20 Nov 2020
With outsourcing of Executive Coaching and Leadership Development projects becoming more popular, the risks associated with selecting and appointing the highest-quality external Executive Coach or Leadership Development partner can be a big challenge.
Not only can the process be time-consuming, complex and even a little disheartening, it can, if not done effectively - be very expensive financially.
The purpose of this blog post is to provide you, the business leader or buyer with a practical toolbox of questions to ask what will minimise the possibility of you regretting your decision of external Executive Coach, and maximise the possibility of you and your organisation realising significant value, before making your decision, during your training or development project and after the external partner has left your organisation forever.
Some Questions To Ask Yourself Before Exploring the Market
Before you invest your time and energy on identifying potential potential Executive Coaching partners, take a few moments to ask yourself the following questions. The questions should help you to develop clarity on your intention, manage risks, identify specific goals and benefits. In addition, you will also be able to develop a clearer brief to issue as part of your selection process.
What is the rationale for outsourcing?
Outsourcing Leadership Development activities may be viewed as a way for your organisation to save time or money, to obtain better quality services or specialist expertise. Ensure that you are clear about why your organisation is looking to appoint an external development partner. Only by being clear about why you are engaging an external Executive Coach of Leadership Development Coach can you focus clearly on the type of results you want or need to achieve in collaboration with them.
What is the level of risk involved in outsourcing Leadership Development?
The consequence of a poorly chosen PC repair service provider (if you catch the damage early enough) might cost only a couple of PC’s and several annoyed internal users. But outsourcing your entire customer support to the wrong provider could cost you a great deal in lost sales. The same principle applies to leadership development and executive coaching initiatives.
Once you have established a clear rationale for outsourcing and have a clear understanding of the level of risk, you can begin to determine the detailed specification. You can begin to describe in detail:
- What you will need from a potential Executive Coaching partner? (expertise, competence, experience, quality standards)
- What you want the selected partner organisation to provide? (resources, programmes, client testimonials)
- Your budget (You maximum financial investment, for the whole project or a pilot project to test the water)
- Transfer of expertise and skills? (developing in house capability v dependency on the external partner)
- Shared accountability agreement? (the contribution you expect them to make to your project success, as well as your own contribution too)
Before you being the selection process you need to be clear on:
1.The added value you expect your leadership development partner to contribute to your project
2.Specific goals to be achieved for your project and how success will be accurately measured
3.How you want your relationship with your executive coach to take shape
4.The additional value your organisation can reasonably expect to benefit from due to your coaching programme
Considering these factors in advance, you can then begin to select a provider with a level of clarity that will underpin your selection process.
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