This research originally appeared in HRLooK
A strong team ethos in management appears to be the plan for some businesses that are looking to ride out economic difficulties, according to figures released today.
Research by consultancy firm Hays Group of 170 managers has shown an increase in the number of companies running executive coaching courses for their managers.
"Coaching and building strong teams is one of the ways companies believe they can survive the downturn and build their business in the next year," a Hays Group spokesperson said.
Often implemented to increase the performance of high-flyers, courses were run in half of the 170 companies contacted over the past 18 months.
The Institute of Managers (IoM) has also seen an increase in the number of executive coaching courses being taken by managers. However, it has also seen a rise in executives learning cross-departmental tasks to help ride out difficulties:
"We are starting to see businesses preparing for a downturn by training managers in a range of skills including departmental tasks. We have seen financial directors learning about the marketing function, which is always the first to suffer in a downturn," the IoM said.
The Hay Group believes that the increase in courses show that business leaders are beginning to rethink the ways in which they will have to run a business in the future.