--- title: "Mobilising the Messy Analogue Moving Parts - Week 3: Coaching" description: Getting better at coaching conversations and talking about health, wellbeing and work-life balance.  image: https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Use%20in%20email%20CPM-Index-discussing-performance-management-1.jpg --- [![HeadLight-logo-from LF for website](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/HeadLight_Sep2016/HeadLight-logo-from%20LF%20for%20website.png)](https://head-light.co.uk/) - [About Us](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) ### [Our Clients Our clients come from industry, justice, government and not for profit sectors.](https://head-light.co.uk/our-clients/) ### [Case Studies Find out what people have said about Head Light and how we have helped.](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/case-studies) ### [Client Charter We like to be clear and upfront in how we work – and how we won’t work. Our Client Charter sets this out.](https://head-light.co.uk/client-charter/) ### [Consulting Partners When you partner with another organisation to deliver services to your clients, your reputation and future business success rests on your Partner’s ability and commitment to make it happen.](https://head-light.co.uk/consulting-partners/) ### [Our Location Head Light is based in Ascot, if you visit us with an electric vehicle, then you can have a free charge on us!](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/) ### [About Head Light Head Light helps public sector and regulated organisations turn workforce signals into intelligence about capability, readiness and risk. We are recognised in the Fosway 9-Grid™ for Talent & People Success and have supported customers for 20 years.](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) - [Workforce Capability Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### [Workforce Signals Surfacing the evidence layer that turns workforce data into intelligence.  ](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### [Capability Intelligence Understanding workforce capability across your organisation.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/capability-intelligence/) ### [Workforce Readiness Tracking organisational readiness in real time.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-readiness/) ### [Succession Intelligence Understanding leadership continuity and succession risk.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/succession-intelligence/) ### [Workforce Risk Identifying workforce capability risk before it becomes operational risk.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-risk/) ### [Organisational Insight Understanding workforce sentiment and organisational confidence.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [Products](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) ### [Talent 360 360-degree feedback software - spot potential, pinpoint development focus, embed recognition.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-360/) ### [Talent Performance Embedding a culture of performance conversation and recognition.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-performance/) ### [Talent Navigator Individual career ownership through career path mapping.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-navigator/) ### [Talent Successor Succession planning software: providing a strategic line of sight.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-successor/) ### [Talent SafeGuard Skills management: by the individual and for the individual.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-safeguard/) ### [Talent En-Gauge Plan and take action to strengthen employee engagement.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-en-gauge/) ### [Talent Advance Keep track of goal planning.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-advance/) - [Consultancy & Training](https://head-light.co.uk/consultancy-training/) ### [Design a Skills or Competency Framework Get a skills or competency framework right for your organisation and your talent management practices make a real and lasting contribution.](https://head-light.co.uk/designing-your-competency-framework/) ### [360 and Performance Assessment Design We develop, test and validate bespoke assessments across all sectors, at every level of talent and every stage of talent management.](https://head-light.co.uk/assessment-design/) ### [Designing a Talent Management Strategy Do you have a Talent Management strategy? Do all your talent activities integrate, utilise the same language and align with your organisational strategy?](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-strategy/) ### [Talent Management for Managers Talent Management is not the sole domain of the HR or Learning & Development team. delivering your organisation’s people a strategy.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-managers/) ### [Feedback Facilitator Training Investing in 360-degree feedback delivers little benefit if the review and feedback conversation is not handled properly.](https://head-light.co.uk/facilitator-training/) ### [Administrator Training Deploying a talent management software system successfully is not about luck. It requires robust and secure software, solid processes and great administrators.](https://head-light.co.uk/administrator-training/) - [Our Blog](https://blog.head-light.co.uk) - [Blue Light Services](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-services/) ### [Blue Light User Group Sharing talent management best practice and collaborating on new features to the Talent platform.](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-user-group/) ### [Talent Management for Police 360, PDR and talent and succession planning for police officers and staff.