The NSW Section of the APS Coaching Psychology Interest Group recently ran a pilot program to assess the efficacy of providing pro bono executive coaching to a community not-for-profit organisation, as described National Committee members Michelle de Vries Robbé MAPS and Aaron McEwan Assoc MAPS.
The global economic downturn has created a substantial increase in demand for community services provided by not‑for‑profit (NFP) organisations in Australia. At the same time, many NFPs face ongoing budget constraints from lower investment returns and less funding from philanthropic sources, major donors and community fundraising. Few NFPs are in a position to fund programs aimed at helping their employees cope with and meet the increased demands of the sector or to develop leadership capability. The NFP sector in Australia typically attracts people who are highly motivated to work to the mission of the organisation (Langford & Parkes, 2014), but organisations often do not have the resources to attract the calibre of leadership more readily available to private and government organisations.
Inspiration for the project
Coaching psychology has been shown to positively impact on wellbeing (Green et al., 2006), workplace stress and anxiety (Gyllensten & Palmer, 2005) and leadership capability (Spence & Grant, 2007) and may also have a ‘ripple effect’ beyond the individuals coached (O’Connor & Cavanagh, 2013). At the 2012 International Congress for Coaching Psychology in Sydney, keynote speakers Dr Pat Williams and Lew Stern spoke of the far reaching contribution that pro bono leadership coaching could make to NFPs. Inspired by the opportunity to support their communities and make a difference beyond their commercial clients, members of the APS Coaching Psychology Interest Group (CPIG) designed a pro bono leadership coaching program for NFPs and sought expressions of interest from coaching psychologists to get involved in a pilot program.
The coaching project
The pilot pro bono coaching program was designed for 26 managers and senior managers of a medium sized NFP organisation offering relationship support services in the community. The organisation was undergoing significant changes at the time to sharpen accountability for business outcomes and service delivery, and had identified leadership development as a priority in its strategic plan.
An enthusiastic response to a call for expressions of interest of CPIG members saw 26 high quality coaches selected for the project. The program commenced with separate briefing sessions for coaches and managers. The aims for the program were to help the organisation achieve its business goals, to develop leadership capability, and to help managers to achieve workplans and improve performance.
The managers were coached in four sessions over a five‑month period. In the first session managers chose one to three goals that would have greatest impact on their leadership effectiveness over that time. Prior to the first session, managers completed individual Human Capital Scorecard (Franklin, 2012) surveys to assess areas of wellbeing and self-efficacy, and identify strengths to be leveraged or areas to be developed. Managers could also choose up to three of the organisation’s management framework competencies to develop during coaching. The main areas chosen were: leadership capability, confidence and executive presence; achieving workplans and improving business performance; and wellbeing of self and staff.
Project outcomes
Two main measures were used in the first and last session to assess the efficacy of the coaching programs. Without exception, all managers reported an improvement in attaining their coaching goals.
In addition to the quantitative measures showing a significant positive impact from the coaching program, feedback from the participating managers and the organisation’s executives overwhelmingly conveyed the strong impact of the coaching program. Comments on feedback forms expressed enormous gratitude to the coaches for volunteering their time and making a difference to the individual managers and the morale of the organisation.
Conclusions
This pilot program has been inspiring in its outcomes. The coaches providing pro bono services enjoyed the process and giving back to the community. Managers reported improved capability, confidence and wellbeing. The organisation’s executives reported improved staff morale and enhanced leadership capability in their management team. The data collected shows significant positive results.
These factors all combine to suggest that pro bono coaching NFP programs not only deliver value to the managers being coached, but also have ripple effect benefits to staff and the organisation as a whole. This provides coaching psychologists with ample opportunity to give back to the community in a meaningful way at a time when NFP resources are stretched to the limit. We can only imagine the benefits being delivered to the people in challenging circumstances who benefit from improved leadership in the NFP sector. This is what pro bono work is all about.
The first author can be contacted at [email protected]
References
- Franklin, J. A. (2003). The Human Capital Scorecard. Sydney: Growth Metrics.
- Green, S., Oades, L. G., Grant, A. M. (2006). Cognitive-behavioral, solution-focused life coaching: Enhancing goal striving, well-being, and hope. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(3), 142-149.
- Gyllensten, K., & Palmer, S. (2005). Can coaching reduce workplace stress? The Coaching Psychologist, 1, 15-17.
- Parkes, L. P. & Langford, P. H. (2006). Money or the Mission? Comparing drivers of employee engagement in commercial and not-for-profit organisations. Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management Conference, Yeppoon, QLD, December 2006.
- Langford, P., & Parkes, L. (2014). Lessons from “giving people a voice” in NFPs. Presentation to NGO CEO Forum, Sydney, 3 April 2014.
- O’Connor, S. & Cavanagh, M. (2013). The coaching ripple effect: The effects of developmental coaching on wellbeing across organizational networks. Psychology of Well-Being: Theory, Research and Practice, 3(2), 25-28.
- Spence, G. B., & Grant, A. M. (2007). Professional and peer life coaching and the enhancement of goal striving and well-being: An exploratory study. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2(3), 185–194.
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