Developing strong coaching skills empowers leaders and HR professionals to foster high-performing, resilient teams by enhancing interpersonal effectiveness, psychological safety, and overall engagement.
Research shows that leaders who adopt a coaching approach create environments where employees feel supported, valued, and motivated, which improves retention and reduces stress. Coaching strengthens self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and communication, fostering trust, collaboration, and team cohesion. Ref: , and Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Vol.89, pp.249-277 02/05/2016
This programme equips leaders and HR professionals with structured coaching competencies that enhance interpersonal effectiveness, strengthen psychological safety and support sustainable performance. By developing active listening, powerful questioning, self-awareness and practical application of the tGROW model, participants learn how to integrate coaching into everyday leadership practice.
Aims
This programme aims to equip leaders and HR professionals with skills to manage people using a coaching style and best practise thinking and techniques.
Specifically, the programme will enable participants to:
- Develop core coaching competencies to support employee development, wellbeing, and sustainable employment
- Enhance interpersonal effectiveness
- Build a coaching culture that enhances employee engagement and performance
- Apply coaching approaches to foster inclusive, psychologically safe workplace environments where diverse talent can flourish
- Use coaching conversations to drive behavioural change aligned with organisational values
- Create conditions where employees are ‘net better off’ through coaching that supports their growth and development
Programme Content
The programme is delivered over three interactive half-day sessions (9am-1pm) and covers the following core content areas:
- Foundations of Coaching: Understanding what coaching is and is not; distinguishing coaching from mentoring, consulting, leading, and managing; when and how to use a coaching approach
- Core Coaching Skills: Active listening techniques; powerful questioning frameworks; building trust and psychological safety; creating awareness through reflection
- The tGROW Model: Deep dive into Goal, Reality, Options, and Will framework; practical application through role-play and real workplace scenarios
- Effective Communication: Communication styles and their impact; providing constructive feedback through a coaching lens
- Self-Awareness and Transactional Analysis: Understanding ego states (Parent, Adult, Child); recognising communication patterns; developing emotional intelligence as a coach-leader.
By the end of this programme, participants will be able to:
- Clearly articulate the definition and purpose of coaching, and distinguish it from other leadership approaches (mentoring, managing, consulting, directing)
- Demonstrate active listening skills that create space for employee reflection, insight, and self-directed development
- Construct and ask powerful questions that promote critical thinking, awareness, and sustainable behavioural change
- Apply the tGROW coaching model effectively in performance conversations, development discussions, and check-ins
- Adapt communication styles using Transactional Analysis principles to build stronger, more effective relationships
- Use coaching approaches to support employee wellbeing and performance
- Integrate coaching skills into daily leadership practice to build a sustainable coaching culture aligned with organisational values.
Session 1: Coaching Foundations & Core Skills
Session 2: Communication, Self-Awareness & Inclusive Coaching
Session 3: Integrate the learning
Between-Session Practice: Participants engage in peer-to-peer coaching practice between sessions, using their learning logs for reflection. This reinforces learning and builds confidence before returning for the next session.
Accreditation
This programme is delivered by an ICF (International Coaching Federation) ACC (Associate Certified Coach) accredited coach. While the programme itself does not lead to formal coaching accreditation, participants will:
- Receive a Certificate of Completion from Awaken Coaching
- Gain 12 hours of professional development
- Develop competencies aligned with ICF Core Coaching Competencies framework
- Receive a comprehensive participant workbook and coaching tools for ongoing practice.
This programme is ideal for
- Senior leaders and executives who want to develop a coaching leadership style and build coaching cultures in their organisations
- Line managers and team leaders responsible for performance management, employee development, and team wellbeing
- HR professionals who support leaders in building people capabilities and want to model coaching approaches in their advisory role
- Learning & Development practitioners who want to integrate coaching skills into their facilitation and employee development programmes
- Anyone with people management responsibilities who wants to enhance their effectiveness through coaching skills
3 x Half day sessions:
Dates: 28th April, 12th May & 26th May