COMPANIES, DON’T INSTITUTIONALIZE COACHING! ☠️

Making coaching part of HR changes its dynamic and purpose, turning what is supposed to be a safe, confidential space into a monitored, compliant, documented process.

This is bound to fail and create massive resistance and fear around coaching from your team.

When coaching is logged in a portal to be used by the manager, HR and upper management, it becomes like and interrogation or a monitored, performance Improvement Plan (PIP) or performance review.

This undermines trust, as employees will not open up honestly or put themselves in a vulnerable place, when their discussions are scrutinized by others and can be held against them.

Now, coaching becomes a process for tracking performance and results, rather than a non-judgemental, relationship focused on the person’s goals and challenges in and out of work, knowing it’s not shared with others.

Consequently, coaching becomes another checkbox exercise.

Effective coaching is a trusted relationship and an organic conversation that happens daily and in weekly one on ones, not an HR tracking tool to measure performance, so it’s essential you discuss that distinction with your team.

Make coaching a daily habit when leading, supporting and communicating with your team. When they experience what great coaching looks and feels like, now, they’ll want be coached.

The Cost of Making Coaching Part of HR: A Conversation

When coaching becomes institutionalized, woven into HR’s systems, it fundamentally shifts from its purpose. Coaching is meant to be a confidential, trusting relationship between manager and employee—a safe space where individuals can work through goals, challenges, and growth.

But when you turn coaching into something that needs to be “tracked” or “visible” to all managers and HR, it risks becoming just another corporate process, similar to a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). The trust between manager and employee suffers, employees hold back, and coaching becomes a checkbox activity rather than a genuine opportunity for growth.

Then we wonder why, based on recent studies, there’s a 92% rate of employee disengagement in the workplace and why only 17% of people actually trust their manager.

Scene: A Conversation Between a Manager and a Salesperson

Manager: “So, let’s talk about this new coaching portal. It’ll be a one-stop shop for all our coaching conversations and goals. HR, your boss, and I will have access, giving us visibility into what you’re working on.”

Salesperson: “Wait, so my boss and HR can see everything we discuss during coaching? I thought coaching was supposed to be confidential, a safe place to discuss challenges openly. Why would I share if everything’s tracked?”

Manager: “I get it; confidentiality is important. The intention here is to improve transparency, but this is exactly what we need to be careful about. The moment coaching is treated like a formal HR process, like a PIP, it changes everything.”

Salesperson: “Exactly! If it’s recorded and visible to HR, it stops being coaching. It feels more like… a potential file in my employment record. Where’s the safe space in that?”

Manager: “You’re not alone in feeling that way. I’ve seen companies go down this path, and they think that adding tracking makes coaching effective. But it’s the opposite. When coaching becomes part of HR’s structure, it destroys the foundation of trust and safety that real coaching relies on.”

Salesperson: “So, what happens? Employees don’t open up, I imagine. It feels more like I’m under review than genuinely trying to grow or develop.”

Manager: “Exactly. When trust goes, employees stop sharing what they really need help with. Coaching turns into a superficial exercise—just another task to check off a list. Ultimately, the initiative fails because no one wants to participate when it doesn’t feel safe.”

Salesperson: “That makes sense. To me, authentic coaching is where I can openly discuss struggles without worrying that it’ll reflect poorly on me. Can’t we measure effectiveness without everyone having visibility?”

Manager: “Absolutely. The best feedback comes directly from employees. If you want to know how impactful coaching is, you just ask the people involved. Institutionalizing it won’t lead to real insight, it’ll only stifle honest feedback and engagement.”

Lessons Learned

• Never Institutionalize Coaching: Keep coaching personal and private. Once it’s part of HR, it loses its core value.
• Ask for Authentic Feedback: Instead of tracking coaching on a portal, get direct input from employees on the process’s impact during your conversations. This will provide genuine insights into what’s working.
• Trust Is Key: Without a safe space to open up, employees won’t engage, and coaching will fail to yield meaningful results.
• Confidentiality is Non-Negotiable: Coaching is meant to be a safe space for honest reflection and growth. A unique, honest and supportive relationship between the coach and coachee. Making it part of HR erodes that safety, as employees worry about how discussions might impact their career.

Authentic coaching is a two-way street built on trust, not a set of boxes for HR to check. Keep it simple, keep it personal, and you’ll see far better results.