July 9, 2025
How to Start a Workplace Coaching Programme
People don’t leave jobs, they leave situations where they feel overlooked, underused or unsupported. This is where building a culture of coaching comes in.
A well-designed coaching programme can help employees to shift how they feel, work and grow within an organisation. It develops team trust and teaches them to solve problems without waiting for permission. However, to make coaching part of your organisation you need more than a few helpful conversations – you need a structure.
What do you want to achieve with your workplace coaching programme?
Before you start planning who will coach whom or how often sessions will happen, take a step back and have a look at what you want the programme to achieve. A coaching programme should be built around a specific aim. Without that clarity, it becomes another well-meaning learning and development initiative that fades over time – a pet project that withers on the vine.
Start by asking: What do we want coaching to improve or support?
Some leaders want to develop future managers. Others want to strengthen team performance or support people through a period of change. You might want coaching to improve communication across departments, support wellbeing, or help people manage their own workload and progression.
It’s also worth considering how this programme fits into your wider approach to staff development, particularly when considering mentoring vs. coaching. The two can work side by side, but they serve different purposes and require different structures.
Once you’ve decided the core purpose, link it to something measurable, like staff retention, promotion rates, project delivery, or leadership capability. This makes it easier to stay focused and explain the programme’s value to other people in your organisation.
Decide Who Will Be Involved
Coaching in the workplace doesn’t need to start at scale. The best employee coaching programmes often begin with a focused group and grow from there. An important part of this is deciding who will be part of the first phase as coaches and coachees.
Start by identifying where coaching could have the biggest impact. This might be new managers stepping into leadership roles, staff preparing for internal progression, or teams navigating change. Choosing a clear starting group helps build momentum and gives you a useful feedback base.
Next, think about who will do the coaching. Will it be team leaders, senior staff, or an external coach brought in to support the process? Some organisations begin with a small internal coaching pool and expand it over time as more people get trained as coaches.
It’s also useful to consider senior leadership. If leaders coach others or are coached themselves, it sends a strong message about the value placed on development.
Design an Effective Coaching Plan
Once you’ve decided who’s involved, the next step is to design how coaching will work in practice. This doesn’t mean creating a rigid system, but you need a clear plan that sets expectations and provides enough structure and resources to achieve success.
Decide how often coaching sessions will take place, how long they’ll be, and where they’ll happen. Some organisations opt for monthly one-to-ones. Others take a more flexible approach, depending on individual workload and objectives. Whatever you choose, consistency matters more than frequency.
It’s also useful to agree on the format of a coaching session. That might include setting goals at the start, using a recognised framework like GROW or CLEAR, and documenting agreed-upon actions afterwards. Keeping things simple helps people feel equipped rather than overwhelmed.
You might also want to decide on a shared coaching style across your programme. Clarifying the approach helps coaches and coachees know what to expect and how to prepare for effective coaching activities.
For coaching to be effective, confidentiality should be addressed early so that coachees feel safe to speak openly. Make sure everyone understands where coaching sits in relation to line management, performance conversations or HR processes.
Build Coaching Skills & Confidence Before You Launch
Coaching isn’t something people automatically know how to do, even if they’re great at managing or mentoring. Without training, it’s easy to fall into giving advice, fixing problems, or turning the session into a progress check. That’s why developing coaching skills is key to getting your programme off the ground.
Start by looking at who needs training. If team leaders, managers or senior staff will be delivering coaching, they need a solid foundation in coaching techniques, ethics and structure. This helps create consistency across the programme and gives coaches the confidence to handle more challenging conversations.
Carlton Training’s ILM-accredited coach training programs are designed for exactly this. The Level 3 Certificate in Effective Coaching is ideal for new coaches, especially those stepping into people development for the first time.
Coaches who feel confident and capable are far more likely to follow through, stay engaged, and model the professionalism that supports long-term impact.
Embed a Coaching Culture
A successful coaching programme doesn’t stop at training and scheduling. To make a real difference, coaching needs to become part of people’s life and working patterns. That shift takes time, but it starts with everyday behaviours.
Encourage managers to raise the issue of coaching in team meetings, one-to-ones and informal catch-ups. Promote reflection and shared problem-solving as part of routine conversations. When coaching shows up consistently in day-to-day interactions, it feels natural rather than forced.
Leaders play a central role in this. If senior staff demonstrate coaching behaviours like listening carefully, giving space to explore ideas, resisting the urge to jump in with answers, others will follow.
It also helps to make space for feedback and shared learning. Set up regular check-ins where coaches can reflect on what’s working, what’s difficult and how they’re developing.
Measure Employee Engagement & the Impact of Coaching
To keep your coaching programme on track and to justify its value, you need to know what’s changing. That means thinking about impact from the start, not as an afterthought.
Look at both individual and organisational indicators. On an individual level, this might include feedback from coachees, changes in confidence, or the ability to take on new responsibilities. On a wider level, you might track improvements in staff engagement scores, retention rates, or internal progression.
Ask simple, targeted questions as part of existing surveys or feedback loops. For example: “Has coaching helped you feel more confident in your role?” or “Have you been able to apply what you’ve discussed in coaching to your day-to-day work?”
Real examples matter too. Collect information from people who’ve found coaching useful, whether it helped them solve a problem, improve teamwork or take on something new. This will give your data more meaning and help show others why the programme works.
Need coaching training for you & your team?
If you’re supporting others to become coaches, the Level 3 Certificate in Effective Coaching is ideal for team leaders, managers or staff involved in day-to-day development. It builds practical skills that can be used straight away in real workplace settings.
All Carlton Training’s courses are ILM-accredited, delivered flexibly, and taught by experienced tutors who understand the realities of working life. You’ll get personal support throughout and access to practical tools you can use in your organisation from day one.
Ready to get started? Explore our full range of coaching and mentoring courses and choose the course that fits your goals and coaching experience.
Next ›‹ Previous
Back to Blog
