What if organisations offered coaching from day one?

You don’t need to be an expert in analysis to see that companies are finding it incredibly hard to recruit and then retain good people right now. There’s a new dynamic evolving where candidates and employees hold more of the power. 

And so, companies are having to up their game; better wages, more attractive packages and freedom to work more flexibly. That’s great, but some research I saw recently said that what employees really value is career progression. This is exactly what a coach can help with and where I think organisations are missing a great opportunity. 

A coach can give employees someone impartial and independent to help them explore how they can continue to keep growing, and thriving at work. This leads to a happy high performing workforce. 

But in my experience, now as a coach and also when I was an employee, a lot of companies only get a coach in for a regular employee (someone who is not in the C-Suite) when they’re performing badly, or there is some sort of problem. It’s a ‘last chance saloon’ measure to help improve the person’s performance.  

Why wait until that crisis point, when it's likely the person is probably harder to turn back into a happy high performing colleague? What if you offered coaching as one of your benefits from day one? Imagine the impact that could have on your people. 

What do you think? Would the offer of a coach encourage you to join a company?