Astute managers see coaching skills as a vital addition to their personal effectiveness toolbox.

 HOW TO  MAKE A COACHING

   SESSION MORE EFFECTIVE

The power of coaching has been recognized in many areas for many years. Astute managers  see coaching skills as a vital addition to their personal effectiveness toolbox. Everybody has to start somewhere, but the challenge we face in providing coaches to executives in organizations is the need to put our most experienced and effective coaches in front of clients. 

Follow these points  to make your coaching and feedback process more effective.

KEEP IN MIND THE ORANISATION CONTEXT

Keep in mind more crucial components to creating a successful coaching culture within your organization. Make sure your coaching is aligned with your company’s core values. Coaching is the key to achieving company goals. Therefore, your coaching should be based on your organization’s core values. They become the “why” behind your advice and encouragement. This way, your coaching becomes less about what you think and reinforces the culture that you want in your organization. And when you and your employees are looking at the bigger picture together, it should help them be more receptive to you, too.

 

DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH

Before you go to your employees with a new project, you need to be clear in your own mind about what you want them to accomplish. Focus on what the end result should look like more than how you think they should get there. Think about the big picture. How will it affect your overall company objectives? How will it affect your employees’ role in the long run? If you can explain this to your employees, you’re more likely to get buy-in.

SET A GOAL WITH YOUR COACHEE

Then, it’s time to talk to your employees and set goals together. Discuss what you want to accomplish and be clear about your expectations. Consider giving your employees a model of what their end goal looks like or set specific criteria for what the output should include. Has this ever been done before? If so, is there someone else within the company or team who might provide some first-hand advice? Set your employees up for success by being crystal clear about your expectations.

In the same conversation, discuss a project timeline with your employees. Set milestones that build toward the end goal. Set up “check-in meetings” that allow you to get together along the way in order to evaluate how things are going. Talk about a deadline and indicate how important the timing may (or may not) be to the success of the project.

As your employees work toward accomplishing the goal you set together, be sure to attend your check-in meetings at the agreed upon times. Let them ask questions. Give praise for what’s going right with the project and make suggestions if you feel they need more direction. Also ensure your employees have access to all resources necessary to meet the goal.  Find what tools or aids they need to make the job done better. 

GET AGREEMENT ON THE WAY FORWARD

Probably the most critical step in the coaching meeting process is getting the employee to agree verbally that a performance issue exists. Overlooking or avoiding the performance issue because you assume the employee understands its significance is a typical mistake of managers. To persuade an employee a performance issue exists, a manager must be able to define the nature of the issue and get the employee to recognize the consequences of not changing his or her behavior. To do this, you must specify the behavior and clarify the consequences.

The skill of specifying the behavior consists of three parts.

1.    Cite specific examples of the performance issue.

2.    Clarify your performance expectations in the situation.

3.    Asks the employee for agreement on the issue.

The skill of clarifying consequences consists of two parts. You should:

1.    Probe to get the employee to articulate his or her understanding of the consequences associated with the performance issue.

2.    Ask the employee for agreement on the issue.

REVIEW TO CHECK UNDERSTANDING

Meet a final time with your employees to take a look back on the project as a whole. Discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what might be better if done differently next time. But be sure to make time to celebrate success and reward their accomplishments as well. This positive reinforcement helps make the extra effort feel worth it to your employees and encourages them to keep moving forward.

KEEP THE CONVERSATION FLOWING SMOOTHY

No matter the situation, coaching conversations should flow both ways with ample opportunity for mutual feedback and discussion. This way, you’re not removing your employees’ responsibility in the matter or doing the work for them. Collaboration in coaching emphasizes the relationship and teaches you how to become sounding boards for each other. Some coaches make the following mistakes too often; mainly out of good intention and lack of practice.

·       they ask too many questions to satisfy their own curiosity rather than getting to the heart of the matter. good coaches sift quickly for what is relevant and ignore the noise.
·         they let the client go on too long about their story. the narrative is important insofar as the coach or client needs it to write the ending—but detailed plot twists just waste time.
·         they ask a bunch of why questions to assess motive and purpose. many people being coached don’t know the why of anything and will go in circles trying to figure it out. why is to be used on very rare occasions to help the client get through layers to reach what’s real and true.
·         they step over opportunities to challenge the client about attitudes, beliefs, or potentially unproductive behavior. it takes some courage but it is part of the job. i have worked with clients who said they had worked with other coaches they characterized as being “too nice.”

 ·         When you establish great coaching relationships with your employees, it can improve every interaction you have with them and makes management far easier. Effective coaching can build more trust on both sides and keep the door to improvement open at all times.

GET A COMMITMENT TO ACT
The next step is to help the employee choose an alternative. Don't make the choice for the employee. To accomplish this step, the manager must be sure to get a verbal commitment from the employee regarding what action will be taken and when it will be taken. Be sure to support the employee's choice and offer praise. Employee excuses may occur at any point during the coaching meeting. To handle excuses, rephrase the point by taking a comment or statement that was perceived by the employee to be blaming or accusatory and recast it as an encouragement for the employee to examine his or her behavior. Respond empathically to show support for the employee's situation and communicate an understanding of both the content and feeling of the employee's comment.

 

CONCLUDING 

These key points  can not only help you when coaching but also make you an even better manager or leader. Take time to assess where you strengths lie and where you need to develop. The good news is that new coaches can move ahead much more quickly by identifying any of these possible errors in their own approach and practicing alternative approaches that are more beneficial to clients. With practice, new coaches will soon find themselves having the productive engagements that we—and all coaching organizations—look for.

 

Best of luck

Dr Wilfred Monteiro

Have you ever found out why the talented employees leave your company and leave you puzzled???

