Need Help Overcoming Control Obsession? Consider Hiring An Executive Coach.

In companies worldwide, the main concern is the steady decline in staff motivation. The key concepts and activities to deal with these issues have been well identified:

• increasing the decision-making autonomy of staff
• activate co-responsibility mechanisms;
• promote pro-activity;
• develop ownership of assignments;
• creating a learning environment;
• harnessing collective intelligence.

The exorbitant amount of money invested in many activities aimed at empowering staff, including conferences meant to inspire, incentive schemes, coaching sessions designed to motivate, financial incentives, bonuses, and training programs, is beyond count in euros (or dollars). However, it has become evident that these initiatives have yet to yield the desired outcomes.

Employee motivation and company culture are two critical aspects that HR managers need to manage and improve continuously. However, it is common for HR activities to focus on addressing the symptoms rather than the root cause of the problem. As a result, the methods used to enhance motivation often need to be more effective. Unfortunately, some coaching companies and individuals fail to address the underlying issues, which only compounds the problem. In light of these challenges, adopting a more practical approach to help HR managers tackle these pervasive issues and create a positive and productive work environment is crucial.

A fresh perspective is needed when it comes to executive coaching. Specifically, we should empower employees in innovative ways to enhance their motivation. Instead of isolating demotivation as a standalone issue, we must recognise it as a sign of more profound concerns. By adopting this outlook, we should contemplate how our corporate atmosphere systematically prompts demotivation, disengagement, and detachment among our workers.

Some corporate leaders may unintentionally be adopting measures that limit the empowerment of their staff and hamper their initiative. Unfortunately, some organisations emphasise control more and move away from the "Think Global Act Local" mindset. This is especially true for multinational companies with standardised and centralised operations, which may only sometimes consider local market conditions and management practices.

With what effects? Here they are:

• More and more standardised operating procedures are being implemented with greater detail. These procedures are typically managed from remote centralised locations.
• Many managers spend almost their entire time using intricate reporting systems requiring high complexity and detail.
• Many hours are spent in presentations, where individuals receive excessive information from C-levels and executives who are becoming more focused on micro-management and increasingly interested in small details.
• The financial and executive control systems are continuously growing.
• The management of matrices has become increasingly complex due to silo organisations and conflicting hierarchies. This leads to situations where individuals report to multiple contradictory and competing structures.

Implementing procedural systems serves many purposes, but the goal is to achieve two complementary objectives: meticulous control over every possible initiative and extremely precise predictability of results. These objectives pose a primary challenge that requires resolution during most executive coaching processes. Establishing a secure budget is more critical than delivering unexpected, multiplied outcomes in today's climate. Therefore, when an organisation's staff, including top management and operational sectors, appear unmotivated and disempowered, the root cause is their corporate culture, which emphasises safe goals that ensure steady and predictable progress rather than unpredictable ups and downs.

In this context, two executive coaching strategies could bring much more consistency.

1. An efficient strategy that can be implemented is to reduce spending on extraneous costs associated with training, coaching, and empowerment programs that do not directly support the primary objective of maintaining control, as opposed to delegation. This can help to optimise resources and focus on key areas that align with the company's overarching goals.
2. Implementing executive coaching is one effective strategy to improve management culture. This approach prioritises goal achievement instead of relying on micro-control from a central source. Through executive coaching, leaders are guided to create a supportive learning environment that helps their employees excel and achieve remarkable results.