Coaching 2.0

What happens when you take fifty years of experience in the learning and development space and two thousand of the world’s best professional coaches? And then you combine it with the very latest in cutting-edge design and user experience?

Meet Ezra. Designed to make coaching more modern, more democratic and more convenient. Made for the modern worker.

If you picture a professional coach, chances are you’re imagining someone in a suit sitting across a desk. Maybe they’ve been brought in to facilitate a tricky situation. Most probably they have an hourly-rate that makes them only worthy of talking to the people who ‘really matter’ – those at the top. Indeed, we have a name for them: executive coaches.

But what about everyone else? What about the high achiever who was so good at selling software that she was promoted to manager but had no experience in leading a team? Or those returning from a career break or parental leave, faced with navigating a new company culture? Or that worker over there, who has always ‘just got on with things’ without ever aiming for something higher?

We wanted to find a way to let more people benefit from the wonders of coaching. And we wanted to do it in a way that would allow people to really engage in the experience – something fresh, modern and, unlike most work technology, intuitively simple. Something that people would want to use. Not just once, but time and time again.

Coaching, but not as you know it

We already had the coaches – as part of Lee Hecht Harrison, the global leader in career coaching, we possess the world’s very best coaching specialists. But we wanted to give people easy access to those coaches with a few taps of a button. So we worked closely with world-class user experience specialists, designers and behavioural scientists to create a brand-new mobile-first coaching platform.

Within minutes of downloading Ezra, employees can set their individual targets and aims, select a coach who feels like the right fit, sync up their calendars and arrange a session to get started. Then when it’s time to talk, they can connect via the app, much like Skype or FaceTime. 

Every single detail has been crafted, honed and refined to make it as easy and convenient as possible. To fit in with people’s working lives, rather than the other way round. And to make those people – whoever they are, and whatever their job title – feel important and valued.

Better on every level

Ezra launched last week, with three of the world’s biggest companies already signed up and 100s of their employees – High Potentials; First Line Managers; New Employees - receiving one-to-one personalised coaching on the App. 

For those companies, the benefits will be immense: a more motivated, engaged workforce with clearer objectives and the right support to help them get there. Coaching that isn’t compromised in quality, for a fraction of the cost of a more traditional approach. 

And for the people using it, it’s a chance to really focus on their own career progression with world-class experts to advise them along the journey. All in a way that’s as simple and user-friendly as calling a friend or booking a taxi. Isn’t that the way it should be?

Do you want to see more coaching in your company? Find out more about Ezra and see it for yourself here: www.helloezra.com