Most organizations with any kind of business sense provide ongoing training for their executives and employees. Sometimes, though, these same organizations, their executives, or their employees dismiss executive coaching as just another type of training. This misses the mark because executive coaching fulfills a vital organizational need just as training does. Understanding the difference between the two is the first step to embracing the value of both and the need for a balanced approach.
Training
The simplest explanation of training is that it is usually skills-based and the curriculum is established in advance. Participants attend training sessions for a specified period of time, cover a specified set of materials, and leave the training with handouts and workbooks containing the information covered.
Training is inherently “top down”, meaning the instructor delivers the information to the participants and then (hopefully) leads discussions and/or discrete skill exercises. There is very little truly interactive content to most training courses, meaning it is not tailored to the specific needs of each individual. The training goals are pre-established and content is designed to meet those goals.
Coaching
The simplest explanation of coaching is that the participant receives highly personalized, ongoing support while progressing through the learning process. The participant has primary responsibility for discovering areas for development and setting personal developmental goals. Learning comes from the inside with coaching; that is, the participant experiences a combination of personal growth and professional growth that interact with each other.
Finding The Right Balance
An organization that relies solely on training or solely on executive coaching for workforce development may be courting problems. Each has its place in the business world. The key is to balance the benefits of each and ensure the right method is used for the right reasons.
For example, training is great for educating employees about policies, work processes, procedures and other specific topics. It is highly structured learning which provides information, but tends not to produce changes in behavior and attitudes. Coaching, on the other hand, is better for helping individual, teams and departments excel in areas such as communication, creativity, and relationship building. It is highly experiential and tends to create lasting changes to behavior and attitudes.
Before automatically turning to either training or coaching, it’s wise to do a careful evaluation of the desired end result and match it up with the method that is most likely to produce that result.
