Organizational Coaching for SMEs to Improve Agility and Productivity

Before choosing organizational coaching, start by naming the specific problem: a decision that is stalled, unclear roles, a priority that gets lost, or difficult coordination. “Lack of agility” is too general to guide your choice. Describe what should change before deciding on support.

My answer in a nutshell

To choose support, start with the need: HR practices or the broader functioning of the organization. Describe the situation, the people involved and the change you want to see.

I then distinguish a need related to HR practices from a broader organizational issue. The scope of the need comes first. At Human Déclic, I provide outsourced HR support to SMEs and the French subsidiaries of foreign groups, including advice on implementing strategy and adapting it locally. This work is distinct from organizational coaching. The method comes next.

What organizational problem should you clarify before choosing support?

Before choosing support, name the specific problem: a decision that is stalled, unclear roles, a priority that gets lost, or difficult coordination. “Lack of agility” is too general to guide your choice.

For an organizational issue related to psychosocial risks, the INRS, France’s National Research and Safety Institute for the Prevention of Occupational Accidents and Diseases, notes that working situations vary between businesses and that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. So the problem needs to be clarified in your specific context, rather than immediately reduced to a general phrase.

Describe a specific situation: when does the difficulty arise? Which decision or task is involved? Who needs to be able to act, and what should be different? These questions help you make your request clear enough to choose the right type of support, without assuming the answer in advance.

For a need related to HR practices, I start with an audit of HR practices before proposing a tailored action plan. This may be a suitable starting point if the issue falls within that scope. If it concerns another aspect of the organization, clarify that before choosing this option. The decisive factor is the nature of the problem, not the label attached to the support.

That is the starting point. Describe your difficulty in one sentence, then say what you want to clarify or change. You can then compare the support you are considering with your actual need.

How can you adapt strategy, pay policy and culture to local realities?

To adapt strategy, pay policy and culture for a subsidiary, start with the priorities of the host country, then adjust decisions to local rules and practices.

In organizational coaching, distinguish what can remain common across the group from what requires a local decision. For a subsidiary, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Declaration recommends aligning operations with the priorities and social objectives of the host country, and consulting the government and, where appropriate, the national employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned.

For pay policy, use the wages, benefits and conditions offered by comparable employers in the country concerned as a benchmark. The ILO recommends that they should be no less favourable. The ILO recommendation on wages and working conditions therefore offers a practical criterion for reviewing a policy developed at head office. The comparison needs to be local.

For HR practices, the ILO says that the businesses concerned should respect national laws and take local practices into account, as set out in its Declaration on local practices and national laws. In practice, establish these reference points before applying a group policy elsewhere. For a specific question about French employment law, seek advice from a specialist.

To frame these decisions, I can provide HR support as a project, on a recurring basis or on a shared-time basis, according to a number of hours or days agreed with the client. This format makes it possible to work on strategy and its local adaptation as part of the same engagement.

What steps should you plan from the first conversation through follow-up?

From the first conversation through follow-up, set an objective, choose actions and plan how to evaluate them. The INRS places the monitoring and evaluation of actions at the fifth stage of its approach to preventing psychosocial risks.

In the first conversation, start with a specific situation: what is getting in the way in the organization, who is involved and what change would make work simpler? Choose one priority at a time, then describe the actions that could address it. Distinguish decisions for senior leadership from those the team can take forward.

Before starting, agree on who to involve, what their responsibilities are and how you will revisit the actions. Keep a shared record in which each action has an owner, a progress status and a question to revisit. This helps make the next conversation about concrete points rather than a general impression. A short check-in is enough.

For executive coaching, I state on the Human Déclic website that support generally runs from a few months to a year. Use this as a reference point, not an automatic schedule. Set the follow-up date according to the work under way.

What scope and pace should an SME or subsidiary choose?

For an SME or subsidiary, choose a scope centred on one priority objective, then adapt the pace to the actions selected and the resources available.

For very small and small businesses, the INRS says a prevention approach can rely on less formal discussions organized around objectives, agreed resources and expected results (INRS guidance on implementing a prevention approach). Define the subject, the people to involve and the decisions to be made. The framework should remain clear.

The simplest option is to link the amount of support to a clearly defined scope, rather than starting an engagement with no precise limits. This helps distinguish what falls within the chosen subject and what does not.

To decide the pace of prevention actions, the INRS recommends prioritizing them according to the importance of the risks assessed and the resources available. It also says that simple actions or temporary measures can be put in place in the short term (INRS guidance on prioritizing prevention actions). Start with priority actions, then adjust their pace to the resources available.

To monitor actions, the INRS cites regular meetings of multidisciplinary teams as an example of continuous improvement, where people can discuss the actions taken and improve them (an example of ongoing monitoring from the INRS). Keep these discussions focused on useful decisions and adjustments.

