The Caribbean to benefit from the expertise of newly ILO certified business coaches
The four week course provided participants with the opportunity to practice their coaching techniques in a safe environment, using real life case studies.
31 August 2022
Ten business coaches have been certified following a four-week business coaching course1 for rural enterprises and farmers which was administered from 14 June to 5 July 2022. The pilot course jointly facilitated by ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, in cooperation with the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITCILO) was funded by the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS).
Through dynamic one-on-one discussions, coaches and clients were able to gain a better understanding of their business environment and potential ways to improve their businesses. The course also provided participants with the opportunity to practice their coaching techniques in a safe environment, using real life case studies. The results of the coaching sessions and role-playing interaction throughout the course confirmed the improvement and demonstrated the capabilities of the coaches with the use and application of the tools provided within their context.
Valuable experiences and lessons learnt were shared during the final session of the 4-week course in an effort to rethink some elements of the course delivery and promote the continued investment in business coaching as it relates to the future investment in resilient businesses.
Dean Avril, participant coach from Saint Lucia highlighted the significance of the course, “it gave me an understanding of how to transform an idea into an action plan that could actually lead to a successful start-up”.
“The GROW model was a very easy model to follow and once you had a good understanding of it, you could use it to assist the client in organizing or reviewing their business plan” said Dawn Francis, participant coach from Dominica. “[…]you realize that as a coach you have to kind of pull out the answers from the client and the course was able to underline the importance of the client taking ownership and being part of the solution.”
John Bliek, ILO Specialist, Sustainable Enterprise Development and Job Creation, emphasized that the training realized under the UNTFHS project has enabled an important ambition which is to use business coaching as a strategic tool to enable small scale business to become more resilient, sustainable and successful.
It is hoped that the newly certified coaches will contribute to enable the 5 participating countries and their farmers and rural business-women to generate a prosperous economic development that generates income and decent work, in particular for the more vulnerable groups. The ILO, with its partners, will continue to invest in a human centered economic development of the Caribbean, that lives up to its potential, with high quality business coaching and training, available for all.
1. The course is part of the initiative entitled Building Effective Resilience for Human Security in the Caribbean Countries: The Imperative of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in a Strengthened Agriculture (and related Agri/Fisheries Small Business) Sector under the United Nations Joint Programme which is being implemented by UN Women, UNDP, ILO, and FAO with funding from the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS).
Through dynamic one-on-one discussions, coaches and clients were able to gain a better understanding of their business environment and potential ways to improve their businesses. The course also provided participants with the opportunity to practice their coaching techniques in a safe environment, using real life case studies. The results of the coaching sessions and role-playing interaction throughout the course confirmed the improvement and demonstrated the capabilities of the coaches with the use and application of the tools provided within their context.
Valuable experiences and lessons learnt were shared during the final session of the 4-week course in an effort to rethink some elements of the course delivery and promote the continued investment in business coaching as it relates to the future investment in resilient businesses.
Dean Avril, participant coach from Saint Lucia highlighted the significance of the course, “it gave me an understanding of how to transform an idea into an action plan that could actually lead to a successful start-up”.
“The GROW model was a very easy model to follow and once you had a good understanding of it, you could use it to assist the client in organizing or reviewing their business plan” said Dawn Francis, participant coach from Dominica. “[…]you realize that as a coach you have to kind of pull out the answers from the client and the course was able to underline the importance of the client taking ownership and being part of the solution.”
John Bliek, ILO Specialist, Sustainable Enterprise Development and Job Creation, emphasized that the training realized under the UNTFHS project has enabled an important ambition which is to use business coaching as a strategic tool to enable small scale business to become more resilient, sustainable and successful.
It is hoped that the newly certified coaches will contribute to enable the 5 participating countries and their farmers and rural business-women to generate a prosperous economic development that generates income and decent work, in particular for the more vulnerable groups. The ILO, with its partners, will continue to invest in a human centered economic development of the Caribbean, that lives up to its potential, with high quality business coaching and training, available for all.
1. The course is part of the initiative entitled Building Effective Resilience for Human Security in the Caribbean Countries: The Imperative of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in a Strengthened Agriculture (and related Agri/Fisheries Small Business) Sector under the United Nations Joint Programme which is being implemented by UN Women, UNDP, ILO, and FAO with funding from the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS).