WM

Coaching

Our coaches have a set of skills that enable them to observe and review your attitude, skills and behaviour with the purpose of supporting you to look at your beliefs and assumptions, what might be holding you back and how you can build on your strengths. Coaches provide an objective perspective and seek to bring out more of what you already know to find new ways of seeing a situation and to expand the range of choices for action. The value of a coach is defined by their ability to guide and support you in identifying areas for development and help you establish your own solutions. Coaches are often able to push clients to transform themselves beyond what they thought possible.

By accessing a coach from this Matching Hub you are looking to:

• constructively review and enhance your approach to work
• challenge your view of how the world works
• practice new behaviours in a safe space
• consider how you need to be in your role as well as what you need to do

Who can apply to register as a coachee?

If you are an employee of one of the WMCMP subscribing organisations you may be eligible to access a coach. Some WMCMP subscribing organisations offer the opportunity to access coaches within your own organisation (internal) as well as providing access to coaches across the subscribing members (external). Eligibility criteria for internal and external coaching may apply.

To check your eligibility visit: www.wmemployers.org.uk/what-we-do/coaching/west-midlands-coaching-and-mentoring-pool/ and click on your organisations logo.

There is no set frequency for meetings; this will depend on the agenda and the contracting that is established by yourself and the coach, however as a guide, sessions normally last between 1-2 hours and for approximately 2-6 sessions. They may be face to face, virtaul (i.e.via teams/zoom) or over the telephone. The coach may come to your place of work, or you might prefer another location for sessions (being away from the office environment can often be beneficial for focused sessions). You can specify your preferences once registered.

It is recommended you commit to a 'face to face' meeting initially with subsequent meetings being face to face or using another medium. This should be agreed as part of the contract negotiation. All of this you will agree with your coach and organisational sponsor when you are setting up the arrangements.

Agreeing to work with a coach means you are likely to need time away during working hours to attend sessions but remember this is time away to focus on topics required for your work, and therefore should be treated as a valuable use of your time that you commit to and have approval to attend.

There is no cost to you as your organisation is subscribing to this shared service, however you may need to agree that you can claim travel expenses if you travel for sessions.

If you want a good relationship you will first need to become a good coachee. This means a willingness to be challenged, be up for trying out new things and committed to your development. If you can answer 'yes' to the following questions you will be able to make the most of a coaching opportunity.

• Do I have a good idea about what I am trying to achieve?
• Do I allow myself to be open and honest?
• Am I willing to change or modify my behaviours?
• Am I committed to put the time in to make this work?

Respect the time and effort offered by your coach: this means turning up to sessions on time, preparing and completing agreed actions for sessions and communicating with the coach to let them know what's working and what isn't throughout the relationship.

You will also be asked to keep your coaching records up to date and respond to evaluation requests throughout the relationship to provide evidence needed to help the WMCMP continually improve and sustain commitment this valuable shared service.

Coaching is not an alternative to the role of line manager; however, your line manager or organisational sponsor (i.e. Project manager, HR, learning and development etc.) can be a great support through the process by:

• Helping to establish the goals and objectives
• Encouraging and supporting the process and respecting the confidential nature of the relationship
• Where appropriate, providing learning and development opportunities, to help your development

It is therefore a benefit to you if your line manager or sponsor can attend part of the first meeting to help clarify their expectations, but also to give an opportunity for your coach to help raise their understanding of how the relationship will work and outline how they can best support you during the process.

Your line manager or sponsor will also be invited to the final session to review your progress. Once registered, take a look at our Essential Guide for Line Managers/Sponsors to get a better idea of how they would be involved (you can also download this document and send it to them to help explain the benefits, cost and time commitment).

Contracting It is expected that every coaching relationship will be underpinned by 'a contract'. This is an agreement between you, the coach and your line manager/sponsor and covers all aspects of the relationship. It is important to set and agree ground rules as part of this contract so that there is no confusion about how the relationship will be established and developed. The relationship should be conducted with courtesy and respect and ensure confidentiality is honoured.

Confidentiality The content of coaching conversations remains confidential to the coach and coachee. Any specific details of coaching entered on this system are not visible to a third party. In using this Matching Hub, coaches and coachees agree to the following limits to confidentiality:

• Where there is a perceived risk of harm to self or others
• Where there is concern of a breach of organisational or financial policy
• Where illegal activity is suspected

Information submitted to the Matching Hub will be used to report and evaluate the levels and range of coaching activity undertaken across the region. Some of these details will be visible via secure access by West Midlands Employers (managing services for the WMCMP) and your organisation administrators. The use of this information is outlined in the WMCMP Privacy Notice and will not breach confidentiality arrangements as outlined above.

Data Protection

Coachees must observe the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations when accessing and using data from the WMCMP.

By accepting these terms and conditions you confirm that you have read, understand and accept the WMCMP Privacy Notice and give consent to how WME store and use your personal information as defined in the WME General Privacy Notice.