Coaching

Coaching is a process of supporting a client in order to increase the efficiency of their performance both at work and in their personal life. The main idea is to give the client support in the process of making changes and achieving important goals. The use of proven coaching principles and tools allows the client to obtain quick and lasting results.

Coaching can be ordered by a company or individuals. With the former, the aims of the coaching programme are agreed upon with the HR Department, superior or the person to be coached, and the expected result is most frequently an increase in managerial and leadership competences. With the latter, the goals of the coaching are directly agreed with the client (coachee), and the expected results go well beyond the company’s business, encompassing issues of balance between the professional and personal spheres.

In both situations the assumption behind the coaching is that the client is the source of the resources which allows them to make the most appropriate choices. Coaching broadens the awareness of one`s own aims, current situation and the solutions available, as well as strengthening the sense of responsibility for achieving a particular goal. A coach, by asking suitable questions, posing challenges and giving support, helps the client to take optimum decisions and effective action.

In practice, we conduct Business Coaching for middle level managers and business persons, as well as Executive Coaching for members of Executive staff. We also offer Team Coaching for boards of directors and managerial teams as well as Career Coaching for individuals taking decisions regarding their further career path. GFKM also holds coaching hours, when private persons can take advantage of a professional coach’s support.

An effective coaching process consists of 6-9 sessions taking place every 2-3 weeks, at the venue and at times convenient for the client. A session lasts 1-2 hours and begins by establishing its goal, and ends with setting a course of action, the realization of which is discussed at the start of the next meeting. During a session the coach makes use of a number of techniques and tools enabling the client to see an issue from different perspectives, to thoroughly analyze the problem (multi-dimensionally), to choose the best solutions as well as to dramatically increase the level of motivation to act.

A coaching program may involve individual training sessions in connection with the developed skills.

This particular session is 3-4 hours long and begins with a presentation of principles, tools and good practices regarding the skills in question. After the session the client plans how to make use of the newly acquired knowledge. The client also has the opportunity to practise the new competences with their coach during exercises and simulations preparing them for upcoming challenges.

A very effective method is to combine coaching and work shadowing. The coach accompanies the coachee in typical professional situations – attends team meetings, participates in conversations with workers, attends business meetings, after which he/she discusses the client’s strong points and possible improvements. The results of coaching are then truly tangible in the key elements of a manager’s work.

Clients undertake coaching because they want positive changes to occur in their work and life. They drive at increased effectiveness at work and greater satisfaction in life. A coach helps the client to achieve aims important for them without saying what should be done and without actually carrying out actions for the client. The coach takes the responsibility for the coaching process while the client is responsible for the effects of their own decisions and actions.

The GFKM team are professional coaches, experts in the field of business efficiency, managerial effectiveness and personal development. Their extensive coaching experience enables them to suit the development process to the individual needs of the client and their organization. They ensure the greatest efficiency of coaching over an optimum time span.

GFKM coaches work according to precise professional and ethical rules, determined by certifying organizations, from which they have obtained qualifications to work as coaches. The most import ant rules are as follows.

Mentoring is a process of professional and personal development as well as increasing work efficiency in collaboration with a mentor – an experienced manager or specialist. Sharing in the knowledge of the mentor, solving problems together, analysing decisions taken and planned actions, allows the client to quickly and effectively develop competences of key importance for his/her career. Working together with a mentor enriches the client’s pool of practical knowledge and skills, develops his/her decision making skill and independence, poses challenges and strengthens his/her motivation. Thanks to the visible effects and successes achieved, the client has the chance to take an accelerated professional career path and benefit from an expert level of qualified managerial experience.

Depending on the needs, mentoring has the form of a regular process conducted according to a fixed (agreed upon) programme – this has the character of a developmental programme based upon the actual professional challenges of the client. It can also take the form of meetings dedicated to solving concrete business problems – this has the character of consulting with elements of training. In both situations it combines prompt improvement of professional efficiency with long-term competences development. The result of mentoring is an acceleration of the client`s career path as well as a considerable increase in the effectiveness of the business area of which the client has charge.

The purpose of expert mentoring is to provide practical knowledge and skills in a given area e.g. process management, project management, finance, marketing or IT systems. Expert monitoring is designed for people whose new role in the organization requires them to function efficiently in their given area or at least to develop a deeper understanding.

Clients taking advantage of mentoring need prompt and distinct results in the realization of given tasks, fulfilling their own aspirations and the expectations of the company, including a sense of conscious management of their own careers. They expect a mentor who is an expert and experienced advisor as well as a partner in the shaping of their developmental path.

Our mentors are experienced managers and consultants of GFKM. They have rich managerial experience, unique specialist knowledge, a wide range of competences frequently supported by diplomas from top business schools. Many of the mentors come from the prestigious group of the Executive MBA program which has been run by GFKM for more than 28 years. All mentors possess unique managerial and expert qualifications, as well as high relationship-building and advisory skills, which allow students to take full advantage of the mentoring experience.