Coaching to drive quality: facilitating a future of choice for students

At Dixons, there is nothing more important to us than developing future leaders and value creators who make a difference to the lives of the young people in our care. 

We have jettisoned appraisals. Instead, we want all members of our team to have conversations about performance through our coaching model, as an organic part of their work – focusing on fueling performance in the future rather than evaluating the past. Our teams are intrinsically motivated to always get better because of their commitment to our mission. Feedback is regular with an emphasis on clarity; all staff receive personalised coaching at least every four weeks.

We've come to realise that it is fairly obvious how people are doing and if you talk simply and honestly about performance on a regular basis, we believe you can get great results. Importantly, strong relations are key because over time, each of us learns to give as well as receive feedback. This is a coaching model of dialogue, of ongoing conversation, much closer to the realities of our working lives where we all depend on one another and deeply appreciate one another. All these interactions require trusted two way human connections. At a really simple level, our new model insures that everyone in our organisation is coached.

How do we nurture what we value so deeply? We do this through the power of checking in, together with instructional coaching and the personal commitment to grow and learn together. 

If we are determined to create a healthy organisation, each of us must have agency and self determination. This means we need to play an active role in our professional growth. We must also know our purpose as an educational institution to be able to hand over the power to those who have an equal right, but unequal access. Only in the rigour of great order, can the vulnerable minority become the focus.

Visit our Dixons OpenSource website to find out more and see what we have to offer: www.dixonsos.com