J.K. Organisation Builds Its Legacy on a Culture of Coaching

Founded more than 100 years ago, J.K. Organisation (E.Z) is one of India’s largest industrial groups. With a diverse portfolio of companies responsible for the manufacture, distribution, sale and service of products including tires, paper, cement, industrial supplies, and agricultural and dairy products, J.K. employs more than 22,000 individuals across India and around the globe.

As India continues to emerge as a global economic power, J.K.’s leaders are seeking ways to capitalize on this opportunity, retaining the organization’s legacy of excellence while adapting to a dynamic operating environment. In 2008, J.K.’s senior decision-makers chose to adopt coaching as a strategy for talent development, leadership enhancement and change management. What began as an initiative pairing external Executive Coaches (most of whom held ICF Credentials) with senior leaders has evolved into an integrated program that incorporates coaching, training for a growing cadre of internal coach practitioners, and opportunities for managers and leaders to learn and use coaching skills with their direct reports. The result is a coaching culture impacting not only the organization, but also the personal and family lives of J.K.’s employees.

In recognition of J.K. Organisation’s exceptional use of coaching, the International Coach Federation (ICF) awarded it with the 2014 ICF International Prism Award. The Prism Award honors organizations that have achieved the highest standard of excellence in coaching programs that yield discernible and measurable positive impacts, fulfill rigorous professional standards, address key strategic goals, and shape organizational culture. (Learn more about the award at Coachfederation.org/prism.)

Prior to 2008, J.K.’s legacy of excellence was premised on a directive management model. “The senior employees have all grown up in the culture of expecting instruction from their bosses,” explains Alan Meyne, PCC, director of Coaching Lighthouse and the coach who nominated J.K. for the Prism Award. Innovation and initiative were expected to come from the top, down.

The demands on Indian organizations are changing, however. While most of J.K.’s leaders are in their fifties, the average age of an Indian citizen is 27. Managers and leaders need skills and strategies to negotiate this generation gap in order to unleash their direct reports’ potential, promote innovation, retain top talent, and ensure J.K.’s continued success in the 21st century.

The growth of a coaching culture at J.K. has helped address this need.

“A coaching culture is visible in the behavior of people. It’s a way of looking at people and treating each other. When we describe a coaching culture, we’re describing a learning culture that is respectful and that values people’s potential and promotes innovation,” Meyne explains.

Although awareness of professional coaching in India is increasing, there’s still a great deal of confusion about what coaching is—and what it isn’t. The perception of coaching as a remedial intervention persists throughout the country, largely due to the word’s academic connotations. (India is home to numerous “coaching” institutes and programs that prepare individuals for school, university and professional exams.)

The program’s developers knew that they’d need leaders to model the experience and impacts of coaching for lower-level employees. This strategy worked: What began as Executive Coaching for a handful of top senior leaders rapidly expanded to include high-potential leaders at the VP level and below. Today, 124 senior and high-potential executives have completed coaching engagements, while 43 new leaders are currently participating in Executive Coaching relationships.

In 2013, J.K. took the next step, engaging ICF Professional Certified Coaches from Coaching Lighthouse to provide a course of coach-specific training to leaders in becoming internal coach practitioners.

The organizational and individual impacts of coaching at J.K. are appreciable. Within the four J.K. companies using coaching most frequently, leaders have reported improved performance, profitability and employee retention. Since 2008, revenues have grown by 105 percent, employee satisfaction has increased by 16 percent and attrition of high-potential employees has decreased by two percent (from an all-time high of 7.1 percent).

Leaders receiving Executive Coaching have reported a high return on expectations, particularly in the areas of stress management (one client reported a 60 to 65 percent decrease in stress during and after coaching), management skills, role transitions, self-confidence, and enhanced teamwork. The positive impacts go beyond the office walls: Coaching clients also report enhanced communication and relationships with their spouses, children and extended families.

Perhaps the most significant change wrought by coaching within the J.K. Organisation has been the shift from a top-down management style to a system of collegial, collaborative relationships between senior- and middle-level leaders and their peers and direct reports. Thanks to this change, team members are taking greater initiative for projects and activities, even proposing innovative ideas that they believe would improve a product or process. No longer is an employee’s value based solely on his or her age and tenure with the organization: Now, creative ideas, diverse solutions and the ability to play an active role in the decision-making process are among the factors used to evaluate employees’ effectiveness.

As J.K.’s initiative evolves, its architects say they are optimistic about the future of coaching in the organization.

“We believe that people have the potential to do wonders at work, and coaching taps into that potential,” says ICF Associate Certified Coach and J.K.’s vice president of corporate human resources, Dilep Misra. “Coaching has provided a common language that is gaining popularity in the workplace as it creates new learning and sets people up for success. Asking powerful questions, facilitating the process, putting them in charge: It’s all a way to get them involved in the organization’s day-to-day decision-making process, make them a success in their area, and make them a success in achieving the target.”

Get an inside look at successful coaching programs by viewing the upcoming webcast featuring Dilep Misra, ACC, president of corporate HR for J.K. Organisation; J. Matthew Becker, M.Ed., PCC, coaching and mentoring manager for CareSource; and moderator Mark Ruth, Director of Research and Education for the International Coach Federation (ICF). Register here.