Research by Accenture reveals a stark disparity between leaders' perceptions and employees' reality.
While 68% of leaders believe they've fostered empowering environments where employees feel a sense of belonging, only 36% of employees share this sentiment.
And, as we share in this article, this disparity can be costly to an organisation.
Employee engagement is incredibly influential on the success of an organisation, with potential to increase productivity, job satisfaction, sales, and revenue. This makes it a fundamental consideration for organisations - particularly of the role their leaders play, as we will explore.
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Leaders Impact Employee Engagement
Engagement means employees know what to do and have what they need, including a supportive leader. And the leader part of that sentence plays a considerable role. The Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2024 report revealed that low engagement costs the global economy $8.9 trillion USD, and leaders account for a 70% variation in employee engagement.
Gallup also finds that when leaders are engaged, employees are more likely to be engaged.
Organisations with an engaged workforce are 23% more profitable.
Yet, just 23% of employees are engaged.
And these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to employee engagement statistics.
So, apart from being more engaged themselves, how can leaders increase their ability to engage employees?
Leadership Development Training
Oftentimes leaders are promoted to their senior positions without appropriate training, becoming first-time managers who feel unprepared and therefore overwhelmed and lacking confidence.
According to Chartered Management Institute, 82% of managers who enter a management position have not had any formal management or leadership training.
Conventional training programmes have historically formed the bread and butter of leadership development strategies. And, although they are still implemented, they can frequently miss the mark of driving behavioural change that goes the distance.
Among the top leadership development statistics, Harvard Business Review 2016 found that companies' $356 billion USD global investment in classroom leadership training had minimal payback, with leaders reverting to old behaviours after training.
In fact,
75% of leadership development professionals estimate that less than half of what they train gets applied on the job.
I've attended multi-day leadership classroom training and never felt an impact on my leadership behaviours. Why? Because leadership is not one-size-fits-all, and the training did not support ongoing context-specific behavioural change.
Leadership Group Coaching
This is where leadership group coaching is powerful. Group coaching presents a paradigm shift in leadership development. Accredited coaches use approaches and tools to guide individuals in their goals, creating a collaborative, confidential space for personal and collective learning.
Sessions vary in length, cadence, and structure based on organisational and participant context. For example, our leadership group coaching programmes run six months for 4-6 leaders. We tailor them to your context and complement them with 1:1 coaching and tools, reading, and assessment surveys.
Group coaching enables a bespoke leadership development experience which is proven to be an effective driver for growth and development.
Research says that;
85% of managers who receive coaching outperform their peers in critical skills such as resilience and agility.
While a study by Parker-Wilkins (2006) found that after experiencing executive coaching 82% of respondents reported that coaching helped them develop leadership behaviour.
Leadership Group Coaching Benefits
Independent and group reflective learning.
Skill-building, such as listening, empowering others, and leadership awareness.
Group exchanges explore real situations with diverse perspectives.
Action and accountability outside the sessions.
A sense of community and belonging amongst participants.
EMPOWER Leadership Group Coaching
Our signature programme called EMPOWER is designed for emerging or established leaders and tailored to the context of your organisation and leadership team. We tailor to your leaders and your organisation.
(Empower) was awesome! Through the program, I built confidence, became more self-aware, and I developed a range of skills to enhance my current job and my relationships (personal & professional). I benefited from several aspects of the program, the reflective work and group sessions were really good. Overall, great program and fantastic coaches. Senior Leader, London, UK
Leadership Group Coaching for First-Time Managers
A first-time manager can feel like a deer in the headlights when promoted. Many reach their positions ill-equipped and unprepared for people management. Coaching for first-time managers can be effective in supporting their unique transition into leadership. Coaching can help new managers and leaders understand and leverage their strengths and develop soft skills. Group coaching for first-time managers focuses on building relationships, performance management and improving their listening and feedback skills.
Conclusion
Group coaching is a powerful tool for developing both new and more seasoned leaders. Among its many benefits, leadership group coaching enhances leaders' abilities to engage their employees. And, as the stats show, this can directly impact organisational performance. This approach not only improves individual leadership capabilities but also creates a ripple effect throughout the organisation. As we've seen, engaged leaders are more likely to cultivate engaged teams.
Compared to conventional leadership training, group coaching provide an approach tailored to leaders and their organisation's context. As well as a measurable and positive track record in implementing long-term behavioural change. Organisations investing in group coaching for their leaders are likely to see significant returns in the form of increased employee satisfaction, engagement, productivity, and overall business success.