Effective Employee Coaching
A free, practical introduction to coaching the people you manage — grounded in real research, not opinion.
Free
No payment required — you'll need an account to track your progress.
🎓 Earn a free BLTI Certificate of Completion, verifiable online by certificate number, once you pass the final exam.
Effective Employee Coaching
A free, practical course for anyone who manages people — grounded in real research from SHRM, Gallup, and Harvard Business Review.
Gallup research has found that managers account for roughly 70% of the variance in team engagement scores — the single biggest lever most organizations have is how well their managers coach. This course teaches the practical skills behind that number: the GROW model, active listening, powerful questions, feedback that actually lands, goal-setting, and how to coach both your strongest and most struggling team members. Every lesson cites its real sources — nothing here is generic filler.
What you'll learn
- ✓ Explain what coaching is and how it differs from managing and mentoring
- ✓ Apply the GROW model to structure a real coaching conversation
- ✓ Practice active listening and ask open-ended, powerful questions
- ✓ Deliver feedback that is specific, timely, and actually changes behavior
- ✓ Set SMART goals collaboratively and coach both underperformers and high performers
- ✓ Run effective 1:1s and avoid the most common coaching mistakes
Who will benefit
- New and frontline supervisors coaching a team for the first time
- Experienced managers who want to formalize their coaching approach
- HR and L&D professionals building a coaching culture
- Anyone curious what actually distinguishes coaching from managing or mentoring
Skills you'll gain
Earned automatically as you complete each lesson.
Competencies you'll earn
Validated badges — awarded the moment you pass a unit's quiz.
Course syllabus
4 modules , 3-5 hrs
Module 1
Foundations of Coaching
1-2 Hours
Foundations of Coaching
What coaching actually is, the GROW model, and how it differs from managing and mentoring.
- ▶ What Is Workplace Coaching?
- ▶ The GROW Coaching Model
- 📄 Coaching vs. Managing vs. Mentoring
Module 2
Core Coaching Skills
1-2 Hours
Core Coaching Skills
Active listening, asking powerful questions, and giving feedback that actually lands.
- ▶ The Art of Active Listening
- ▶ How to Ask Powerful Coaching Questions
- 📄 Giving Feedback That Lands
Module 3
Coaching for Performance & Growth
1-2 Hours
Coaching for Performance & Growth
Setting SMART goals together, coaching underperformers, and developing your best people.
- 📄 Setting SMART Goals Together
- ▶ How to Coach an Underperforming Employee
- 📄 Coaching Your High Performers
Module 4
Building a Coaching Habit
1-2 Hours
Building a Coaching Habit
Running effective 1:1s, avoiding common mistakes, and measuring whether coaching is working.
- ▶ The Secret to Effective One-on-One Meetings
- 📄 Avoiding Common Coaching Mistakes
- 📄 Measuring the Impact of Coaching
Led by
Demo Instructor
Frequently asked questions
Is this course really free?
Yes — every lesson, quiz, and the final exam are free, with no payment or trial. You just need a free BLTI account so we can track your progress and issue your certificate.
Do I need any prior management experience?
No. This is a beginner-level course — it's built for anyone coaching a team for the first time, as well as experienced managers who want to sharpen their approach.
How is this different from a generic leadership course?
It focuses specifically on coaching — the skill of asking questions and listening to help someone find their own solution — rather than management or leadership in general. Every claim is sourced from real research (see each lesson's citations).
What do I get for finishing?
A free, publicly verifiable BLTI Certificate of Completion once you pass the final exam.