Surveys show employees want a great deal more coaching than they currently receive. Research done on the payoffs from coaching confirm that it increases employee engagement, shrinks turnover and improves productivity. To capitalize on this need and opportunity, corporate America is responding in two ways: 1) training managers to be better coaches, and 2) using external coaches.
Coaching leaders effectively is a complex and challenging skill. Yes, it can be learned, but like every other skill it requires deliberate practice with the intent of becoming proficient. While every manager can get better, not every manager ends up being a truly effective coach.
Companies often think they are solving this quality problem by turning to external coaches. In fact, however, anyone can hang up a shingle and declare themselves to be an executive coach. The result is an extremely broad spectrum of quality in external coaching. In recent surveys I’ve conducted with hundreds of people from a variety of industries, I’ve determined that 95% of the coaching being done is coming from managers interacting with their subordinates. This is a wise choice, because it is the most promising way to meet the huge need in a cost effective way.
How To Help Internal Coaches
My first suggestion is to pay attention to other professions who are providing this kind of help to others. For the typical business manager, coaching will always be a part-time, secondary activity. It isn’t what the manager was primarily trained to do, nor is it the first item on most manager’s list of important accomplishments for the next six months.
Fortunately, we are not the only ones who utilize motivational conversations that have the intent of helping the participant to rise to a new level. Clinical psychology, psychiatry, counseling, and social work are all disciplines that have a similar objective. Let me be clear that I am not suggesting that managers who coach their employees are filling the role of a trained therapist. The differences are vast.
Results from the world of counseling and therapy, however, suggest two important actions counselors in any setting can take that make a significant difference in the effectiveness of the therapy:
1. Asking the client what he or she would like to discuss.
2. Asking the client for feedback at the end of each session.
When counselors take these simple steps, outcomes soar. The likelihood rises significantly that the client will take action and continue working with the therapist.
Here’s how those actions can be applied in a business context.
Step 1: Enlist the employee’s help in focusing the conversation.
The first action implies that the coach will talk about things that are of greatest interest and value to the person being coached. While this concept seems obvious, most leaders feel it is their right (or possibly their duty) to set the agenda in coaching conversations. Leaders talk about issues that are of concern to them or that they believe would be of value to the person being coached, but these topics are often not aligned with the questions or desires of the person they coach.
Try this tactic instead: Provide a checklist to the employee with a request that he or she review the topics on that list and come to the next scheduled coaching session with four or five selected topics (you can download a sample list here.) This sends several important messages:
The coach wants the participant to feel appropriate control of the process.
The coach respects the employee’s wishes.
This is not just an event, but the beginning of a long-term coaching relationship designed to be of unique use to the individual being coached.
By identifying topics with the direct input of the employee, the conversation is sure to focus on topics of genuine interest to the person being coached. This does not suggest there shouldn’t be times the coach should suggest a topic of value to the individual they are coaching. Indeed, I strongly recommend that action as well. However, when the primary topics addressed are the ones the employee has chosen, the engagement and success metrics rise.
Step 2: Ask for feedback.
Barry L. Duncan and Scott D. Miller have conducted research showing that when therapists ask for and receive immediate feedback from their patients, attrition rates are cut in half and effectiveness rises by 65%. The implication for coaches is clear. If coaches open themselves up to personal feedback, they will not only have more effective coaching discussions, but they will also become much better coaches. Our own research confirms that the best leaders-as-coaches not only excel at providing feedback, but they also excel at asking for feedback. The very nature of asking for feedback allows the coaching relationship to embody the spirit of a collaborative, two-way conversation.
Here are some examples of feedback questions that coaches can casually ask:
Did this conversation focus on an important issue for you?
Was this conversation a good use of your time?
Did you feel that I listened to you and understood your points of view?
Are you leaving with a clear course of action that you want to take?
For those who want to go even further, you can download a sample
feedback form here that can be used at the conclusion of every session This approach provides the manager with data that can be analyzed to measure progress over time.
Coaching, like the broader disciplines of leadership and management, will always mirror the characteristics of an art form. No two people will practice it in an exact way. But when coaches can focus their conversations on the employee’s expressed needs and remain open to feedback, the genuine collaboration will allow the outcomes to shine.
(Forbes)