But it’s only partially about the coach-skills training itself.  The other part is that it’s a big opportunity to build some important relationships with a coaching company, and to reconnect with some coaches I worked with in the past but never met in person.

What’s the problem?  Well, I’m starting to get a little concerned that maybe my expectations are too high for what’s going to happen.  It would be fantastic if this would lead to a big-time job opportunity – I really hope it does – but I can’t expect that.  If I do, most likely I’ll be quite disappointed.

So I’m forcing myself to focus on the relationship-building part of this, and the learning.  That will definitely happen, and anything above that is icing on the cake.

Right now, employees in most large companies are holding on for dear life. They’re hoping they can survive through the remainder of the recession.

But they’re also feeling quite abused by the way they’ve been treated by their current employer. Stresses have increased dramatically, benefits have been axed, and in general work is a lot more WORK than it used to be.

I can’t count the number of people I’ve talked to who are riding this out, but have a strong desire to move on once the job market opens up. So I’m predicting that we’ll start to see the trend in 2010 of employees seeking out alternative employment, and by 2011 we should be seeing serious turnover in a number of large companies.

The employers have a number of alternatives:

• Those companies which are perceived as The Great Place To Work will be absolutely flooded and have their pick of top-notch candidates.
• Those companies which try to be conservative and continue to act as they did in 2008 and 2009 will start to see the stampede out the door. Many employees may indeed be replaced by others running away from other companies in the same industry, so we’ll see a lot of churn.
• Some smart employers will see the increasing turnover problem and start to address it by reinstating benefits, and creating a new culture where employees can feel valued, challenged, and productive.

A bit of this turnover may indeed be healthy, but at some point it will start causing deep damage to companies. What happens when 90% of your organizational memory walks out the door, and the remaining 10% isn’t particularly motivated to do their best work?

I’m predicting that in 2010 we will see significant growth in organizational coaching, fueled by companies who recognize the fundamental impact that great management and organizational culture have on employee retention. This will include leadership skill development, team coaching, and even some re-design of company culture.

Through every great economic crisis, you see a new set of winners and losers. This time, coaching will probably be a significant factor in the emerging winners.

The rest, well, would YOU want to work there?