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Coaching in Organizations
2005-10-01
| | Coaching has become a key component of leadership and cultural development in top organizations, as well as a primary driver of corporate performance. Simply put employee coaching in organizations can bring about amazing results.
In recent years we have been increasingly asked to provide coaching assistance and support to our clients in various aspects of human resource management and organizational development.
| | | | So what is employee coaching? | In the formal sense employee coaching consists of ongoing sometimes spontaneous, meetings between managers and their employees to discuss each employee's career goals and development. Working with employees to chart and implement their career goals enhances productivity and can spur a manager's own advancement.
However, many managers don't utilize employee coaching because in today's flatter organizations managers have more people reporting to them resulting in less time to spend on developing each employee. Also, managers tend to view "employee development" as the flavour of the month unless supported by top management. Finally, most managers feel uncomfortable in the role because they have not been properly prepared to act as an employee coach or have worked with a good role model.
| | | | Coachable Moments | Employee coaching need not be the ordeal that some managers fear. The secret is to take advantage of, coachable moments, opportunities that occur throughout the work day to provide career counseling and employee development support.
Managers should be on guard for coachable moment signs from employees such as:
1. An employee demonstrates a new skill or interest.
2. An employee seeks feedback.
3. An employee expresses an interest in a change in the organization.
4. An employee is experiencing a poor job fit.
5. An employee mentions a desire for development opportunities.
Like so many other corporate or organizational initiatives employee coaching must become a part of the organization. Ideally employee coaching should be supported by the following:
1. Recognized and supported by the highest levels of the organization.
2. Good role models for managers and others to learn from and emulate.
3. A recognized program training managers on the fundamentals of employee coaching.
4. Employee coaching being a part of the organization's culture.
5. Employee coaching demonstrating support of other performance management initiatives.
6. Employee input sought on employee coaching as a means to further improve it.
7. Exit interviews gathering employee input and experiences about employee coaching.
8. Measure and evaluate the results of employee coaching on such initiatives as: corporate/departmental/individual performance, employee satisfaction, employee retention, etc.
| | | It is only when coaching skills and a coach approach have been truly integrated throughout the organization that the organization and the people who work within the organization can truly experience and be the recipients of truly amazing things.
If anyone would like to receive a complimentary copy of previous columns or has ideas for future articles or human resource issues you would like to see covered in this column please contact me at the address below. |
Contact:
 | Paul R. Hawn, President, Hawn & Associates Inc. | | Suite 507, 421 Bay Street, Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 1X3 | | info@Hawn.ca | | http://www.Hawn.ca |
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