For executive coaching, I say that work with a client generally lasts from a few months to 1 year (the stated duration for executive coaching). This reference applies to this specific format, not to organizational coaching in general. So distinguish between the two criteria: for prevention, the pace follows the prioritized actions and available resources; for coaching, set the end date according to the objective of the engagement.

How can you involve leaders, managers and HR in the work?

Bring the leader, managers and HR together around a specific question: the leader frames it, managers describe the situations involved and HR clarifies the choices to discuss.

The page about the self-assessment tool on quality of working life and working conditions (QVCT) for TPE-PME businesses in Île-de-France, from the Île-de-France regional directorate for the economy, employment, labour and solidarity, explains: “It was designed as a discussion tool between management and employee representatives, or representatives of different professions.” Use this as a starting point: open the discussion around a specific topic without deciding the conclusions in advance.

To prepare for the discussion, ask the leader to frame the question that needs a decision. Invite managers to describe the organizational situations it relates to. Give HR a clarifying role: distinguish the issues, make the decisions expected explicit and keep disagreements visible. Clear roles prevent people from speaking on behalf of others.

The key point of method is the subject: an organizational issue is addressed through collective discussion, while one-to-one support for the leader has a distinct objective. I describe executive coaching as close collaboration with a coach, generally lasting from a few months to 1 year. Make a clear distinction between the purpose of the group work and the purpose of the coaching.

If people disagree about how to define the subject, let that disagreement surface before drawing out the decisions. If the question concerns work organization, ask managers to describe the relevant situations. At each discussion, restate the decisions expected and the questions still open. The framework should remain clear.

What measures can you use to assess changes in agility and productivity?

To assess change, link each measure to an objective: agility means adapting to opportunities for change, while productivity relates the efficient use of resources to results.

One measure for each objective. For agility, start with the change that matters to your organization, then choose a sign that helps you assess your ability to adapt to it. Keep the question specific: the measure should shed light on the objective you chose, rather than serve as a general measure of organizational quality. An isolated indicator cannot answer an intention that has not been stated. Write down the objective before the indicator.

For productivity, do not measure output alone. According to the OECD definition, productivity takes account of how efficiently resources are used to create results. In your framework, link the resources being tracked to the results you want. If you track time spent, compare it with the expected result instead of presenting it on its own. This distinguishes measures for different objectives.

At the review, return to the same question and compare the target with the result in comparable terms: the INRS recommends comparing results with the objectives set. You can say whether the objective was achieved, partly achieved or not achieved. If the measure does not help you decide, reframe it for the next review.

I describe executive coaching as a collaboration that generally lasts from a few months to 1 year. This gives an indication of the duration, but it is not enough to assess change. Return to the objectives you chose and the measures linked to them.

When is HR support or targeted awareness-raising a better choice?

Choose HR support when the issue concerns the organization. Choose targeted awareness-raising when the aim is to share reference points with a group.

The INRS analysis of psychosocial risk prevention notes that training in stress or conflict management can be useful, but is not enough on its own: “Although necessary in some cases, these actions are not sufficient.” The test is simple.

The WHO recommendations distinguish organizational interventions, training for managers and employees, and individual interventions. This framework can help you choose between action focused on how work is organized and sharing reference points with a group. The choice therefore depends on the nature of the objective.

If the subject concerns working methods, responsibilities or adapting a policy, consider HR support. Also specify what kind of advice you need: strategy, overall pay policy, compensation, culture, or local adaptation on legal and cultural matters. If the need is to share reference points with a defined audience, awareness-raising is the more suitable choice. Training alone does not address an organizational issue.

For this type of awareness-raising, I offer a 14-hour PSSM training course, spread across four half-days, for groups of 8 to 16 people. A PSSM first aider directs people to a professional. They do not provide treatment or make a diagnosis. This training has an awareness-raising objective; it does not replace HR support when the need concerns the organization.

Frequently asked questions

What is organizational coaching?

Organizational coaching supports a business through change and helps it find its own answers and resources so it can become more autonomous. It may address organizational, relational, cultural or strategic change, or change related to performance, according to the OPIIEC, a French observatory for engineering, consulting and related professions.

How much does a professional organizer charge?

No fee for a professional organizer is given here. For my HR support, I provide pricing on request and prepare a tailored quote (fees for HR support). This information cannot be used to estimate the cost of an organizing service.

What are the seven steps of coaching?

No seven-step framework is given here. To structure organizational work, describe the difficulty, set an objective, define actions and plan their monitoring and evaluation, which the INRS places at the fifth stage of its approach to preventing psychosocial risks.

What I take away

Before choosing an option, describe your difficulty in one sentence. Specify when it arises, who is involved and what should be different.

Then ask yourself whether the issue concerns HR practices or another aspect of the organization. This distinction will help you look for support that fits your actual need.