Business Coaching - Be Efficient

All businesses should aim to be an efficient and streamlined operation. If a business aims to expand and grow, then efficiency is a key factor.

An inefficient business is severely hampered in its growth ambitions as not only does it struggle to reach the heights of its full potential, but negative consequences such as costly wastage and slower production methods act as a dead weight around the company's neck and stifle its ability to flourish.

A business will find it difficult enough to vie with its competitors in order to win the custom of consumers without causing problems for itself through a lack of efficiency or competent managers and employees.

These are just some of the factors that can affect efficiency, and are crucial questions which a manager needs to ask themselves and answer truthfully:

• Do you have the right people?
• Do they know what is expected of them?
• Do you have the right management team for growth?
• Does your workforce have the right skills to achieve growth?
• Is your workforce motivated?
• Do they care about the company and want it to succeed?

Employee Development is Essential for an Efficient and Successful Company

People development is key for driving greater efficiency. A well-trained, motivated and collaborative workforce communicates well, pushes forward ideas, looks for innovation and will go the extra mile. They strive for reward, recognition and a sense of what they are doing has a direct impact in the success of your business.

It is for this reason that business coaching has become such a powerful and sought-after method of development, either on its own or in addition to other training and development courses. The knowledge acquired in these training courses can then be discussed and utilised in the business coaching session when it comes to creating the plan of action for addressing current metaphorical barriers which are preventing progress and operational efficiency.

Executive Coaching for Company Efficiency and Effectiveness

When it comes to coaching for executives, a recurring theme and major reason for them desiring executive coaching in the first place is because they feel that as they are at the top of the corporate hierarchy, they need to be seen as knowing everything and being able to make the correct decision every time. There is little in the way of support from fellow directors, and there is no line manager to take problems to. This can result in an overwhelming burden of responsibility, which can not only put great strain upon their overall health and well-being, but also negatively impacts their decision making and ability to foresee problems.

An experienced business coach will have seen similar problems before, and will be able to provide some much-needed guidance and support to the senior manager or company executive. By doing so, issues that are currently, or would in the near future, hamper the efficiency or overall productivity (and hence, success) of the business can be resolved, overcome or prevented from coming about in the first place.

Increasing Efficiency Provides Many Benefits

Of course, increasing the efficiency of production and working methods will have beneficial consequences for the finances of an organisation. By reducing waste and increasing the efficiency of production and other aspects of the company's operations, a business may both reduce costs and increase revenue.

However, it is not just the business's finances which will see a benefit from higher efficiency levels. A more streamlined operation creates less frustration for everyone - both managers and employees alike - which can increase the harmony and atmosphere in the workplace. This in turn can improve morale and motivation, which has the effect of further increasing productivity and output. Fewer employees will become disgruntled and want to seek employment elsewhere, and so negates the need for expensive and time-consuming recruitment processes.

Happy employees who can envision themselves staying with the company for the foreseeable future will be much more willing to assist the company in becoming successful and achieving its goals, as those who have become disgruntled and want to leave are unlikely to give two hoots about how well the company does in the coming months and years! The employees who want the company to succeed will not only put in more effort to assist with this objective, but will contribute ideas and highlight areas for improvement. The ideas generated by the workforce, who are actually the ones on the shop floor day-in, day-out are often the most effective and indispensable.

An efficient production process which creates less waste also benefits the environment. As well as being good for all the living plants and creatures in the surrounding habitat, being viewed by the public as a company that is conscientious about the environment can have the added bonus of a boost to its brand image amongst potential customers. This can increase sales and, ultimately, profits.

Can Business Coaching Improve Poor Attendance?

Poor attendance is a major headache for business owners everywhere. Not only is a worker who is absent from the workplace not contributing anything to the output, but they are being paid not to be there! Staff absenteeism is therefore something which all managers want to keep to an absolute minimum, and is an area in which business coaching can assist.

The Reason for Poor Attendance

First off, it is important to determine the exact nature of the reason for the absence. If it is a case of genuine sickness then there is not much that can be done, providing of course that it is not the actual place of work which is the cause of the person's ill health.

However, many working days are lost from employees who are not unwell but are so demotivated and unhappy in their jobs that they frequently take odd days off under the pretence of being sick. It is this form of staff absenteeism which can be addressed through business coaching.

As well as preparing for future job roles, a main reason for providing business coaching to an employee is to increase performance levels in a current job position. An issue which has a significant bearing on performance is happiness and motivation felt by the worker towards their job and the company in general. Therefore a consequence of low morale and motivation is an increased desire for a worker to avoid work as much as they can get away with.

Although for the vast majority of people work is a necessary chore which has to be done in order to acquire money to enjoy possessions and activities in their personal life, and that if they had a big pot of money they would not choose to come to work for fun, it should also not be something which people look forward to with dread and trepidation each morning. Such an attitude is not good for a person and will result in high levels of stress, which will often have an affect on their mood and interactions with friends and family members.

Whilst it may be the actual line of work itself which is making the person unhappy, this is often unlikely, as unless they were desperate for any kind of job, they would not have applied for the position in the first place. Most of the time the actual cause is one or more of a potential many other issues. Typical examples include:

• Low rate of pay, especially if others at the company are earning much more for doing similar jobs
• Poor relationship with managers
• Poor relationships with colleagues and other team members
• Inadequate working environment
• Dangerous workplace with a lack of suitable health and safety precautions
• Lack of promotion and advancement opportunities
• A change forced upon the worker against their wishes such as a change in working hours or location

Conclusion

The list is potentially endless, but the good thing is that pretty much every issue can be tackled and dealt with through business coaching and the associated action plans which make up a key component of the coaching sessions. It is for this reason that business coaching and mentoring programmes have become so popular amongst managers and workers in all kinds of industries and job positions.

How Can We Help to Increase Efficiency and Success at Your Business?

At the BCF Group, we can either research and design the right programme specific to your people development requirements; or, give you the skills and know-how to draw the best out of your workforce directly.

Our business coaches have a great deal of experience and acquired knowledge regarding the multitude of issues which can befall a company and the individuals within it. Whether this relates to problems with efficiency, team working, effective communication, a skills deficiency through lack of training, or any other concern, our business coaches are likely to have seen it all before.

To discuss your requirements with one of our coaches, please call us on 0844 800 3295 or contact us online by clicking on the button below. Not only do we provide business coaching, executive coaching and mentoring services, we also deliver bespoke training and open courses in areas such as management training, communication, team building and sales skills. Combining training with coaching can create a highly efficient, positive and valuable workforce which collectively brings about the achievement of the company's goals and objectives for many years to come, thereby providing a significant return on investment.