Get More Value and Better Results from your Career Transition and Executive Coaching Programs
(From The Cambridge Perspective - January, 2010)
As Career Transition and Executive Coaching specialists, we’ve learned that nothing surpasses ‘one-on-one’ coaching for producing results. Personalized coaching provides the positive support needed to develop an effective personal action plan, and follow through to success. As a result, personal coaching maximizes the value of your career transition/outplacement dollars.
Career Transition
The large volume of employees being transitioned over the past few years as a result of massive layoffs has led many in the career transition/outplacement industry to “commoditize” their services. It has now become common practice to deliver career transition programs to groups through classrooms, seminars, webinars and online content.
As Career Transition and Executive Coaching specialists, we’ve learned that nothing surpasses ‘one-on-one’ coaching for producing results. Personalized coaching provides the positive support needed to develop an effective personal action plan, and follow through to success. As a result, personal coaching maximizes the value of your career transition/outplacement dollars.
At Cambridge, our process is structured, but individualized because our coaching is delivered through one-on-one dialogue. We do not deliver the transition consulting through group sessions, webinars or workshops.
As you prepare your Career Transition/Outplacement budget for 2010, Cambridge would like to reinforce that the one-on-one method is critical to maximizing the support to your employee at a comparable cost to ‘commoditized’ services.
Executive Coaching
The processes of leadership development, skills training and succession planning are key to the success of an organization. Most businesses, however, recognize that mentoring these processes internally is very difficult. As a result, many are turning to coaching from an external source as an effective tool to develop high quality talent.
Coaching is a business relationship based on an agreed upon set of goals, and usually, a pre-determined timeframe. The role of a coach is to work objectively with both management and the individual to develop, implement, monitor and deliver on the targeted growth areas of performance. For most organizations, coaching is the best way to ensure control over the direction, cost and success of their leadership development.
The coach’s role is to provide a comfortable, confidential atmosphere for the individual to reflect, question, explore and obtain constructive advice in order to develop the desired leadership traits and skills. An experienced senior executive coach is able to connect personally with the individual, and provide inspiration and guidance as the individual grows, aligning development with the needs of the organization.
The coach becomes a trusted, objective sounding board for the individual - outside of the power structure of the organization - with specific, targeted development goals and a professional stake in reaching them. There is no political involvement, no power balance, and no personal stakes or competition. The focus is on the coached individual, not the coach.
One of the unexpected results of coaching is its effect on the larger organization as peers, co-workers and subordinates reap the benefits of the coached individual’s strengthened leadership capabilities.
For smaller organizations faced with transition, market instability, stretched resources and limited structural support, executive coaching is an excellent approach to developing leadership and enhancing employee performance.
Cambridge Management Planning offers expert leadership coaching across a wide range of industries and functional levels, targeted to your organization’s particular needs.
Terry Wray, Executive Coach
Terry is the consummate coach and an expert on the Career Transition process. With more than 20 years experience as a successful entrepreneur in executive search and career transition, his skills in counseling and managing change have been invaluable to a wide range of individuals. He is a member of the Association of Career Professionals and his appointment as a Fellow of the Institute of Career Certification International (ICCI) reflects his commitment to universally recognized standards of professional practice. Terry’s work has been key to the success of the Cambridge Career Management Practice.
Rod Hewer, Transition Coach
Rod has a wealth of experience in both executive search and corporate Human Resources. He has parlayed his earlier experience as an executive search consultant into a successful 20-year career in Human Resources in the electronics industry, spanning manufacturing, service, outsourcing and consumer electronics. Complementing his Human Resources background, Rod also has unique expertise in outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions, and large scale business transitions, which form the foundation of his interest, expertise and engagement in the career transition area. Rod graduated with an honours B.A. from the University of Guelph, has a diploma in Industrial Relations from Ryerson University and is a Certified Human Resources Professional. He is a Partner with Cambridge Management in the Career Transition practice.
Heartfelt Praise for Cambridge’s Executive Coaching Process
“...Terry helped me find clarity, and with it, my objectives changed. We looked at how to improve the situation in my current role, by focusing on how to interact with management, clients, the media, and the general public. Terry motivated me to be proactive instead of reactive in my interactions with management. In short order, I was in a control of my career without the costly change of leaving the firm for a new job.
Terry has proven to be invaluable for developing direction and motivation, establishing objectives and goals, and determining priorities. I am now excited about my career, enthusiastic about my job, and proud of my achievements. It truly made the difference between being a valued professional within a field or simply an employee.”
