We continue our focus on annual performance review season in this week’s Coaching Café Podcast and how these conversations can build engagement in the workplace. So far, we’ve shared frameworks and tips to set up conversations for success. Now it’s time to talk about the trickier conversations.

A frustrated manager recently asked us:
“What do you do about people who think they’re meeting expectations, but they aren’t?
Or worse, they don’t have goals. They’re not engaged. They’re just working to retirement. You still have to write something on the form!”

We hear this all the time and it’s exactly where coaching can help.

This week, join Natalie and Paula as we explore how a coaching approach can shift even the most challenging performance conversations.

You’ll walk away with:

• An understanding of how/why conversations become difficult
• Strategies for reframing these conversations
• A practical tool from Open Door you can use right away

Whether you’re designing performance conversations, coaching managers, or facing your own review – you will benefit from learning how to coach through the difficult conversations.

If you are a regular, you know the vibe and the great contribution that you make to our discussions; so we look forward to welcoming you back and offering you a value-packed 30 minutes each Tuesday.

If you’ve not joined us for a Coaching Café Podcast, now is your opportunity to schedule this time for your professional and personal development. In no time at all, you’ll be looking forward to Tuesdays, just like we all do!

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other listeners.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

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• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

Performance conversations aren’t just a HR requirement – they are an opportunity to drive real engagement.

Research shows that when managers focus on strengths during performance conversations, it can lead to a 36.5% uplift in performance. That’s not all - engagement increases, productivity rises, and absenteeism drops.

When we first came across this data years ago, we said, “Tell us more!” It was the beginning of our commitment to a strengths-based approach to coaching and one that has grown in relevance as we look at the low engagement scores across our workplaces.

Today, workplaces are under pressure. People feel tired, under-valued, and stretched. But this is exactly where coaching makes the difference. Especially when it comes to the annual performance review.

Therefore, join Natalie and Paula for our Coaching Café Podcast this week as we share:

• The power of strengths-based conversations
• How coaching shifts the tone of performance reviews
• Practical tools to help your team leave energised - not deflated

And we turn performance reviews into a genuine engagement strategy.

If you are a regular, you know the vibe and the great contribution that you make to our discussions; so we look forward to welcoming you back and offering you a value-packed 30 minutes each Tuesday.

If you’ve not joined us for a Coaching Café, now is your opportunity to schedule this time for your professional and personal development. . In no time at all, you’ll be looking forward to Tuesday lunchtimes, just like we all do!

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other listeners.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials
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• Check out the YouTube Video of this podcast.
  • YouTube
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

International Coach Week: Your chance to hear from an inspirational leader

This year, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) marks its 30th anniversary – 30 years of inspiring change through coaching and setting the standards for our profession.

It’s the perfect week to celebrate who we are as coaches – and to recognise the difference each of us makes as part of the Open Door Alumni.

In terms of making a difference, this year we have the opportunity to learn from Hayley Goldsmith from who is currently serving as a Clinical Team Leader at Victoria Police.

Join Natalie as she interviews Hayley on her remarkable career and how she has applied coaching in very different contexts, from ANZ Bank to her current role at Victoria Police.

 Join us for the special presentation for International Coach Week.

About Hayley 

With over 22 years of professional experience and a decade specialising in leadership coaching, Hayley is passionate about empowering individuals and teams to reach their full potential. 

Currently serving as a Clinical Team Leader at Victoria Police, Hayley brings a unique blend of leadership, coaching and clinical expertise to her work. Hayley is passionate about coaching, mental health support and initiatives and the well-being of others.  

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other listeners.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

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• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

Is the annual performance conversation season a chance to turn around engagement?

Last week kicked off our new Coaching Café Podcast series by unpacking the newly released Gallup State of the Global Workplace Report for 2025.

But the headlines are hard to ignore:

• Is the global workplace at breaking point?
• Employee engagement on the brink (of collapse)
• Management engagement falls from 30% to 27% (no other worker category has experienced as significant decline).

This round of Coaching Cafés Podcasts we are focusing on enabling effective performance conversations. Understandably, this might feel worrying for some managers, given low engagement scores.

However, we believe there is a real opportunity. If done right, the annual performance conversation season could be a chance for many managers to begin the turnaround of employee engagement.