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-police-forces/) ### [Talent Management for Fire and Rescue Services 360, PDR and succession planning for fire and rescue services.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-fire-and-rescue-services/) [TELL ME MORE](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/) # Mobilising the Messy Analogue Moving Parts - Week 3: Coaching --- ### ![Use in email CPM-Index-discussing-performance-management](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Use%20in%20email%20CPM-Index-discussing-performance-management-1.jpg?width=300&name=Use%20in%20email%20CPM-Index-discussing-performance-management-1.jpg) ### **![coaching](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/coaching-3.png?width=25&name=coaching-3.png)** **Coaching and wellbeing.** **In weeks [1](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/blog/2020/02/wk1-mobilising-messy-analogue-moving-parts-emotional-intelligence) and [2](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/blog/2020/02/wk2-mobilising-messy-analogue-moving-parts-giving-good-feedback) of our 6-week blog series we said that emotional intelligence and giving good feedback are two vital component parts to enabling talent management software to maximise the talents in your organisation. Week 3's 'moving part' is coaching - and as an important part of that - talking about health, wellbeing and work-life balance. ** So we are not going to be able to develop an army of elite executive coaches from our management population. It takes most people many years and an intense programme of study, supervised practice, more study and more years of practice to become a really effective coach.  Some of us wouldn’t get there if we tried.  But we can all get better at having *coaching conversations*, by developing the associated skills and by learning and deploying some simple frameworks that help us structure a dialogue in a way that helps the other person to take more ownership for solving their own problems, improving their performance, learning new things.  A popular tool for this is John Whitmore’s [GROW](https://www.performanceconsultants.com/grow-model) which gives you a basic four-step framework for having better conversations around learning and performance. Having said that a framework is helpful, coaching as a practice should help you to be flexible in the moment, pursue a conversation and help the individual work through things without having a clear agenda or a list of bullet points to work through.  It shouldn’t feel like a process, or be restrictive or limiting or manager-led.  There is a balance to be struck between being alive to what the individual needs and wants to talk about, and making productive use of check-in time.  In our software, you can provide helpful prompts, reminders and suggested questions for managers to refer to in preparation for check-ins, but probably one of the useful weapons in their armoury is [active listening](https://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/ActiveListening.htm).  It takes time, focus and motivation to really listen to someone, and we can remove one of these excuses by scheduling and engaging in more frequent check-ins! **Talking about health, wellbeing and work-life balance** These three areas are increasingly becoming the concern and focus of many C-suites.  With organisations like [Microsoft](https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=MSFT) testing out a four-day workweek in Japan – and reporting an almost 40% rise in productivity – and many workers worldwide exploring the benefits of a reduced working week, flexible hours and homeworking, this is a trend that is likely to continue.  In the public sector, the rise of Mental Health First Aiders, flexible working champions, wellbeing networks and ‘great place to work’ initiatives, there is a lot of organisational support and infrastructure but it is still the domain of a manager to protect the wellbeing of his or her employees and we should ensure that they are equipped to have conversations about these topics. [A recent (October 2019) resource from Gallup](https://www.gallup.com/workplace/267191/managers-know-improve-work-life-balance.aspx?utm_source=workplace-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WorkplaceNewsletter_Dec_120319&utm_content=improveworklifebalance-CTA-1&elqTrackId=61627cf64e9c49c7abb468f1579e9918&elq=08be8b5526c24a499561654c8718b340&elqaid=2724&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=626) cites one of the most important skills for managers when it comes to improving the work-life balance of employees is that of **goal-setting**.  We didn’t cite this as a separate skill here – partly because we’ve talked about it a lot before and partly because it underpins other practices mentioned here, such as delegation, coaching and – as it turns out – improving work-life balance.  The key seems to be realism: ensuring our goals, targets and objectives are realistically achievable and stretching-but-not-too-stretching is a tricky balance to achieve but one that can be helped by making it more employee-led.  Discuss goals with people - or perhaps better still - get them to set their own and review them as part of a check in. It can be easy to avoid talking about health, wellbeing and work-life balance: many people feel awkward raising and discussing potentially sensitive topics, they might fear the consequences, or doubt their own ability to tackle them in an empathetic and supportive, but also a professional and constructive, way.  