SOURCE: Credit Union Management. v18n9. Sep 1995. p. 40-42,3 pages.
You're the Coach
by Miriam Cleary
Have you ever seen a manager who was great at handling employees? A super leader who has the ability to take a marginal employee and turn him or her around? Or better yet, a manager who always "got the most" out of his team?
These people are leaders who consistently take people problems and solve them so they stay solved. When we look closely at what makes these leaders effective, we see some common ways that they deal with employees. These patterns are consistent, whether the employee is a poor, average or star performer. Such managers have the ability to tell employees what is expected and get them involved in problem solving.
The approach these managers use is called "coaching," an informal, planned, ongoing process for interacting with employees. Coaching can be successfully employed on a day-to-day basis when dealing directly with performance. It can also be used effectively during a performance appraisal meeting.
SCORE BIG
Why coach? As a manager, you may not need to change your approach. If your employees are getting the job done effectively, you may already be using coaching skills.
But if you sometimes have trouble motivating others, have an employee or two who could perform better, or have a need for employees to take on more responsibility, coaching can help you. The primary goals for coaching are:
- to improve job performance,
- to increase employees' responsibility for managing their own performance, and
- to "grow" employees for higher-level or more complex tasks.
In any team sport, a coach serves as a motivator, trainer, coordinator, supporter and partner. A coach identifies team members' individual areas of needed improvement and provides the know-how and support to get peak performance. A coach looks at the big picture and balances individual needs with those of the organization.
Part of coaching is establishing a partnership with employees to work together for mutual growth and success. Key to establishing this partnership is leadership from the manager through supportive and action- oriented behaviors.
An effective coach will:
- listen to employees to learn their viewpoints, ideas and motivations;
- paint the "big picture" with realistic descriptions of business goals, financial objectives, opportunities and directions;
- create a supportive/helping climate;
- encourage employees to express feelings and empathize with them;
- give tangible support for improvement and development;
- clarify expectations;
- encourage mutual discussion and problem-solving;
- help plan for actions to achieve solutions for changes;
- discuss changing organization priorities or procedures; and
- explore potential areas of growth and development for employees.
Coaching involves a variety of activities at different levels of intensity, but all coaching actions incorporate these behaviors:
- observing employee behaviors and results and providing feedback on performance;
- listening to and questioning employees to identify motives for behavior, potential problems and solutions;
- encouraging employee involvement in their jobs and goals;
- maintaining regular and clear communication with employees about their performance and overall goals;
- providing support for employee development; and
- helping employees plan for the future.
HELPING OTHERS HELP THEMSELVES
Coaching includes many different types of activities and skills, but its overall focus is on helping employees improve their performance, grow in their jobs and develop their skills, while enhancing credit union productivity. Managers coach employees daily, but they use different types of coaching, depending on the situation. Coaching activities fall into five areas, each with a different level of intensity:
- Giving feedback. This means letting employees know how they are doing on the job. Feedback is specific, timely and includes both praise and constructive criticism of performance.
- Positive coaching. The manager must strive to maintain performance, motivate or foster growth in an employee who is doing a good job. Positive coaching may be used when you add some responsibilities to an employee's job, help an employee develop new skills, or prepare an employee for a new assignment.
- Problem solving. Identifying problems and solutions is part of the coach's responsibility. But problem solving is a joint effort. The manager does not take over the problem. He or she involves the employee in identifying the real problem, deciding on a solution and then implementing it.
- Corrective coaching. The coach must work with an employee who is not performing well. The goal of corrective coaching is to help the employee change or improve performance. This involves using a well-planned, step-by- step approach to identify unsatisfactory behaviors, to have the employee take responsibility for change, to establish consequences and required actions, and to set time limits for improvement.
- Guiding development. This means taking a look at the long-term possibilities for employees and guiding their growth and development. The manager must identify employee motives and skills, provide opportunities for developing new skills, and assist the employee in moving on to more challenging assignments.
Coaching techniques are effective with all levels of performers: sub-par performers in need of improvement, average performers who must be challenged and star performers looking for challenge and inspiration.
A GAME PLAN
Let's look at a step-by-step coaching approach that can be used with sub- par performers. We can then modify the steps for the other two groups.
- Describe the employee's specific performance by describing the results of the employee's activities. Limit the discussion to performance, not personality. Talk about the positives as well as the negatives.