Therefore, join Natalie and Paula as we explore:

💡 How to approach performance conversations as a catalyst for engagement
💡 Why traditional performance reviews often miss the mark
💡 Coaching strategies to make annual conversations more meaningful

Let’s focus on enabling effective performance conversations …and see how coaching can make a difference.

If you are a regular, you know the vibe and the great contribution that you make to our discussions; so we look forward to welcoming you back and offering you a value-packed 30 minutes each Tuesday.

If you’ve not joined us for a Coaching Café Podcast, now is your opportunity to schedule this time for your professional and personal development. In no time at all, you’ll be looking forward to Tuesdays, just like we all do!

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other listeners.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

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• Check out the YouTube Video of this podcast.
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• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

The Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2025 report has just landed.

Call us nerds, but we dropped everything to download it. Like many, we hoped to see improvements in global workplace engagement. After all, increasing engagement feels like a shared crusade among leaders, coaches, and organisations alike.

Now join Natalie and Paula as they kick off a new series of Coaching Cafe Podcasts. This series will focus on enabling effective performance conversations - which may be a worrying time for some, given low engagement scores. But first let’s get a handle on the current state of our workforce in today's podcast.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other listeners.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

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• Check out the YouTube Video of this podcast.
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• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

This week Natalie reflects on ANZAC day.

For those unfamiliar with the day, ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and the day commemorates the 25th of April 1915, the day the Anzac's landed in Gallipoli in the 1st world war. While the day was originally intended to honour the over 8,000 lives lost in the campaign, the day now honours all service people who have lost their lives to war.

Lest we forget.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other listeners.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

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Thanks for listening!

Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored ethics in coaching through the lens of the ICF Core Competencies - not just as a checkbox for membership renewal, but as a lived practice.

We’ve explored:

✔️ Our own ethical decision-making as coaches
✔️ Stakeholder agreements & confidentiality
✔️ The ethical use of AI in coaching

Now join Natalie and Paula our final Coaching Café Podcast in this series, as we open the floor to your biggest ethical questions in coaching.

💡 What are the ethical dilemmas you’ve faced in your coaching practice?
💡 How do you navigate ethical grey areas (if any) when coaching in organisations?
💡 What questions do you have for us?

This is a chance to reflect, challenge, and strengthen our ethical coaching practice. Let’s make it an insightful, engaging, and valuable conversation!

If you are a regular, you know the vibe and the great contribution that you make to our discussions; so we look forward to welcoming you back and offering you a value-packed 30 minutes each Tuesday

If you’ve not joined us for a Coaching Café Podcast, now is your opportunity to schedule this time for your professional and personal development. In no time at all, you’ll be looking forward to Tuesday lunchtimes, just like we all do!

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other listeners.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials
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• Check out the YouTube Video of this podcast.
  • YouTube
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!

AI in Coaching – A Practical Demonstration

Following our thought-provoking discussion on the ethical use of AI in coaching last week, it’s time to take the conversation further.

Can AI really improve coaching?

Can it assess coaching conversations against the ICF Core Competencies?

Can it even coach us on a topic?

In this Coaching Café Podcast, Natalie and Paula will move beyond theory and demonstrate AI in action. We will focus on:

✅ Using AI to enhance coaching – How AI can analyse coaching conversations and provide feedback based on ICF Core Competencies.
✅ AI as a coaching tool – Can AI hold a coaching conversation? Let’s put it to the test.
✅ What AI can’t do (yet!) – The limits of AI, why it won’t replace human coaches.

This session will be practical, and thought-provoking, giving you firsthand experience of AI’s role in coaching—while reinforcing the irreplaceable value of human connection.

Join us as we explore the possibilities… and the boundaries!

If you are a regular, you know the vibe and the great contribution that you make to our discussions; so we look forward to welcoming you back and offering you a value-packed 30 minutes each Tuesday.

If you’ve not joined us for a Coaching Café Podcast, now is your opportunity to schedule this time for your professional and personal development. In no time at all, you’ll be looking forward to Tuesda just like we all do!

You can also tell us the topics you want to hear about this year. Do this using the channels below.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the podcast please leave us a 5 star review where ever you listened to us! It helps promote the podcast to streaming services and other listeners.

Watch the webinar of this episode or read the blog by visiting our website.

Contact The Coaching Café Podcast

• Stay up to date on our socials
  • Instagram
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• Check out the YouTube Video of this podcast.
  • YouTube
• Email us at learn@opendoorcoaching.com.au

Thanks for listening!