Why the License Coaching Model Doesn’t Work (and What You Need Instead)

Just because something is how it’s always been done that doesn’t mean there isn’t a better way to do it. Take the traditional license coaching model. It’s what many businesses use, but is it really the best way to train your employees? Are you sure you’re getting the ROI you want?

There may just be a better way.

But first, let’s explore the traditional coaching model and why it isn’t all that…

Traditional nominated coaching

The traditional nominated coaching model requires employers to select employees for coaching. This means that employees may feel obligated to attend, rather than actually wanting to be coached. This lack of self-nomination can lead to mediocre participation and follow-through since they’re not actively committed to what they’re doing. They’re doing it because they were told to, not because they want to. As a result, you’re less likely to get a good ROI.

There’s also the risk that high-potential employees who are ready for coaching might get overlooked for more training. For instance, if they’re quiet but capable they might slip through the cracks. While 30-50% of people are introverts, they’re underrepresented in leadership according to Myers-Briggs, with just 39% of senior leaders being introverts. In the UK that number is even lower, at 28%.

But, as Susan Cain explains in her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, introverts are just as capable and have their own strengths they can bring to a business. 

And that diversity of skill and perspective could make a huge difference to your bottom line.

Nominated coaching models also don’t address individual, real-time needs. So instead you get generic outcomes. Even though your employees and your business have unique needs. (So why shouldn’t your coaching be unique? More on that in a minute.)

The traditional license-based coaching model also requires coaching to be conducted within short time constraints. So someone constantly has to chase participants to ensure high engagement and adoption rates, and there’s little to no flexibility around individual projects or priorities. 

An already stressed-out employee may become further stressed if they’re nominated for a coaching programme at the wrong time because it’s another plate to spin, rather than providing them with the training and support they need at the right time.

All this extra admin and disengagement can lead to money wasted, driving up your cost per session. And so the ROI isn’t as good as it could be. But there’s an alternative…

The Sanctus Coaching model

The Sanctus Coaching model was the first of its kind in the workplace. We allow your employees to take advantage of on-demand coaching, meaning they can come for an hour to solve a problem or have regular sessions to grow their skills and progress up the career ladder.

Alongside our on-demand coaching, we have nominated one-to-one coaching and group coaching. But what really differentiates our coaching is that you only pay for the sessions you use. So you save money and time.

It’s up to you who you offer coaching to. You can offer it to everyone or a select cohort. Either way, you only consume sessions as the coachees use them.

For instance, if you nominated someone for a 6-session programme, but they only use 2 of those sessions, you could reallocate the remaining 4 sessions back to the pool or re-assign them to someone else. No money wasted, no need to chase people (unless you want to) and a higher ROI.

The employees you choose to be involved get flexible access to coaching. They can book their sessions around things like work projects or leave so it doesn’t add to their stress levels, it works with them to reduce their stress instead. So then you get more out of them because of the support only a coach can offer, and the fact their training works with them, not against them.

If there’s strong usage/adoption, you can seamlessly transition chosen employees to a specific coaching programme, such as leadership development.

How do you know if there’s strong usage?

With Sanctus Coaching, you get access to quantitative and qualitative data including:

• Number of sessions, utilisations, and engagement (how many people use the programme and how often)
• Coach/Programme quality scores
• Programme advocacy
• NPS
• Aggregated assessment data pre- and post-programme reports
• Participant and Coach bench feedback

You could take the data even further if you wanted to, by looking at things like:

• Test vs norm groups: e.g., supporting 50 coachees through one-to-one coaching and comparing them to a similar population as a test group over 6 months
• Insights and tracking of engagement data: sharing employee engagement data pre- and post-programmes measuring attrition, engagement scores, promotion rates, company recommendations to friends and family
• Links to business outcomes: revenue tracking, cost of sale, return on sale, client satisfaction surveys, etc

The data helps you prove your business case, showing you just how valuable providing one-to-one bespoke coaching to your employees really is.

Especially when you add on top of that that because the employee chose to have coaching – and it works with their schedule not against it – there’s less admin. You don’t need to chase someone to be engaged. So you’ll experience stronger results as they’ll get more from their sessions.

You can adapt coaching around business cycle priorities, strategically and effectively directing resources where they matter (and are valued) the most.

About Sanctus Coaches

Not only do we have a unique coaching model, but we also have a rigorous vetting process before coaches join our team:

• 3-step recruitment process
• 500 hours minimum of one-to-one coaching
• Consistent, high-quality feedback from clients with NPS >90
• ICF-accredited risk and safety training
• Mandatory supervision

Our coaches also have extensive leadership coaching experience and take a relational and holistic approach. They understand that everyone’s situations and challenges are unique, so they adapt their training approach to each employee’s needs.

Our coaching model is bespoke and scalable, which means it can meet your business where it’s at and grow with you, whatever your needs.

Conclusion 

Coaching shouldn’t have to be a one-size-fits-all. Working with us, it doesn’t have to be.

Every employee, every business, has unique needs. To get the most out of your employees – and get a better ROI on your investment – you need to find the right ways to support their learning and development.

Our bespoke, scalable coaching model means we can work with you to deliver the type of training your business and employees need. So you get greater results and a higher ROI.

Want to find out more? Book your free consultation today.