Schülke & Mayr
The power of one-to-one management coaching
Andy: We're committed to the continual development of our staff but I was fed up with expensive off-the-shelf training that just didn't give us any return. I thought something tailored might be the answer so we spoke to U&I and decided to trial individual coaching with one of our sales managers. Cornelius had been the hospital sales manager for two years, and I wanted to see him more able to drive and develop his team.
Cornelius: Hospital sales is the fastest growing part of the business so we need a real flow of new talent, and I needed to be able to do three things - train and enthuse them, manage them, and better manage my own time, which was coming under more and more pressure.
Andy: Being able to better delegate has transformed that. I've seen him take on responsibilities, like making key decisions that have freed me up too. And he makes better use of his time, like defining what he wants out of a meeting, so that everything is well planned and well followed-up.
Cornelius: Whatever problems we identify, our U&I coach always comes up with what seems like a really simple solution!. For example when we talked about how I was training the new sales staff we realised we should balance theory out with more practical work. It's an approach that I've passed on to other parts of the business, because it made such a difference to my team. In lots of ways, I don't really know where to start explaining the difference it's made to me - the support I've had has been invaluable.
Andy: And the same can be said for the benefits to the whole business.
U&I have given us a long term solution - something that we know can fulfil our needs as we grow. From my point of view, what U&I have given us represents real value for money and we're putting two more sales managers through the same model of coaching that Cornelius had, knowing that what they get will be totally different, because it will be all about them. We're not going to U&I for a 'tickbox' approach - what our people will get is something much deeper than that, like an awareness of themselves that they can use to become better at what they do.
Cornelius: I think it comes from a coach who really, really listens. The help I've had has been practical - techniques I can use straight away - and it's been tied in exactly to my role and this organisation. One important aspect has been the review - working one-to-one and being able to have an honest, open review of what I am doing in practice. It completes a circle, and that's been the difference between having been told something on an external training course, and really knowing it, understanding it and using it.