How can coaching support social mobility?
By Jo Faragher on 28 June 2022
There was good news this month in the form of the Social Mobility Commission’s latest State of the Nation report, showing improvements in prospects for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. It found that the likelihood of both men and women from more affluent backgrounds moving into professional roles had narrowed slightly, while the gap between working-class and professional backgrounds in university participation and degree attainment had also closed slightly.
But that does not mean there are not still challenges for people from less affluent backgrounds in terms of securing roles and career progression. The report points out that while there are many ‘rags to riches’ stories, there is a need for organisational systems and processes to change to make those opportunities more widely available to everyone.
One way to do this is by promoting understanding of the challenges those from lower socio-economic backgrounds face through coaching. The Circl programme does this by matching up groups of professionals with Future Leaders (aged 18 to 24) from diverse and under-represented backgrounds based on their personality, interests and goals. Both follow the same course learning inclusive coaching skills such as active listening and how to ask powerful questions. They do this one-to-one, either in person or on Zoom. They then embed and practise these skills by exploring each other’s challenges and goals, and at the end both parties earn an Association for Coaching accreditation. There are around 15 pairs in each cohort.
More inclusive leaders
Three-quarters of the professionals who have participated in the Circl programme feel it has helped them to become a more inclusive leader, while the Future Leaders often go on to informally coach colleagues or use their coaching skills in everyday life. Two-thirds of them feel it has supported them in getting a new job, internship or work placement.
Charlie Stainforth, CEO and founder, began his own career working in a pupil referral unit, a school setting for those who have been excluded from mainstream schools. “It showed me that if you come from an under-represented background you don’t always get the tools to achieve your potential,” he says. “I wanted to give people from such backgrounds the opportunities to think for themselves versus being told what to do – to receive effective coaching rather than being given advice or told that they’re bad.” Many interventions targeted at young people from under-represented groups end up having the opposite effect of what they intend, he adds. “They can be quite patronising, telling people ‘you need to do this’ or emulate someone successful. I wanted to flip that dynamic and make the young person the agent in that relationship and put them in the driving seat.”
Psychology graduate Temi Longe was partnered with Yasmin Bastow, who is global lead for partner operations & strategy at Meta, while she was still at university and the pair immediately hit it off. “We thought in a similar way and had similar life experiences so there was already a familiarity,” explains Temi. “Her coaching helped me think things through and solidify my goals in a way that was attainable.” Temi’s coaching of Yasmin has been instrumental in her career, too. “We had lots of conversations about a promotion she was going for and I helped her think objectively. I wanted to be that grounding influence she was for me and supported her to use her coaching skills to be successful in getting the promotion,” Temi adds.
Temi herself now works for media giant Global in its research insights team and the skills she acquired through the Circl programme have been invaluable in helping her to secure a role in an industry often criticised for its lack of social mobility. “Circl has been instrumental for me in building my confidence,” she adds. “I was scared about the interview as I don’t have the direct skills, but I do have passion and a drive to learn. The coaching has motivated me to have trust in myself.” Yasmin also gained something positive from the experience: “Circl’s coaching program taught me to take a different approach when supporting my team, colleagues and family,” she says. “I learnt the importance of empowering others to work towards their own goals, rather than jumping to ‘solution-ise’ for them first. But more importantly, it taught me to take a different approach to working towards my own goals. Using the methods taught over the course, and with the guidance of my wonderful Circl partner I was able to achieve some great things, including expanding my team, and getting a promotion. The programme is designed to empower anyone to work towards their goals, with intention, accountability and focus, and the best things is, you get to meet some inspirational young leaders along the way.”
Expanding circles
Law firm Baker McKenzie runs a programme called Mentoring Circles – something that has recently expanded into social mobility from existing schemes for other affinity groups including women and employees from ethnic minority backgrounds. “Having spent a huge amount of time on external-facing activities like our contextual recruitment, our outreach activities such as work placements and open days, and external advocacy like our Social Mobility Week each year, we wanted to really focus on our in-reach and progression and enhancing our internal community and support network for our social mobility focus group,” explains Arron Slocombe, partner in Baker McKenzie’s pensions group and sponsor of the mentoring group, called ‘Baker Opportunity’.
“The mentoring circles enable us to focus more meaningfully on our people and their progression once they start their careers at Baker McKenzie,” he adds. “The circles involve mentors and mentees, with mentors having come from a diverse range of backgrounds, and we find that this benefits everyone who takes part. We have about four or five circles, who meet once every couple of months to share experiences, lend support, and create a sense of community.”
The firm ran a survey to gauge how effective the scheme was and to also raise awareness of it across the organisation. The feedback will help Baker McKenzie build more internal networking opportunities and hopefully cross-pollinate ideas between the circles’ areas of focus. “Inclusion relates to the full range of experiences and any one person may have an interest in more than one focus group,” adds Slocombe.
As with any strand of D&I, the difference between stating ambitions and making them a reality can often be down to the sheer power of conversation. By opening up the dialogue about socio-economic background and bringing together different perspectives, there’s optimism that those social mobility gaps will close even further in future.
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