Coaching in the workplace helping UN staff

Saba Imru Mathieu

Saba was interviewed for the UN Special magazine by V. Riemer of WHO after conducting several workshops on coaching skills and coaching culture


Here are some extracts

“Often when we think of a coach, what comes to mind is an athletics, tennis, basketball or football coach developing young athletes to perform to their full potential in winning teams. But a new type of coaching is entering the workplace with many similarities, but some key differences too.  This kind of coaching is all about developing individuals in their personal and professional lives, working with people to identify, target, and plan for performance improvement throughout their careers.”


“During the last quarter of 2017, Saba was invited by the WHO Human Resources Department (Global Talent Management team) to conduct a series of workshops to provide staff with a better understanding of coaching concepts, with a view to adopting such a posture in their professional environment. It was part of the overall objective of introducing a coaching culture in WHO, where more open communication and trusting relationships are formed among staff with the ultimate goal of generating a more empowered and motivated attitude in staff members.”

Saba often hears that “command and control’ is out, it no longer works. “Today, employees expect to be respected and to experience work satisfaction. But few know what to do instead of commanding! Is it just about being nice? Some people are afraid of becoming “too nice”. How can you be a democratic leader and still keep control? I believe that learning coaching skills is the answer because the methodology itself unravels the complexities around motivating employees, creating accountability, helping them develop”.

"She recognises that coaching in the workplace can be a difficult skill for managers to master as most managers are used to directing work rather than achieving it through employee development. She sees coaching as a conversation driven by strategic inquiry that stimulates novel thinking. “Conversing is something that anyone can do. By asking questions, we stimulate reflection and by asking good questions we cause entirely new avenues of thought to open up” she explained. The role of the coaching manager is to enable the supervisee to find solutions for themselves, so that they become more effective, more accountable and more satisfied."


“By asking questions, we stimulate reflection and by asking  good  questions we cause entirely new avenues of thought to open up” she explained. The role of the coaching manager is to enable the supervisee to find solutions for themselves so that they become more effective, more accountable and more satisfied. The goal is to help employees recognize opportunities for improvement by asking probing, and often tough, questions, challenging the person to think about their goals as well as how to achieve them. When managers discover that a consequence of coaching is empowering their staff, they free their time from micro-managing to focus on strategic thinking instead”

Read the whole article in the UN Special Magazine, March 2018, pages 31-32.

UN Special Magazine, March 2018
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