What does it take to bring coaching into the heart of a business and prove that it actually works?

In this episode of Connected Coaching, host Sinziana is joined by Simon Stawecki, HR Business Partner at Groupe Mutuel in Zurich, for an honest and wide-ranging conversation about coaching as a genuine driver of organisational change. Simon's career spans hospitality, IT, and now HR, and it's that breadth of experience that makes his perspective so compelling.

Simon spent five and a half years working with over 2,000 individuals who had lost their jobs, applying a solution-focused coaching approach to help them rebuild confidence and find direction. That hands-on experience shaped a firm belief: performance isn't just about skills. It's about clarity, self-awareness, and how people see themselves.

That philosophy went with him when he moved into HR, where he designed and led one of the most compelling internal coaching programmes you're likely to hear described. Starting with a deliberate "focused experiment" in a high-pressure customer service environment, Simon and his colleague coached 24 high-performing individuals over three months. The results? 100% programme satisfaction and over 90% of participants reporting a positive impact on both their wellbeing and professional performance.

But perhaps the most telling moment came next: the managers of those same employees came knocking, wanting to know what was going on and wanting some of it for themselves.

In this episode, Simon and Sinziana explore:

How Simon came to coaching through a career that crossed continents and industries
What coaching 2,000 job-seekers taught him about confidence, clarity, and the power of strengths
How Groupe Mutuel built its coaching culture from the ground up, bottom-up, with real measurable outcomes
The question of coaching and AI — where technology genuinely helps and where the human coach remains irreplaceable
Practical advice for anyone considering a coach, including why you should probably look outside your industry and be willing to walk away if the fit isn't right

Simon also shares his personal practices around energy management, self-reflection, and breathwork, plus a refreshingly candid take on what it means to ask yourself: whose life am I actually living?

Whether you're a leader considering introducing coaching in your organisation, a professional at a career crossroads, or simply curious about what coaching can do when it's given a real chance, this episode delivers both inspiration and practical insight.