There are a lot of reasons employees leave their jobs: low pay, insufficient workplace life balance, and low growth opportunities, just to name a few. Recent surveys show, however, that overwhelmingly, employees jump ship because of toxic leadership. If you’re a seasoned HR professional, you probably already know this: respectful leadership is a necessity, not just a “nice to have.” It’s the engine of workplace culture, performance, and even legal risk. Investing in coaching for your most senior people is one of the most efficient ways to strengthen that engine.
Below are three important reasons to prioritize leadership coaching. If you want help turning these insights into action, Bridge Legal & HR Solutions provides targeted executive coaching, leadership training, and workplace assessments that can help strengthen culture, increase retention, and assist with legal risk management.
1) Good leadership sets the tone
When leaders model respect, accountability, and curiosity, employees are more likely to report issues early, which in turn ensures that issues get handled properly and small problems stay small. When leaders don’t model good behaviour, organizations can be on the hook, even if senior management didn’t intend harm.
What coaching does: Develops leaders’ self-awareness, improves how they give feedback, and reinforces decision-making skills and understanding of internal codes and policies. This directly lowers the likelihood of breaches that become corporate liability.
2) Good leadership reduces turnover
Poor leadership is a primary driver of exits. Replacing senior talent is expensive, and so are wrongful-dismissal disputes, damages for bad-faith handling of employee concerns, and human-rights awards.
The cost of poorly-trained leadership was seen clearly in Doyle v. Zochem Inc., when the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld $60,000 in moral damages related to a bad-faith termination and the mishandling of a sexual-harassment complaint. This case clearly underscored that managers who have not been trained to handle complaints in a timely, professional and sensitive manner can be both costly and embarrassing for organizations.
What coaching does: Equips leaders to run fair processes, separate facts from assumptions, and partner with HR appropriately.
3) Good leadership lowers litigation risk, including human-rights complaints and constructive-dismissal claims
Leadership missteps commonly show up in three areas: (a) harassment/discrimination by a supervisor; (b) botched investigations or inappropriate responses; and (c) treatment that crosses into constructive dismissal.
In Boucher v. Wal-Mart Canada Corp., an employee was awarded a total of over $400,000 from her former manager and the corporation as a result of bullying, harassment, and corporate mishandling of complaints. The case is a cautionary tale about ignoring internal complaints and failing to rein in a leader, and serves as a reminder to leaders that coaching benefits them as well; a leader who has not been properly trained might find themselves on the hook for a significant damages award.
How Bridge Legal & HR Solutions Can Help
Executive Coaching:
- Practical, confidential coaching tailored to senior leaders
- Focus areas: conflict competence, respectful leadership, psychologically safe teams, decision-making under pressure, complaint response, and investigation readiness
Leader Training:
- Harassment & discrimination essentials for leaders
- Giving difficult feedback without creating liability
- Managing high-risk terminations and restructures with dignity and compliance
Workplace Assessments & Climate Reviews:
- Culture and risk “snapshots” that surface hotspots before they become complaints
- Policy/practice gap analysis against Ontario and federal standards
- Targeted action plans with clear metrics
Why us: We blend legal rigour with practical HR know-how. Your leaders leave with habits that improve culture and stand up under legal scrutiny.
Let’s make great leadership your competitive advantage.
Bridge Legal & HR Solutions can partner with you on executive coaching, leader training, and workplace assessments that protect your people and your organization.
Want a tailored proposal for your executive team? Connect with us today through our contact form or call us at 647-794-5442 to get started on a customized coaching and/or training plan.
