Successful scaling of action learning principles through self-facilitated peer coaching groups

This account of practice describes an online program started in 2022, which helps leaders at BNP Paribas to be more effective problem solvers and inclusive leaders by developing stronger questioning and listening skills. The goals of this program were aligned with action learning and could have been achieved with standard, coach-led action learning groups, however there was a desire at the bank to scale this program to support up to 80 participants at a time at a reasonable budget. Therefore, at Be Leadership we set out to design a program that met our learning outcomes in a scalable, cost-effective way. This account concludes that with the right set up and ongoing support, self-facilitated peer coaching groups can consistently reach the same rich learnings and positive outcomes as those using standard coach-led action learning. Across three cohorts and 47 peer coaching groups, 96 percent of participants said they were satisfied with the program and 92 percent said insights from this program would be useful in their career development. When asked if they would recommend this course to their peers, the experience received a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 8.53 on a scale of 1–10.