2.2.4 Stage 4 – Action & Choose What
This is the stage where people show highest productivity during the change process. People begin to know what they need to do and take respective actions towards the change. They are not only dealing with the change, but also involved in the change. This is a good timing for leaders to attract and retain the best talents and support them to perform at their highest potentials. Engage and encourage the talented employees whenever possible.
In order to prioritize various options, coaching leaders are required to support people in designing and implanting self-development plans which will help them to have a clearer focus. These plans include concrete and detailed action steps, potential obstacles and resources needed. In fact, action is the heart of coaching. Some people might think that actions are some big moves or changes, but this is not the case. A small thought can also be recognized as an action which might create an unbelievable huge shift that could change the whole situation in return.
Apart from detailed plans, coaching leaders can also help on developing a leadership culture that is collaborative and engaging for employees. By integrating a coach approach into the day to day business operation, leaders can maintain a level of improvement that will benefit all areas of the organization. Moreover, a coach-led approach can also assist leaders to be more effective at achieving results by developing the potential capabilities of the employees.
2.2.5 Stage 5 – Commitment & Go
Although different people might take different actions in order to achieve different results in both work and life, the most effective tool of learning and development is a commitment. Following through on commitments is powerful. It builds confidence, self-esteem, self respect, and self love. At the last stage, employees are now coming back to the highest point of the curve, feeling full of energy and eager to move forward to the new goal.
Coach leaders can help employees to consolidate what they’ve learned through changes as well as to set up new goals to move forward. It’s more reasonable to make small and reachable milestones for future development, rather than big goals which are difficult to reach and might make employees fatigue.
This stage is not the end of coaching, but a new beginning point for both coaching leaders and employees to act and then celebrate together for accomplishing each small milestone in the future.
The outcome of a goal is the end result of many action steps. The coaching
2.2.6 Case Study
Case 1:
Many companies lost top talents during organization changes, mainly due to leaders’ lack of skills in addressing “human side”. A few years ago, a Melbourne company with 300 brilliant IT professionals was sold to a major Telco in India. The leaders went straight into the restructuring process, busy with re-branding. A few months down the road, they suddenly found the employees’ satisfaction rate hit a historic low. People left the company and mostly the top talents. The leaders realized they forgot to connect with their talents and help them to go through the curve of reaction to changes. Employees were feeling lost and less motivated and thus looked outside before they really had to. The value of coaching is really vital during organization changes.
The goal of coaching is the goal of good management: to make the most of an organization’s valuable resources Harvard Business Review
Case 2:
A major IT vendor went through downturn a few years back where a team of 450 R&D folks were to be laid off. The leader took the key team members to a pub and let them exchange their concerns and frustrations. He followed up with consistent, honest and regular conversations and dialogues with them to generate possibilities and growth. With self-generated actions, majority people embraced the change with maturity and respect. They still get together for their traditional year-end BBQ party every year (after the R&D center closed).