NHS Employers have a [handy factsheet](https://www.nhsemployers.org/-/media/Employers/Documents/Retain-and-improve/Health-and-wellbeing/Having-a-well-being-conversation-with-a-colleague-How-to-guide.pdf?la=en&hash=FB91574645A6A81EBEAAE5F3B95A8195FD9F265B) that helps you to prepare and think about talking about wellbeing at work, which is a useful resource even for those not working in the Health sector.  The Head Light [Check In function](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/blog/2019/04/making-checkins-purposeful-0) enables you to create your own checklists, suggested questions or guidelines for managers to draw on whilst holding these conversations, acting both as a reminder that they need to be taking a holistic and person-centred approach to performance management and as a helpful resource for doing so. --- ## Want to know more? You'll find more about coaching in these recent blogs: - [How to develop coaching competencies using 360 degree feedback](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/blog/2020/02/develop-coaching-competence-with-360) - [Revisiting How to Build a Feedback and Coaching Culture - is yours working?](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/blog/2020/02/revisiting-a-coaching-culture) **Next week's focus will be on helping managers to bring people together and creating a team identity.  ** We hope you'll tune in then, but if this is not quite your thing then why not forward the link to a colleague who may like a read. If you have any questions in the meantime do please [get in touch](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/). [![Get in touch](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2397834/df8130bb-66ee-4ece-b9c8-0b3a974eabe8.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2397834/df8130bb-66ee-4ece-b9c8-0b3a974eabe8)   [Continuous Performance Management](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/continuous-performance-management) [Developing Competencies](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/developing-competencies) [Employee Engagement](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/employee-engagement) [360 degree feedback](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/360-degree-feedback) [Trends in Talent Management](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/trends-in-talent-management) [Coaching](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/coaching) ## Related posts ### [The Police Leadership Commission Report: What It Means for Your Force](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/police-leadership-commission-report-what-it-means-for-your-force) The Police Leadership Commission report sets a clear direction for policing - and it has immediate i... 23 Jul 2026 ### [Organisational Insight: evidence that organisations fail to use](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/organisational-insight-evidence-not-used) Organisational insight is one of the most underestimated assets available to HR and business leaders... 13 Jul 2026 ### [How your Workforce Intelligence platform turns data into signals](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform-turns-data-into-signals) Every organisation generates data about its people continuously. Performance ratings, development ac... 13 Jul 2026 [![HeadLight-logo-from LF for website](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/HeadLight_Sep2016/HeadLight-logo-from%20LF%20for%20website.png)](https://head-light.co.uk/) [![Fosway-2025](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/Fosway-2025-150x150.jpg?width=150&height=150&name=Fosway-2025-150x150.jpg)](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/news/head-light-fosway-grid-2025)   ### Useful Links - [Home](https://head-light.co.uk/) - [About](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) - [Workforce Signals](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) - [Products](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) - [Blue Light Services](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-services/) ### Workforce Signals - [Capability Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-mobility/) - [Organisational Insight](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [Succession Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [View All](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### Our Products - [Talent 360](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-360/) - [Talent Performance](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-performance/) - [Talent Navigator](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-navigator/) - [View All](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) ### Consultancy & Training - [Consultancy & Training Services](https://head-light.co.uk/consultancy-training/) - [Designing your competency framework](https://head-light.co.uk/designing-your-competency-framework/) - [360 and performance assessment design](https://head-light.co.uk/assessment-design/) ### Support - [Contact](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/) - [Blog](https://blog.head-light.co.uk) - [FAQs](https://head-light.co.uk/faqs/) - [Resources](https://head-light.co.uk/resources/) - [News](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/news)   Copyright © Head Light Ltd. 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