How to improve employee performance through coaching
Managers have a two-fold role. They must correct their employees’ performance problems and help them grow professionally and contribute to the organisation, at the same time advancing the employees’ own careers. So, to be effective, managers must be coaches, employing face-to-face techniques to solve performance problems or correct skill deficiencies, and to help staff develop to their full potential. Here’s one way to improve performance through the coaching process...
1. Know when to coach.
Coaching can be initiated by an employee who recognises the need for help; by you when you spot a need to intervene; or when you are delegating, giving instructions or encouraging an employee’s growth and development. Normally, you’ll be too busy to adopt a coaching stance every time an employee comes to you with a problem. So you’ll need to be quite selective about when you use coaching. You may also decide to delegate the task to a colleague better qualified than you to help with the particular problem.
2. Decide if a formal remedial coaching session is warranted.
If you believe your intervention is required in a coaching capacity, confirm that such a session is really necessary by asking the following questions:
- Is there really a problem where an employee is not meeting a performance standard? Or is that employee simply not performing quite as well as another?
- If a problem exists, is the problem correctable? Have previous attempts failed with this employee?
- Is the problem beyond the control of the employee - i.e. faulty materials, late deliveries, lack of information, equipment failures, unrealistic deadlines?
Coaching is not the solution to all performance problems.
3. Agree on a need for the session.
Whether the session has been at your instigation or at your employee’s, you must first agree on the exact nature of the employee’s problem or skill deficiency - because the staff member’s understanding may differ from yours. Establish clearly the purpose and importance of the session, the learning objectives, procedures, measurable goals by which progress can be gauged, and a timeline. Remember, the best approach will be one in which the employee feels committed, because the learner and coach have an equal stake in success.
