Transcending Boundaries at SAP

Headquartered in Germany, with 130 offices around the globe and 200,000-plus customers in more than 190 countries, SAP is a multinational organization specializing in enterprise software for business management and customer relationship management.

In 2003, a group of managers at SAP sought coach-specific training to enhance their own communication skills, emotional intelligence and interpersonal relationships. After training, they began coaching colleagues’ direct reports, and a movement took hold in the organization. Today, SAP’s Global Coaching Practice (GCP) aligns with ICF standards, transcends international boundaries and has the support of leaders across the organization.

What began as a grassroots initiative at SAP is now embedded in the fabric of the organization. In 2010, SAP’s human resources division assumed management of the GCP and choose to adopt ICF standards to govern the program. SAP’s GCP Program Office oversees day-to-day administration and ensures that ICF’s high standards are met across the GCP. SAP offers a clear training and career path for internal coaches to ensure that they meet high professional standards and are empowered to provide outstanding service to the individuals they coach. To be added to GCP’s database of coaches, a practitioner must supply proof of an ICF Credential or proof of extensive coaching experience and 128-plus hours of coach-specific training. GCP coaches also sign a written agreement to abide by the ICF Code of Ethics and to SAP’s GCP Quality Guidelines, which were developed in alignment with ICF’s Core Competencies.

Coaching is available to everyone in the organization, regardless of seniority, level or job function. Employees interested in partnering with an internal coach use an in-house, online matching tool tied to the GCP database; this process helps ensure anonymity and, by extension, confidentiality. SAP also offers executives and mid-level leaders the opportunity to partner with external coach practitioners. This relationship is managed by a pair of third-party vendors aligned with ICF standards.

SAP measures the effectiveness of coaching by collecting individual impact data. Following each coaching engagement, clients complete a post-coaching impact survey. Through these surveys, clients have reported a host of positive impacts, including behavior change due to coaching; positive changes in emotions, perception and mindset; and an enhanced capacity for self-reflection and solution-oriented thinking.

One GCP coaching client reported, “My life has completely changed … professionally and personally as a result of coaching. … Feedback from colleagues, family and friends confirm it.” Another GCP client wrote, “Coaching helped me … become my own coach moving forward. … It was transformational.”

GCP has also been a powerful driver of professional development for participating internal coach practitioners, as they gain skills and experiences that make them stronger leaders in their primary job functions. One of SAP’s HR business partners reported, “I see positive influences on people and the organization from an SAP [internal coach] managing a finance unit. [Since joining GCP] she can deal better with peers, senior leaders and direct reports.”

Coaching is closely aligned with SAP’s strategic plan. In 2014, the organization hired its first Chief Learning Officer, Jenny Dearborn. As the GCP’s executive sponsor, Dearborn is leveraging coaching at SAP to support key strategic goals pertaining to the organization’s learning culture and talent management strategy, and to drive employee engagement across a growing global work force. Coaching is also a cornerstone of the organization’s strategy for recruiting, grooming and retaining millennials, as it feeds their craving for readily available feedback and individualized talent- and leadership-development interventions.

Although GCP’s leaders and champions acknowledge that organizational culture change takes time, they also agree that coaching has helped accelerate the process at SAP. As GCP’s cadre of internal coach practitioners has grown, SAP has been able to expand the availability of “Ready for Coachable Moments,” a two-day introduction
to coaching and the GROW model for managers and leaders. As a result of this training, SAP is gradually moving away from a conventional approach to performance management and feedback delivery, characterized by twice-annual performance reviews, and toward a new mindset characterized by regular, recursive development conversations between managers and their direct reports, as well as an increased emphasis on empowering and developing people to create a multiplier effect for the organization.

The influence of coaching on SAP’s culture continues to grow. With Dearborn’s support, SAP has allocated funding to provide coaching to 25 percent of employees worldwide. SAP’s protocol for employees’ development planning has been updated to include “working with an internal coach” as a formal option, and coaching is now an integral part of the organization’s onboarding process for leaders following a merger or acquisition. Through “Embedded Coaching Fellowships,” internal coaches are redeployed to other divisions in the organization to provide full-time, temporary support for specific projects or development goals. SAP has also made plans to incorporate coaching into one of the organization’s flagship corporate social responsibility initiatives. Through SAP’s Social Sabbatical Program, top performers within the organization have the opportunity to spend three months volunteering with small businesses in emerging markets. In the near future, internal coaches will be aligned with this program to deliver coaching to the volunteers before, during and after their engagements. Finally, this year SAP is launching an initiative to expand ICF Credentialing among GCP coaches.

With the continued support of leaders in the uppermost echelons of the organization, SAP’s GCP is poised to continue driving change—one client at a time—for the next decade and beyond. As an executive from SAP’s c-suite wrote, “I am proud to support the program because, as a credentialed coach myself, I can state confidently that this high-quality program enables our leaders and employees to [address] new situations effectively and thus become drivers for change in the digital economy. The best part, however, is that this important pillar of our talent-development strategy was started by a handful of employees with entrepreneurial spirit.”

Celebrating Strong Coaching Cultures

SAP received the honorable mention in the 2015 ICF International Prism Award program. In 2005, ICF Global adopted the Prism Award, a concept developed by ICF Toronto recognizing businesses and organizations that demonstrate how professional coaching pays off on many fronts. The award represents the epitome of what professional coaching can accomplish within organizations of all sizes and in all sectors.

The 41 programs nominated for the 2015 award were evaluated by a panel of ICF Members from around the world according to four criteria: yielding discernible and measurable positive impacts, fulfilling rigorous professional standards, addressing key strategic goals, and shaping organizational culture.

Nominations for the 2016 International Prism Award will open in May 2016. To request more information about the program, visit Coachfederation.org/prism.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts featured on this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of the International Coach Federation (ICF). The publication of a guest post on the ICF Blog does not equate to an ICF endorsement or guarantee of the products or services provided by the author.

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Photo: © SAP AG / Wolfram Scheible