The Beech Consultancy is a Performance Development Consultancy working with managers and leaders to drive individual and organisational success. The following case studies and testimonials explore what working with The Beech Consultancy has meant for some of our clients.
Liz Morrison, Co-operative Group
Liz Morrison is Head of Group Leadership Development Manager at the Co-operative Group in Manchester and was one of the first to integrate an in-house Certificate in Performance Development Coaching into their organisational learning and development strategy. The programme was completed in late Spring 2007.
Our initial contact with Beech Consultancy was as part of the search for a coaching course/qualification that would help develop the team of management development specialists in the area of performance coaching.
We had tended to use external coaches in the organisation on an ad hoc basis and often in a remedial sense and wanted to change that. The Certificate in Performance Development Coaching with Beech was the first part of a journey for our organisation on the road to developing a coaching culture – a journey we are still on.
Why Beech? They provide a great course that ticked all our boxes . . . and lots more besides. The course was flexible in the way it was delivered for us (on an in-house basis) and is very competitive with other providers. They provided us with a facilitator who is a great role model and ambassador both for coaching and Beech Consultancy. It was stretching, inspiring and fun for the participants and has taken them on a great journey that has enriched their skills, knowledge and behaviours that they now use as part of every day work. Beech care about delivering more than just a course – they have become a real partner, sharing our values and providing challenge and support for us on our journey. And finally, it is accredited by one of the main coaching bodies – the Association for Coaching.
Our coaching journey still has a long (and exciting) way to go and the trust that has built up with Beech means that they are part of many of the coaching activities we are working on. This includes being coaches to some of our people, helping us with the evaluation of coaching interventions and working with us put together our coaching supervision model.
Sandra Bateson, Arco Ltd.
Sandra Bateson, Human Resources Director at Arco Ltd. graduated from the Certificate in Performance Development Coaching programme in 2006.
“As an HR professional coaching is an integral part of my role. However, I felt I needed to participate in a professional education programme to validate my experience. As I’m relatively new to the area I wasn’t sure where to begin and perhaps fate lent a hand when I saw and responded to a promotion for the Beech Consultancy.
"I participated in the Certificate in Performance Development Coaching, which gave me a far greater insight into the processes and behaviours behind coaching. I found the experience both challenging and rewarding. It changed my professional approach from ‘how do I help this person’ to ‘how do I help this person help themselves’ which is invaluable in my role.
"Since graduating in the summer of 2006 I have had the opportunity to further practice and develop my performance development coaching skills. I have received very positive feedback from those that I have coached, and from their Managers who have commented on the resulting positive behaviour change."
Arco employs 1300 people and has an active staff development programme with a history of skills-coaching and on the job training. The organisation continues to recognise the need to develop the workforce in today’s changing environment.
Sandra adds “Following the completion of my programme, several colleagues have shown a greater interest and a senior member of staff has now signed up for the Spring 2007 programme with the Beech Consultancy. Performance Development coaching is very different from other types of approach, I am very happy with my enhanced capability to fully utilise these important skills”.
Nancie Shackleton, Lincolnshire Police
Nancie Shackleton, Head of Strategic Development at Lincolnshire Police graduated from the Certificate in Performance Development Coaching in 2006.
"A colleague who works in Leadership Development for Humberside Police recommended the Certificate in Performance Development Coaching to me. Prior to this, I had only ever heard of executive coaching and had no idea how useful coaching would become to both my style of management and crucially my leadership style also.
"When I began the course, my career was going through quite a rapid period of promotion and I was looking for additional skills that would help me “step-up” through the next levels of management and seniority. The course, my fellow classmates and the assistance provided by the course instructor could not have come at a better time.
"The changes that coaching has brought to both my management style and my awareness of self are huge. I cannot speak highly enough about the learning I experienced as a result of the course and the quality of people associated with Beech Consultancy. I have recommended the course to others from my organisation and we continue to work with Beech Consultancy in a variety of functions."
Terry O'Brien, Kingston Communications Group
Terry O’Brien, the Group Director of Human Resources, Kingston Communications in
Terry, tells her story: “At Kingston Communications we are at the beginning of developing a coaching culture. Part of this development meant that we were considering building a coaching school within the Company and had approached the Beech Consultancy to help us with this. They suggested that I might want to become a ‘supercoach’ in order to guide the internal coaching school programme and that I might therefore consider doing the more in-depth coaching programme. Coaching has also long been an interest of mine and I was very interested in developing my own skills in this area.
“We have done a lot of work with the Beech Consultancy in the past and have a good relationship with them. Although our Company is national we have a lot of people based in
Terry had no problems choosing which aspects of her role she wanted to develop, “I have a real interest in the development of people and I knew that I wanted to focus on performance development coaching. I thoroughly enjoyed the programme and completed the certificate in the summer of 2006”
Reflecting on the way the programme affected her, Terry added, “Before I completed the programme I never considered myself to be a judgemental person but I soon realised on the programme that I actually am, and that whenever I would be discussing an issue with one of my team I would immediately make a judgement and provide a solution. Sometimes I have to do this, but what the programme taught me was to listen much more, gather opinions from others, and get them to decide what the right course of action would be. I guess what I really learned is that what would be a good solution for me might not be the best solution for someone else”
Terry feels the programme has changed her way of working, “I am now much more considered in my approach. I manage my own team in much more of a coaching style. I also formally coach several colleagues in the Group and it has been wonderful to see how much both they and I have got out of this. People are really amazed when they realise they have the answers themselves and this gives them immense confidence.
“At Kingston Communications we have a robust staff development programme. All staff have performance reviews at least twice a year and often more and part of that review includes a discussion about development. This year we have launched a leadership programme which will encompass all of our people managers over the next eighteen months. Part of this programme re
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