We believe that it’s always our people who drive the success of Coca-Cola HBC and it’s them who make a difference. Putting people first is not a slogan, it’s how we run the business – investing in our peoples´ development, giving them the right tools and opportunities to unlock their full potential and motivating them to excel. 

As part of this commitment, in 2020 we introduced the Internal Coach Programme, with the aim of making coaching available for all our employees. Whether it’s about a career move, joining a new project, or simply planning the next steps to reach specific goals, coaching can help a lot. 

Each of our employees now can choose an Internal Certified Coach simply by clicking on a button. At any time, at any stage of the career journey, in any of our markets, CCHBC people can choose coaching to reach their full potential. 

How did we start? We invited leaders with a passion for developing people to give their time as Internal Coaches, thus helping colleagues from across the company to see beyond limits and find their own path to targeted goals. Those who accepted the call went through an intensive training process at the end of which they got certified. Currently, we have 90 internally certified coaches across the business and over 100 completed assignments.   

We talked with one of the coaching “couples” – coachee Paul Fahy – eKey Accounts Manager in Ireland - and his coach, Anna Samek, Employer Branding & Culture Programs Manager in Austria – to learn more about what this experience meant for them and the value of coaching.   

Paul Fahy – eKey Accounts Manager, Ireland & coachee: 
From my background in field sales and commercial capability I have always seen the value of working on improving behavioural elements to drive results. 

I’ve worked with mentors before but when I got the opportunity to get an Internal coach it was something different. I had a lot going on at the time so it was important that I was involved in a coaching relationship that would make a change in my influencing skills, resilience, and project management. My areas of focus paired me with Anna. 

I arranged an introductory call to see if we were a good fit. I had no expectations but what I wanted was a coach I felt comfortable speaking to and someone I could trust. What I liked immediately about Anna was that she made it clear the coaching journey needed to be driven by me, that it was always my agenda, not hers.

Anna Samek – Employer Branding & Culture Programs Manager, Austria & internal coach: 
"Being a coach means providing support to others reaching their set goal, whatever that might be, but it also means to be part of someone else's development journey, to experience the up and downs, to go through emotions, to get stuck sometimes and then find new ways.