The third annual International Coach Federation German Prism Award was granted to SAP, the largest European software company, during a virtual celebration of Coaching Day on November 12, 2020. Sponsored by RELEVANT Managementberatung (an authorized distributor of Hogan Assessments), the award honors special coaching offerings in organizations and recognizes the work of human resources professionals, as well as companies that embody a strong coaching culture.

The groundwork for the SAP Global Coaching Program was laid several years ago. The Prism Award 2020 is now the reward for many years of work by SAP’s dedicated team in human resources and organizational development. The SAP Coaching Team, which has already been awarded with an honorable mention for the ICF’s global Prism Award, is now delighted to receive the Prism Award from ICF Germany as recognition.

The dynamic HR team has been demonstrating openness to innovation and growth within the company itself for years. With self-reflection and sustainability, the SAP Coach Community is committed to “employee empowerment” and thus offers room for the development of a coaching culture within the company. SAP has high standards with regard to the development and further expansion of its offerings and is strongly committed to the training and certification of coaches.

In his laudation, René Kusch, PhD, founder of RELEVANT Managementberatung, expressed appreciation for SAP’s Global Coaching Program: “SAP is not only a pioneer in the development of software, but also in the development of employees, which started as a grassroots movement. You see coaching as an investment that can help to provide people with an interface for important questions. I am deeply convinced that support in crises and coaching of employees is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage.”

Dr. Kusch emphasized these special features of SAP’s Global Coaching Program:

• Coaches have a very high degree of self-guidance in their training and education with weekly training sessions, information events, peer consulting, supervision, and mentor coaching in some cases.
• Coaches have access to a global coaching community, along with an ambassador network for local support.
• The program includes a combination of trained internal line managers and external coaches.
• Employees with and without management responsibility can call on coaching.
• Coaches have an open-ended mandate to discuss private issues.
• Coaching is free of charge for employees.
• Quality control of external and internal coaches is conducted.
• A range of criteria is used for continuous development.

All who attended the virtual awards ceremony will have fond memories of the lively presentation by the SAP executives. In the very lively Q&A session that followed the presentation, the lighthouse function of the SAP Global Coaching Program became clear once again.