Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 45

Figure 1:
Does more participation in peer coaching lead to higher profits?

no meaningful impact? Of course not.
The data can't prove peer coaching drives
organizational success; however, the data
certainly suggests that it does. Overall,
this collection of findings gave leadership
confidence that peer coaching was a wise
investment and one that has contributed
to getting through difficult organizational
transformation.

Profitability Relative to
Participation for Six Departments
Relative Profitability

2

D
F

1.5

A

1

C

0.5
0

B

0%

10%

20%

30%

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE

E

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Participation in Peer Coaching

right pace and checks that nothing is
going off track (e.g., conflict between
team members).
When you listen in on a peer coaching
session, you'll see it is more akin to problemsolving than sitting in a classroom.
The prepared topic presents ideas and
questions for the team to grapple with.
They draw on their own experiences and
share what they think is relevant to the
issue. In doing so, they consolidate their
own understanding and learn from their
peers while simultaneously learning about
their peers and their work challenges.
However, Fujitsu SSL wasn't just promoting
learning. The goal was to use this learning
methodology to drive organizational
change. Did it work?
ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF PEER
COACHING
The work at Fujitsu SSL was unusual in
its scope and duration. As a result, they
were able to do some interesting analysis
on the impact of the program. Here are
the findings:
* Departments with higher participation
in peer coaching posted higher
profits. Some departments put
many managers through the peer
coaching program, others just a few.
A plot of department profits versus
participation rate showed a strong

correlation between peer coaching
and profitability (see Figure 1).
* As overall participation in peer
coaching increased so did the
organization's revenue and profits.
Over the nine years of the program,
participation
steadily
increased,
as well as revenue and profits. The
core goals of the organizational
transformation were achieved.
* Managers rated the sessions as
valuable. Peer coaching is a novel
approach to learning. However,
managers at Fujitsu SSL saw the value;
they were particularly positive about
modules that focused on reflection.
* Generally, individual managers' results
improved after participating in peer
learning. While there were some ups
and downs, on average, performance
ratings for the individual managers
improved after participation.
* Peer coaching participation is
correlated with improvement in
various engagement survey measures.
As peer coaching participation
went up so did scores on various
engagement
survey
measures,
particularly teamwork and crossfunctional communication.
What are we to glean from this data? Does
it lead you to believe peer coaching has

* Peer coaching is more than just an
extra tool that sits in the learning
professional's toolkit. It can be a
powerful means for organizational
change. Listed below are a few lessons
learned from this process:
* Peer coaching made a difference. The
learning intervention was clearly in
aid of a larger business purpose; it
was not just learning for the sake of
learning.
* It would have been impossible to get
a reliable assessment of the impact
had the program not been run over a
period of several years.
* It is crucial to gather a variety of
measures that highlight whether
or not the program has the desired
impact. Avoid simple-minded ROI
measurements.
* A training intervention can go well
beyond transmitting knowledge or
developing skills; it can be a catalyst
that enables managers to achieve
impressive results for the organization.
Every learning professional should
experiment with peer coaching to
get a hands-on sense of the change it
can deliver.
Kentaro Iijima is co-director of the Japan
Module of the IMPM. Previously, he served
as the corporate senior vice president at
Fujitsu Social Science Laboratory and Fujitsu
Marketing, where he worked for 40 years. Ken
Senda is a corporate executive officer at Fujitsu
Social Science Laboratory Ltd. Email Kentaro
and Ken.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MAGAZ INE -FORMALIZ ING INFORMAL L E ARNI NG 2 019 I W W W .T RAI NI NGI NDU S T RY .C OM/ MAGAZI NE

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https://www.trainingindustry.com/magazine

Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019

Thinking More Broadly About How Adults Learn
Table of Contents
Mentoring: 4 Keys To Making it a Meaningful Learning Experience
Formalizing Informal Learning: Tinker Dabble Doodle Try
The Accidental Learner
Percolating Builds Depth
Coaching is a Cop-Out
Close More Deals With Story Selling
Partnering for the Power of Knowledge: How Can Knowledge Sharing Foster Collaboration Among L&D and Employees?
Organizational Resiliency: a Function of Leader Adaptability and Versatility
Rules of Engagement for by Laura Francis Mentoring Reverse
Steps to Formally Make The Informal Part of Your Content Strategy
The Play's the Thing': The Power of Story-Based Learning
Fujitsu’s Experiment With Peer Coaching Pays Off
How to be Authentic When Collaborating on Multicultural Virtual Teams
Making the Case for Informal Learning at Work
Formalizing Informal Learning to Improve Performance
Making Learning Fun Again
Investing in the Future of the Worker, Not Just the Future of Work
Company News
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Cover1
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 2
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Thinking More Broadly About How Adults Learn
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Table of Contents
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 5
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 6
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 7
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 8
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Mentoring: 4 Keys To Making it a Meaningful Learning Experience
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 10
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Formalizing Informal Learning: Tinker Dabble Doodle Try
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 12
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - The Accidental Learner
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 14
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Percolating Builds Depth
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Coaching is a Cop-Out
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 17
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 18
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 19
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Close More Deals With Story Selling
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 21
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 22
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 23
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Partnering for the Power of Knowledge: How Can Knowledge Sharing Foster Collaboration Among L&D and Employees?
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 25
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 26
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 27
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 28
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Organizational Resiliency: a Function of Leader Adaptability and Versatility
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 30
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 31
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Rules of Engagement for by Laura Francis Mentoring Reverse
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 33
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 34
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 35
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Steps to Formally Make The Informal Part of Your Content Strategy
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 37
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 38
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 39
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - The Play's the Thing': The Power of Story-Based Learning
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 41
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 42
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 43
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Fujitsu’s Experiment With Peer Coaching Pays Off
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 45
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - How to be Authentic When Collaborating on Multicultural Virtual Teams
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 47
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 48
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 49
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 50
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Making the Case for Informal Learning at Work
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 52
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Formalizing Informal Learning to Improve Performance
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - 54
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Making Learning Fun Again
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Investing in the Future of the Worker, Not Just the Future of Work
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Company News
Training Industry Magazine - September/October 2019 - Cover4
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