There are many myths circling around about career coaching. Many employers try to discourage career coaching, or do not provide their employees with an opportunity to take it, out of fear that they will quit their current job.  While this may be true for some, for the majority of people the coaching process doesn’t convince them to completely change careers. Career coaching does however give them more self-confidence and motivation, as well as the ability to better understand their talents, passions, strengths and weaknesses, with which often also comes a change of perspective that allows the person to continue in their current job, albeit in a happier and more productive manner.   

All employees working in Brussels or Wallonia for private hospitals, crèches, nursing homes, youth-related organisations, etc. are granted a full career coaching process with OrientaEuro completely free. This is thanks to a correct understanding of the mutual benefit that all the parts obtain due to this process. After asking the first 150 beneficiaries to take a questionnaire both before and after they have completed the Career Coaching process, the organisation in charge of the administration of this has been able to see some remarkable results.  The most notable of which was the fact that after coaching there was a strong tendency to an increased will to stay in their current job (only 22% felt that they should change jobs in the short or mid-term, instead of 33% before the coaching) as through evaluating their talents and passions, could see that this was where they truly wanted to be. This change in perception, and the reinforced idea that their job makes a difference to society (93.5% said that they felt their job was useful to society, as opposed to just 84% before the coaching) has seen a deduction in stress levels and the mental and emotional toll taken by employees.  Before undergoing coaching, 76.4% of employees said that they were stressed by work, but afterwards, this figure had dropped to 59.6%.  It is no secret that a stress-free life is a happier one, so it is unsurprising that along with a drop in stress levels is an increase in the willingness to stay in their current job.  A reduction in stress levels also reduces the chance of a burn out.

Of course, when talking about “happiness” in a job, the whole environment of the place has to be taken into account, and this study shows that this has also been improved.  Having a better awareness of how their abilities fit into the working environment can encourage the willingness to better themselves at their current job, with over 70% of the participants feeling satisfied in their jobs, as opposed to just 48% beforehand.  This could be explained by the fact that 10% of the participants felt they had improved their communication with their colleagues to a satisfactory level (before coaching only 43% claimed to have good communication, but this figure jumped to 53% afterwards), and a net 20% of the participants stated their relations with their co-workers passed from bad to good.  Moreover, those who said they felt that they were recognised for their professional accomplishments rose to almost 65% whereas beforehand it was only 48%.  This is perhaps due to the fact that knowing your strengths, weaknesses and preferences allows one to communicate better with others, with not only improves teamwork but also the overall environment of the workplace.  All these factors combined makes the overall experience of work much more appealing, and whilst these improvements may be simply a change of perception, career coaching helps realise this perception.

Along with the positive perception of their environment, employees who benefited from career coaching took a more positive outlook on their professional evolution.  Before starting their career coaching process, over 25% wanted to quit, whereas after this number had been brought down to just 14%.   By better understanding their own strengths and weaknesses, employees could better see how they fit into their workplace and current position, which made them far more willing to stay.   Along with this, a third of beneficiaries noted that they felt motivated in their job, which was an increase of almost 15 percentage points.  Also, over 20% increased or enriched the tasks they had at their workplace; proving that better understanding what they want out of life encourages workers to strive to improve themselves professionally, increasing their value for the workplace.

Without a doubt, there is also a percentage of employees who find that the best thing for them is to leave their current job.  It is very unlikely that a person whose work corresponds to their talents and passions would decide to leave after undergoing career coaching.  Nonetheless, career coaching helps those who have “broken their psychological contract” with the organisation to take the healthiest and most productive decision for everyone involved: the employee, employer, colleagues, clients, and society as a whole.

All employees and employers could benefit from a methodological career coaching as the one OrientaEuro provides. This allows a perfect match between people’s talents and passions and what is needed from them in the organisation. Feeling like they belong, re-finding meaning in their job and the organisation’s mission, not only improves their professional experience, but also increases their task output, as a happy worker is often a motivated and productive one.

How OrientaEuro’s Personalised Career Coaching could help your team? Please check here.