Coaching for Success
The University recognises the value of coaching in its commitment to developing its learning community. Coaching for Success offers confidential one-to-one coaching sessions with an experienced and trained coach.
Coaching for Success is available to all colleagues.
About coaching
Coaching is an opportunity for you to have some confidential space and time to reflect on your strengths and achievements, and to give some thought to your aspirations for the future.
It can be used for developing your leadership style, working through your ideas, finding ways of supporting others, planning your time, develop confidence or anything else that is relevant at the time.
This time is all about you; what you need now and moving forward.
A coaching session is a confidential, supportive, one-to-one meeting with an experienced and qualified coach. Your coach will use their coaching skills in order to listen to you and ask questions so that you can consider different perspectives and find solutions to your own challenges. They will help you plan your next steps and motivate you to take action.
Coaching usually spans four to six sessions with each session typically being one hour long.
Arranging coaching sessions
Coaching sessions are arranged in one of three ways: self-referral, management referral and Occupational Health referral.
Self-referral
For a self-referral, the coachee will need to email coaching@essex.ac.uk to request coaching. They will then be contacted with details of available coaches and more information about coaching.
Management referral
If you are a manager and intend to refer a direct report for coaching, you should email coaching@essex.ac.uk with your request. Before you do this your direct report will need to agree to be coached, and be aware of the objectives for the coaching sessions.
The role of the manager is very important in the coaching process and the manager should show their support by discussing the progress of the sessions with their direct reports.
The content of the coaching sessions will remain confidential between the coach and coachee and the coach will not report back directly to the manager without the agreement of the coachee.
Occupational Health
Occupational Health referrals can result in a recommendation for coaching. If this is the case, and the member of staff agrees, a member of Occupational Health will email coaching@essex.ac.uk and request coaching.
Starting coaching
When coaching sessions have been agreed Organisation Development will contact the coachee with details of available coaches and more information about coaching.
Once a date for the first session has been agreed, the coachee will be sent a coaching contract and a form to help prepare them for their first session.
