The role of Business Coaches is to guide, encourage and support individual company executives, especially those that have high potential, specialists or experts and make them accountable for their success. Business Coaching is nowadays an important tool of human resource and organizational development and is used to achieve a higher work performance in many areas like management, teamwork, goal setting and communication. Business coaching is especially useful in situations when professional issues affect only one person whose goal it is to be focused and make immediate changes independently. Although the impulse for the necessary changes comes from an external source, the coach, it is up to the coached person to develop. The key is the commitment to personal development and to do the work necessary, only then a successful cooperation with a coach is possible.
Business coaching should not be confused with mentoring. Mentoring usually involves a relationship between a mentor and a partner that is not as experienced. The mentor, who is experienced in business, shares his advice and guidance with that partner. Mentoring is not a form of business coaching, as a business coach does not need business expertise and experience in the field of the person coached – coaching is rather a more structured way of self improvement.
Business coaching is economically justifiable for companies because the goals of the change are solely concerned with the company and focus on its specific situation. Some times only a few sessions can be intense and sufficient enough to trigger the desired change and development. The learning is specifically related to the topic. The coaching periods are tailored to each case, and can be agreed according to the requirements of the client. Goal setting ahead of the sessions ensures that the environment changes are actually noticeable for the client and the coached person. Apart from one-on-one sessions Business Coaching can be provided in other ways, such as group coaching sessions or even organizational work on a large scale. Many successful organizations recognize the positive aspects and the value of business coaching. However in most cases companies only start to think of hiring Business Coaches when they are not performing well.