What is Virtual Coaching & Is It Effective?
In a time where working from home is the new norm, virtual coaching is inevitable. But what is it? And how effective is virtual coaching?
Following the pandemic, when social mobility was low or, at times even non-existent, video calls became the new norm for catching up and continuing a (semi-) normal work life. Ever since, the convenience has stuck. TELUS International found that just 17% of technology leaders predict being back in the office full-time within the next six months. As a result, coaching virtually has become a popular tool, allowing for support and development wherever you are.
But what is virtual coaching exactly?
Virtual coaching is a remote coaching session, facilitated by technology, where personalised and flexible training is given to employees, and where coach and coachee work together to achieve goals.
How does virtual coaching work?
The beauty of virtual coaching is that everyone’s journey is slightly different. But one thing that stays the same is it allows your teams to be active participants in their growth and knowledge.
Generally, the process begins with setting the goals that your people want to work on in order to assume employee ownership from the start – the main focus of virtual coaching is on the individual. And so, to facilitate this further, you should be able to choose the coach that suits you and your goals best: at EZRA for example, we give you several options based on your goals. You’ll then schedule sessions and keep in contact with your coach, who will be able to give feedback based on data-driven results which are measurable.
Some virtual coaching best practices include:
Choosing a compatible coach in line with your personal targets.
Setting strong and achievable goals together and allowing those to change through a flexible cohesive workflow.
Using the data and measuring the success of virtual coaching to see its effectiveness.
How effective is virtual coaching?
And as a result, how effective is virtual learning?
At EZRA, 95% of participants saw their performance improve following virtual coaching – so it seems that virtual coaching is pretty effective. 77% of participants began to feel greater loyalty towards their company, and as a result our clients noticed a 14% improvement in employee retention. But why is virtual coaching so effective?
1. You’ll have quality coaches from all over the world
Virtual coaching provides your company with some of the best online coaches from all over the world, not just in your area. That means you have the choice between plenty of qualified coaches to ensure yours is the right fit, with sessions in the comfort of your (and your employees’) own home, office, or workspace. Quality? Check. Convenience? Check.
2. A truly flexible and personalised experience
Virtual coaching is designed to be fluid and flexible, to ensure a truly personalised coaching experience. An effective virtual coaching plan tends to put clients in the driving seat, to ensure that it is exactly what they need.
From leadership coaching to change and transformation coaching, goals are different from team to team, and company to company. So, a flexible coaching program, centred around the employee is a must if you’re looking for the best results.
Because it’s virtual, you have access to online services such as apps, calendars, customized resources, and tracking to ensure goals are reached. Which leads us to the next benefit…
3. It’s highly measurable
Because virtual coaching is facilitated by technology as well as being human-led, the data collected makes measuring the success, development, and progress of employees and goal setting far easier – so the effectiveness of virtual coaching can really be seen. Like with our EZRA Measure tool.
4. It’s critical for today’s workforce
This type of coaching combines technology and human connection for maximum effectiveness. And now that we’re all making the morning commute less often with increasing hybrid workforces, face-to-face coaching isn’t always convenient. But hopping on a video call can be done pretty much anywhere.
5. Information retention increased
According to The Research Institute of America, virtual learning increases retention rates by 25-60%, while face-to-face training has low retention rates of around 8-10% in comparison. Not only is the retention rate increased, but a Brandon-Hall study found that virtual coaching typically takes up 40-60% less employee time than face-to-face. Those are significant stats!
6. It provides increased ROI for companies
A study also showed that 42% of companies say that e-learning has led to an increase in revenue. The revenue generated per employee is 26% higher for companies that provide e-learning.
Because virtual coaching is effective in driving development, and helping employees reach their goals, the increase in productivity (of which EZRA has business uplifts of 18%), and the subsequent results can have a huge impact on a company’s revenue.
7. It’s cost effective
Due to the convenience of hopping on to a remote video call, the cost of virtual coaching is often said to be far more effective than in-person coaching courses, and yet results are just as good.
So, it’s clear. Virtual coaching can be an incredibly effective way of developing both your employees and, as a result, your company. Find out more of the key can have.
Get started with virtual coaching with EZRA. From executive coaching to wellbeing coaching, we can help kickstart your journey to growth today.