 

WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN  TALENT RETENTION ? Have you ever found out why the talented employees you wanted to keep leave your company and leave you puzzled???  Especially today, we are climbing out of a long and prolonged  economic downturn. And any hope of   recovery would mean booming pay packages and accelerated attrition rates! Every CEO and HR chief  is worried… Yet the key to the problem definition is simple. Let me give you a few examples of some challenges working people all deal with. Imagine that you are facing these situations. How would you react? 1.    You’ve been working in as a Brand Marketing Manager and a Regional Sales Managers job opening is in Hyderabad. It would be a perfect career move for you but the company fills the job without even asking if you’re interested. The company does’t bother to ask because they feel a Sales Manager working out of Hyderabad has better knowledge of the local market. What would you do? 2.    Or imagine this. You’re in a meeting. It’s your opportunity to shine in front of upper management. You’ve got an important point to make and you start to talk. Someone cuts you off because he is senior in the organization hierarchy or belongs to the inner circle of the big boss. What would you do? 3.    Or let’s say you make that important point—and no one says a word about it. But five minutes later, a guy at the other end of the table says the same thing you did. This time it’s a brilliant idea, and he gets all the credit. What would you do? In the three cases cited above your would agree that PEOPLE OFTEN QUIT A CORPORATE CULTURE THAN QUIT THE JOB ( because the next employment has the same job!) The people today have high pressures on the job. The give their heart out….. work late nights and weekends. On vacation people spend the entire day taking phone calls when they’re supposed relax. And people generate ideas and create the solutions that your organizations need but lie dead within the coffee chat corner. And, the people who may resign because no one has recognized their abilities they are waiting for growth opportunities or just feel put down by organization structures. It takes more than writing “equal opportunity” into your organization’s mission statement. Talented employees want exciting challenges and great development opportunities. Any  employee feedback survey which asks  people what they look for when deciding which company to join and stay with.  THE ANSWER was not the biggest pay packet but :  A GREAT COMPANY CULTURE AND A GREATER JOB ENGAGEMENT. The goal of the talent management process is to increase overall workforce productivity To succeed, companies need to deploy a smart talent strategy. With three core processes: Understand what your people can do Deploy them better today 3.    Ensure they can do more tomorrow What are the characteristics of a good talent management system? First, there is ownership and involvement across the whole company, not just with the human resource management department. Second, business objectives permeate every aspect of the system from employer branding to appraisal through development. Third, the system is measured in real business terms and results are acted upon. Talent management systems do not leave key factors to chance. The organization carefully develops a distinct 'employer brand' to attract talent, thinks through how work is organized and its impact on issues such as employee satisfaction and retention. A talent management system is part of the fabric of the organization. It produces excellent results because it overcomes the major problem of traditional recruiting, which is in vertical silos. It instead integrates the previously independent functions of recruiting, retention, workforce planning, employment branding, metrics, orientation and redeployment into a seamless process. Whilst Talent Management would imply a long term strategic plan, nonetheless it is a agglomeration of  BEST PRACTICES on a 365 day basis. Here are a few practical guideposts: Determine what motivates your individual employees. For most employees, money is not the key issue; relationships, fulfillment and recognition ,opportunities for learning are.   Notice how much recognition an employee needs. Some employees can go years without praise, whereas others will leave after six months. Have other managers praise an employee's work. This lets him know that you've spread the good word about him to other departments.   Understand that many employees are motivated by their social network at work. Encourage activities that make your employees feel like valued members of a team.   Realize that incentives don't have to be huge. A surprise gift certificate for the local ice cream parlor in the weekly meeting recognition scheme, will generate positive and lasting feelings.   Be sensitive to the balance between work and private life. Employees can work 70-hour weeks for only so long.Consider telecommuting, job sharing and other flexible working arrangements… today in Mumbai 70% of the fatigue is travelling to and from home to place-of-work. "Alignment" is another key element of a successful Talent Strategy.  When selecting or developing people, most organisations focus on the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours required for the role.  However, some organisations are beginning to look at the behaviours required to operate effectively in a particular team or culture. A good talent management system, facilitates the continuous movement of talent to where it can have the most impact within the organization. Talent Management has a meticulous and fast moving induction & orientation process. It ensures that new hires are immediately productive… otherwise as one MNC noticed most people leave on the 35th day of joining ( after collecting their first salary) and sending their resignation by SMS Shifting responsibility to managers. Talent management pushes the accountability and the responsibility for executing people management down to the line management levels.   Measuring success with productivity. Talent management shifts the success measures from the more traditional HR and recruiting functional metrics towards measuring the overall productivity of the workforce.   Create clear career paths at the company… people want quick growth and the one who recognizes his path is chocked by a “squatter” ( someone who won’t leave or can’t move up) will leave early and the crisis is more severe when it is a key position with rare skills sets.   Use special tasks & projects to develop people to their fullest potential. In order to develop your people, provide training opportunities, challenging projects and assignments, feedback, coaching and mentoring.   Aim at creating personal growth & development through mentoring. Time after time, successful people have recorded that one of the most important keys to their success is having a mentor. In one client assignment where  our consulting firm  Synergy Management Associates (www.synergymanager.net)  used a mentoring intervention , half of the participants  said the mentoring experience “CHANGED MY LIFE.” In the new knowledge economy, companies that know how to develop and manage human capital will hold a competitive advantage. The late Jack Welch legendary CEO at General Electric USA, notes ,”… in the best companies, talent is viewed as a key strategic resource for achieving business objectives and is never taken for granted."      With  best  compliments   Dr Wilfred  Monteiro