Research Paper: Coaching At Work

Once a manager has observed his or her employee over time, that manager has a whole gamut of information about that person’s developmental areas. Rather than coaching on each individual action, the manager should focus on the actions that, when changed, will cause the most improvement in the person’s performance. Targeting requires solid knowledge of the subject matter. When a manager knows how to do a task, he or she will also know which key piece of knowledge or skill the employee is missing. When a manager targets just that piece of knowledge or skill, he or she is focusing on creating the most development.

While targeting, the manager needs to keep in mind the employee’s ability and style. A manager targets developmental areas that the employee is capable of changing and is motivated to improve if given the knowledge or skill. A manager also respects the basic style of the employee. Knowing that different people approach tasks differently, the manager tries to understand the employee’s frame of reference.

Feedback:

Feedback  can  be  a  very  effective  instrument  for  bringing  about  change.

However, inappropriate or poorly given feedback can cause more harm than good. Ineffective feedback can disempower people. This step involves giving feedback on the behavior or behaviors that are observed and targeted as described previously. However, an accurate description of behavior is just one part of the content for coaching feedback. When coaching, feedback content includes:

The behavioral description is an objective description of the specific behavior seen in the “observe” part of the first step. Description of the behavior should be limited to actions that can be seen or heard (it should always be as objective as possible).

The impact describes the result of the behavior. This can be either an actual or potential impact. Here is an example of a corrective feedback message:

Standard: “At our last review, you agreed to work on your delegation skills to improve your impact as a team leader.”

Behavior: “In looking at the latest project plan for your team, I see you are responsible for all but one of the major deliverables.”

Impact: “Because of this you are limiting the number of developmental opportunities for your team and delaying your own career progress by doing the work yourself rather than effectively leading others. What do you think you could possible do about this?”

Managers can also use the same feedback model when they want to reinforce and praise the correct behaviour:

Standard: “One of our meeting norms is to let the speaker finish his or her thought before adding your point of view.”

Behavior: “In this morning’s meeting, you let Joanne finish describing her idea, even though you looked anxious to add some thoughts of your own.”

Impact: “As a result, not only did Joanne get to explain her idea completely, but she was more receptive to hearing the points you had to make.”

Before actually giving feedback, a manager can help develop receptivity on the part of the employee by inviting self-feedback from the employee.

Instruction:

After giving feedback, a manager may decide to instruct the employee, assuming there is a gap in the employee’s knowledge or skill. To instruct effectively, we recommend selecting from the three options outlined below:

Tell How: The manager states what the employee could do to become more effective in this area.

Show How: The manager shows how to do the new behavior. When working on a difficult developmental area, a demonstration greatly increases the odds for effective learning.

Practice, with Feedback: The manager has the employee try out the new skills or behaviors, accompanied by immediate feedback. This way the person being coached can readjust while still in learning mode rather than repeating the wrong thing.

Follow up:

Having gone through the first three steps with an employee, a manager wants

to ensure that the employee has the best chance to progress in that developmental area. The final step of the model, follow up, is so crucial that it is not an exaggeration to say: if you do not have time to properly follow up with the person, do not coach the person.

Here are some ideas on what a manager can do to follow up on coaching.

I)   Ask what the employee will focus on to implement the changes he or she wants to make.

II) Offer to observe and give feedback on the progress. III) Schedule opportunities for observations and feedback.

Conclusion

This method of employee coaching can be an effective way to improve performance among employees. It accelerates development, helps people learn from their mistakes, and,  by example can help employees to better develop each other. The benefits of this coaching approach can be beneficial for everyone. The organizational climate would be pleasant for employees and this aura would transfer to the community at large starting with the home and family.

Goals are met through groups of people working together in relationship, and how well they work together depends on the individuals involved. On the way to meeting goals, good coaching creates learned individuals – individuals who have the self awareness and social  awareness  to  create  organizations  with  better  leadership  and  less  pain,  where people are learning and growing, and bringing their full selves into the workplace. It does this by creating the foundations for learning and changing behavior – creating safety, support, feedback, and opportunities to practice, practice, practice over time. Coaching at its best is truly a process of learning for life.