Presented at the 24th Conference of the Slovenian Association for Quality and Excellence on 12 and 13 November 2015, Portorož, Slovenia
Abstract
Within the framework of measures to increase an organisation’s performance, it is reasonable to devote the most attention to the most precious and crucial resource: employees. This is emphasised by both the EFQM model in describing the criteria for work assessment with employees, as well as the ISO 9004:2009 and ISO 9001:2015 standards. With regard to employee management, the ISO 9004 standard recommends that the organisation establish processes that enable employees to identify limitations in their work. In explaining the factors that affect the appropriateness of the work environment, the ISO 9001 standard also underlines the role of social and psychological factors. However, very little consideration is given to these factors, as is suggested by recent research on the use of management tools (Rigby and Bilodeau, 2015). Various contemporary authors (Corthagen and Vasalos, 2008 and 2009; Kaufmann, 2011; Schultz, 2011; Senge, 2008; Scharmer, 2009; Turner, 2011) indicate the need for a change of direction in transforming organisations from the superficial treatment of issues to detailed personal examination, eliminating internal obstacles and enabling the full utilisation of employees’ potential. One possible approach is to help and assist employees via coaching. Despite findings (Jones et al., 2015) demonstrating that coaching always positively affects an organisation’s results, and that, on the level of the individual, the greatest effect is shown in the transfer of acquired knowledge into practice, this is still a rather underutilised form of assistance to employees. In Europe, 90 percent of employees would like to benefit from coaching, while only 38 percent have actually received such guidance and support (BlessingWhite, 2008). The case described in my contribution also shows that, with a carefully planned approach and focused activities within the scope of coaching, it is possible to improve a company’s financial results (in 2014, the turnover plan was exceeded by 30 percent).
Keywords: change management, performance of organisations, coaching, changing beliefs
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