- Describe the expected standards of performance, using specifics, such as quantity, quality, cost and time.
- Ask the employee to identify the cause of any problems. Guide the employee by asking open-ended questions. Investigate the situation problems by asking whether the performance problem is due to a lack of knowledge or skill. Ask if the employee is aware of what is expected of him or her.
- Ask the employee for his or her suggested solutions. The employee is more likely to commit to a course of action if he or she "owns" the solution. Remember that the employee is closest to the problem and will often have a better idea of how to solve it.
- Discuss the solutions, in detail, with the employee. This helps you and the employee develop strategies and alternative solutions.
- Decide on specific action and follow up. This will reduce any misunderstandings about who is responsible for action. In addition, follow- up helps gain employee commitment for action.
These six steps are designed to involve the employee totally, from problem identification to problem solution. An involved employee is a committed employee, responsible for the action necessary to correct the poor performance.
GO BEYOND ALL EXPECTATIONS
The steps are very similar for an average performer who needs to be challenged to achieve higher levels of performance and for the super achiever who needs to be challenged and stimulated to maintain top levels of performance. The major difference is that steps 2 through 4 are replaced with goal-oriented steps, as outlined here:
- Same as Step 1 above. (Describe the employee's performance by describing the results of his or her activities.)
- Describe the need for continued challenge and growth. Compare the employee's actual performance against expected performance standards and discuss the employee's informal personal and career goals. In addition, determine why performance levels are at, or above, the performance standard. Identify the employee's key strengths and discuss how they can be enhanced.
- Develop goals with the employee.
- Develop objectives to achieve these goals.
- Discuss the solutions, in detail, with the employee. This helps you and the employee develop strategies and alternative solutions.
- Decide on specific action and follow up. This will clear up any misunderstandings of who is responsible for action. In addition, follow up helps gain employee commitment for action.
The coaching steps are an effective way to manage, day by day. As you notice positive behaviors, these steps can be used for instant reinforcement. If you observe an employee not working toward goals, or one whose performance is declining, these steps can be activated on the spot.
Periodically the need arises for a meeting that entails more in-depth coaching. A planned meeting, such as a performance appraisal meeting, can help an employee get back on track, provide more feedback and increase the level of communication.
The difference between this type of coaching and day-by-day coaching is that the former is more planning oriented, more forward looking and geared to major areas of performance improvement or job enhancement.
IMPLEMENTATION IDEAS
As discussed, coaching involves a variety of different activities. Here are some actions to take as an executive "coach":
- Provide specific and timely feedback on performance--both praise and constructive criticism.
- Identify unacceptable performance early and handle it. Ignoring poor performance is not a solution. Acting to improve a performance problem early can prevent it from increasing in intensity or frequency, damaging an employee's work record, eroding morale of other employees or leading to dismissal.
- Clearly identify unacceptable performance, specifying what behaviors must change within a given timeframe. Leave nothing to chance. Specifically describe the unacceptable performance, identify a result that you want from changing the behavior, establish measures for evaluating the results and set a time limit for improvement. Also identify the consequences of not improving performance--probation, transfer, demotion, dismissal.
- Plan positive coaching activities for employees. Positive coaching aims toward growth and development, expanding abilities and skills. Look for ways to assist employee growth through special assignments or projects or increased responsibilities.
- Foster a partnership with employees for problem solving. When a problem arises, work with the employee to identify specifically what the problem is and what solutions can be considered.
- Establish an open, supportive climate with your workers. Share information with employees. Let them know that they can come to you with concerns or problems and that you will offer help, rather than point fingers. Recognize employee contributions to departmental efforts. Provide resources for employees to develop and learn.
- Keep a record of your coaching activities with employees. This doesn't need to be a formal record, just notes to yourself about conversations you have had with each employee. A record of coaching activities helps you recall progress and contributions when it's time to do a written employee performance evaluation.
Coaching is the backbone of successful performance management. Regular, frequent, face-to-face communication between manager and employee maintains and improves good performance. More importantly, coaching is a great way to provide leadership.
Miriam C. Cleary is a human resources consultant in McGladrey & Pullen's Madison and Janesville, Wis., offices. She has experience in recruiting and employment practices, developing personnel policies and procedures, performance management, human resource information systems, and employee benefits. She can be reached at 608/833-2612.
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