Coaching, in the context of performance management, means bringing the right people onto your staff and developing them continually so that they do their jobs well all the time. Think in terms of baseball, football, or volleyball coaches. They recruit the right people, assess training and development needs, and work to improve the skills of all. You’re a coach in just the same way.
As a coach, for instance, one of your jobs is to hire top talent. Then, if at any point your employees lack the skills they need to do their jobs well, your job is to train them. Analyzing training needs is, in fact, an ongoing responsibility, because skill needs change as the demands of the workplace change.
Besides making sure your employees have the skills they need, as coach you need to ensure they understand your organization’s values and mission. Otherwise, your employees may create problems for themselves or for you.
This belief is critical to coaching: employees like to do a good job, and they want to get positive feedback and encouragement. Sitting down with a worker to discuss recent efforts doesn’t have to be demoralizing. If done tactfully, the conversation can move individuals to a point where they can do a good job and where, consequently, they’ll get the positive feedback and encouragement they want.
To make this happen, you have to tell employees exactly what you want and why. Present the big picture and their role in it. For example: “I get calls from customers when they don’t hear from us about the status of their orders. Keeping them abreast of the status of their orders is a promise we make to our customers. Your responsibility is to process this information and send e-mail updates to them. Because I got a few calls this morning, I am assuming that you haven’t sent out all the letters yet. Is that so?”
If an employee says yes, then you might explore the reasons for delays. More important, together with the employee, you would come up with a plan to address any obstacles in completing the work on schedule. In the meantime, you might suggest, “Make print copies of the information. If a customer calls, I’ll be able to answer any questions. Given our plan, I should be able to assure the client that in the future a call won’t be necessary.”
If the employee needs to learn a new skill, you might want to both tell and show the person what to do. As the employee is learning, you should be there as personal cheerleader—assuming that you believe the individual can handle the job. If you have some doubts, go back and offer further training. Effective coaches don’t leave their employees to sink or swim. They recognize that there is a learning curve, and they make a point to help employees who are on it. Interestingly, as a coach, you need to accept that your employees will make mistakes and— most important—that they can learn much through the process of getting it wrong and then finding out how to put it right. Your role is to be there and congratulate them when they get it right.