The importance of building a 'coach-like' culture in an organisation

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When leaders embrace a coach-like mindset, empowering individuals and teams to grow, develop, and perform at their best, it creates an environment where people feel valued, supported, and equipped to succeed. This was the key message from Jimmy Lee, Commandant, Singapore Prison Training Institute, Singapore Prison Service, during his presentation at HRO’s ninth annual Learning & Development Asia on 12 September 2024.

Coaching in the workplace goes beyond just improving skills — it's a powerful tool that boosts employee engagement and drives organisational success. By shifting from merely delegating tasks to engaging in meaningful coaching, leaders foster an environment that encourages both personal and professional growth.

In fact, a report by the Institute of Coaching revealed that 80% of individuals who receive coaching experience greater self-confidence, while over 70% see improvements in work performance, relationships, and communication. This highlights the transformative impact of coaching on both personal development and organisational outcomes, enhancing confidence, productivity, and engagement. Leaders who embrace a coaching mindset not only develop their team’s skills but also cultivate loyalty and a sense of belonging, which strengthens retention and fosters a more motivated, emotionally connected workforce.

With these insights in mind, Sarah Gideon spoke with Jimmy Lee, Commandant, Singapore Prison Training Institute (pictured above), to gain deeper insights into the Singapore Prison Service's (SPS) approach to cultivating a ‘coach-like’ culture. As he explained, SPS embarked on this journey back in 2001, aiming to inspire and empower every member of the organisation. Today, SPS continues to deepen its coach-like culture by raising awareness, strengthening leaders’ abilities to coach others, and sustaining this cultural shift for the long term.

By fostering a culture where officers — known as Captains of Lives (COLs) — embody coaching mindsets, toolsets, and skillsets in their daily interactions, SPS is better positioned to achieve its mission and vision.

Taking the stage on 12 September 2024, at HRO's ninth annual Learning & Development Asia, Jimmy talked about how integrating coach-like mindsets, toolsets, and skillsets into daily interactions fosters trust, curiosity, and collaboration.

Integrating a coach-like culture in an organisation

Jimmy emphasised that building a coach-like culture is not about training everyone to become professional coaches. Instead, it focuses on encouraging all employees to adopt the mindsets, toolsets, and skillsets of a coach in their everyday interactions. To achieve this, SPS has implemented several key initiatives.

First, SPS prioritised building internal capabilities by developing 'Coaching Champions'. These champions promote coach-like mindsets, lead in-house workshops, and support the 'Chief Coach' in cultivating a coaching culture. Currently, SPS has five professional certified coaches, with ten more in training, aiming to reach 15 by the end of the next year. These champions are available to any COLs in need of support and engage in global coaching communities to further refine their skills.

SPS has also engaged external support, partnering with professional coaching experts to guide leaders in their self-development and leadership styles. Together with these external coaches, SPS co-created tailored leadership workshops specifically designed for SPS leaders. While senior leaders receive workshops from these external experts, internal champions deliver similar sessions to other officers.

Moreover, SPS has developed Coach-Like Leadership Programmes to instill coaching principles from the start of every officer's career. These include a one-day Coach-Like Culture workshop for new officers and a two-three-day programme for those in leadership roles. To maintain momentum, SPS runs quarterly Communities of Practice (COPs), bringing together passionate COLs to learn, discuss, and co-create the environment needed to nurture a coach-like culture.

What would a successful coach-like culture look like?

In his keynote, Jimmy posed an important question: What does success look like for an organisation striving to build a coach-like culture? The first step is ensuring that leaders understand that a coach-like culture is not about turning everyone into coaches. Rather, it's about equipping all staff with coaching mindsets, toolsets, and skillsets to be applied in daily interactions with stakeholders.

For SPS, a successful coach-like culture would include:

Leaders embodying coach-like mindsets: When leaders empower their teams to grow, develop, and perform at their best, staff feel valued and supported. This, in turn, enhances both individual and team performance.

Staff feeling valued, supported, and equipped to succeed: The workplace would foster an environment where every officer possesses the necessary skills and mindsets to thrive, promoting engagement and commitment.

Extending coach-like mindsets to external stakeholders: A coach-like culture benefits not only internal interactions but also enhances how SPS engages with its partners and the public, thereby building trust and collaboration.

Ultimately, a coach-like culture in SPS would make learning conversations integral to daily interactions, creating an atmosphere of growth, resilience, and innovation. This would prepare SPS to be future-ready, with both leaders and officers embodying the coaching mindset necessary for individual and organisational success.

Food for thought

As Jimmy concluded his session, he provided some food for thought for HR professionals looking to instil a coach-like culture in their organisations. He emphasised the need to create a system where interdependent entities share a common focus, operating at various levels—within individuals, between pairs, across teams and departments, and throughout the organisation. By gathering data to understand the current culture and observing shifts within the system, leaders can encourage self-correction and promote continuous growth.

In summary, Jimmy highlighted several lessons for HR leaders:

Awareness can trigger powerful changes within a system. Instead of focusing solely on strategies, HR leaders should ask how they can foster awareness that enables self-correction. A lack of response might indicate the organisation isn’t ready for change.

Curiosity is key. HR professionals should remain observant of shifts and partner with the system to support self-correction and drive meaningful transformation.

In his closing, Jimmy quoted his system coach trainer: "Instead of imposing what we want the organisation to change, a system-inspired transformation invites us to notice what the organisation can teach us about the change."

This reflects SPS's approach to nurturing a coach-like culture—leading with curiosity, observing the system, and allowing change to unfold naturally.

These are some of the insights shared at our Learning & Development Asia 2024, Singapore. Held at Shangri-La Singapore on 11 & 12 September 2024, the conference saw more than 150 HR & learning professionals gather to gain insights on staying ahead of technological advancements to address the evolving skills demands and strengthen the employee experience amidst cost pressures.

Human Resources Online would like to thank all speakers, moderators, panellists, facilitators, and attendees for being valuable contributors to this event.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to our sponsors & partners for making this conference possible:

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