsive to therapy, or may not be showing the best results in programs that are designed to help employees with issues. A life coach can help employees in multiple ways – this could be through assistance when there is organisational change, or it can be as an effective support mechanism. While personal experience in situations can offer a coach the ability to understand similar situations, the best option is always a trained and certified coach.
The need for life coaching courses
UK is home to some of the world’s most famous corporate with employees working in high pressure situations that can leave them grappling with mental health issues. Professionally trained coaches tackle such issues among employees by talking to the depressed, discussing the approach, and explain the hidden values of each individual. By helping employees identify their strengths and attitude, and helping the troubled to set goals, professional coaches help employees to overcome issues. Identification of barriers and motivation are important for success in professional life.
High stress situations create difficult situations at the workplace
Studies conducted in the past have explored the impact of coaching employees working in high stress situations. Coaching that is cognitive-behavioural and focused on solutions have helped achieve specific goals. These included building resilience in employees with leadership roles, in addition to developing flexible qualities among leaders while dealing with organisational change. Employees across various hierarchies need training on the readiness to accept change in environment that comes with organisational change.
Qualities of a trained coach
With professional training and accreditation to ICF UK, life coaches acquire multiple qualities. A trained coach will get to develop good communication skills in addition to possessing the patience to listen to employees and observe body language. Trained coaches possess the ability to ask the right questions at the right time to elicit answers that will help in assisting the employees cope with situations.
Advantages of formal training from reputed centres
One of the advantages of formal training from reputed centres is the ability to have access to exposure on real life situations faced by other participants. This will help build resources and knowledge about possible situations of employees and the right response to handle such situations. Participants in modules that train life coaches will also receive access to other carefully curated learning material, in addition to participating in workshops/sessions conducted by experts. These benefits of professional training help life coaches perform better in different situations, unlike coaches who do not enroll for training.
Multifaceted abilities of a coach to help employees
Life coaching can also be a one-off intervention in cases that can actually be just in time. Depressed employees are not the best assets for organisations and trained life coaches can help employees receive assistance in the right time. This could also be time off from work which will give employees the space to reflect on the situations themselves. An individual who gets to introspect and understand difficulties will be better placed to work on strategies that will tackle issues. It is necessary for employees to take assistance from professional life coaches to work on issues restore normalcy to life at the workplace.
Professional training helps deal with stigma
There stigma associated with mental health issues in the workplace. An untrained life coach will not be in a position to handle the situation in a manner that will help employees or the organisation. Employees in high profile roles will in fact find it difficult to come forward and share their problems till it becomes obvious to others. A professionally trained coach possesses the ability to make employees comfortable and deal with issues in a manner that is both discreet and effective. It is time to recognise the need for greater awareness among employees to handle change and crisis. While some may have the ability to process emotions in a manner that is effective, others may not have the ability to do so. A professionally trained coach possesses the ability to help organisations deal with challenges.
There is a need for organisations to ensure that internal and external coaches are adequately equipped to handle all situations. This could be the need for handling organisational change, this could be the need for tackling under-performance, or emotional issues that will impact performance. Organisations in the UK should ideally look at coaches who are accredited to ICF UK, who stick to a Code of Ethics and who are trained to effectively use tools of psychology. A life coach needs to have exposure to tools and techniques that will help to understand and effectively offer solutions. This is possible only with supervision and continuous professional development in areas of specialisation including neuroscience.