Access to executive coaching has often been something only a small subset (namely CEOs and other senior management) have the privilege of having. But on the belief that the ability to able to lead people is a vital key to becoming an effective leader, STATS ChipPAC has since found it useful to extend such coaching beyond the traditional sphere of senior management to all its managers in the company.
As part of the company’s Global Leadership Programme, managers would first undergo a four-day “Managing People” workshop. This would be would be followed up three months later with a two-hour personal coaching session with the company’s L&D internal coach, Dr Alvin Oh.
The three months in between the workshop and coaching session will give managers the opportunity to implement their managerial skills, says Oh. During this interim period, executives who have encountered managerial challenges can then have real working scenarios in which to apply the skills they have learned.
According to Oh, the idea was first mooted when the company was discussing whether it should engage an executive coach for the organisation’s CEO. Instead of engaging one the company decided it would be more effective if internal trainers were developed, so that coaching can be passed down from the highest managerial level to middle managers down to the staff. “Otherwise, coaching can only be done at the top level and the rest of the organisation will not have the privilege of being coached,” Oh says.
Oh, who has a professional certification in coaching and post-graduate degrees in education and training, says coaching is an important platform for employees “to sustain the effect of learning and change”.
Since the coaching clinics were launched approximately 11 months ago, a total of 30 managers have undergone coaching. While the workshops have been useful, one common challenge managers face is in attempting to implement good leadership behaviour, even when their bosses do not follow the same rules.
In response to this, Oh reminds trainees that having gone through a formal leadership programme, they would have inculcated certain qualities which put them in a position where they can exemplify leadership traits.
And if their bosses aren’t walking the leadership talk, Oh says, “My advice is this: Leadership is all about influencing not just downwards, but upwards as well.”
