Today’s Advisor reports on one recent poll that says they do. This issue also begins a training session on coaching that you can use with your managers.
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North American employees report two-thirds of managers fail to actively engage in their career development, according to a poll by Right Management, the global career experts within ManpowerGroup.
Only 17 percent of employees report their managers are actively engaged in their career development, while 15 percent say their managers are sometimes engaged. Sixty-eight percent of managers are not engaged in their employee’s career development.
As talent shortages persist and employee retention becomes increasingly important, employers have an opportunity to make career development a priority by enabling their managers to coach and mentor their teams, advises Right Management.
“High-performing talent is a competitive differentiator, and organizations should be doing everything they can to build the careers of their top talent to keep them engaged and onboard,” said Bram Lowsky, executive vice president of Right Management.
Lowsky also says, “A culture of career development begins with giving managers the skills they need to have career conversations with their employees on an ongoing basis. Individuals are more likely to stay when they have good leaders that understand their career goals and want to help them achieve them.”
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Where do you begin “giving managers the skills they need?” Here’s a comprehensive training session to help you get started.
Background for Trainer
Coaching is spontaneous, one-on-one training. Providing immediate, specific feedback and correction is an important tool managers use to improve performance. Further, as a motivational tool, it offers you an opportunity to give personal attention and recognition to your employees, and to gain their participation in advancing growth and achievement. In addition, it establishes you, the supervisor, as expert model and, if done effectively, acknowledges the differences between one individual employee and another.
For all these reasons, supervisors should become fully conscious of the importance of coaching to their jobs and cultivate techniques to advance their effectiveness.
Training Objectives
Trainees will be able to:
- Characterize the key elements of coaching.
- Understand its advantages in the workplace.
- Apply several effective techniques in coaching situations.
6 Key Training Points
Discuss these five training points in turn. Remember not to merely lecture but to keep the training session as interactive as possible.
Training suggestion: You might ask trainees at the start to think of an experience they had in which they were coached and to identify the qualities that made it work. The following points, common to all forms of coaching, should be brought out.
1. What is coaching, and what does it mean in the workplace?
Coaching is personal, one-on-one training or teaching. It:
- Is spontaneous and informal;
- Adapts to the immediate situation;
- Usually is targeted to a specific task or assignment;
- Is interactive, i.e., it suggests a concerned, friendly, caring interest; and
- Offers encouragement and support.
2. How is coaching an important part of a supervisor’s and manager’s job?
Coaching helps performance by providing immediate feedback and correction. It also enhances the employee’s motivation to improve by:
- Giving personal attention (a form of recognition),
- Getting employees to actively participate in the learning process,
- Providing the means to achievement with specific help, and
- Enhancing the employee’s growth.
Furthermore, coaching conveys the supervisor’s or manager’s commitment to the employee and to the quality of work. It also reinforces the role of the supervisor and manager as an expert.
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3. What are the core elements of effective coaching?
Effective coaching is immediate, that is, as close to the time of need as possible. As such, it is best to coach while the memory of a problem or situation is fresh or when the employee is in need of guidance. Motivation for learning is always highest at the time of greatest need. (Note: this is the theory behind “just-in-time” training.) In addition, recognition for achievement or improvement is most appreciated closest to the event.
Effective coaching is specific. Because it’s immediate, it responds to a particular situation and individual. Specific direction optimizes the advantage of personal attention. Specifics also show that you care about the person and about the details of how work is done. In order to be helpful, praise, correction, and encouragement need to be detailed and exact.
Effective coaching is informal and spontaneous. Because the moment of need or opportunity for on-the-spot training can’t be predicted, the instruction gains in credibility because it’s not “canned” or prepared. The employee feels like a real person. Furthermore, since it’s done as needed, it is task- or outcome-oriented and has a practical, everyday quality.
Effective coaching is interactive. The supervisor or manager doesn’t describe or lecture, but shows and advises. The supervisor makes sure the employee understands by questioning and requesting the employee to demonstrate back. The focus on the task or problem allows for collaborative problem solving.
4. Coaching can be easily suited to the personality and different learning preferences of the employee, such as:
- Being told
- Being shown
- Doing while being directed
- Figuring out alone after the need or problem is identified
- Reading print, studying diagrams, etc.
- Being told versus being asked
- Step-by-step direction versus given a problem to solve or outcome to achieve
- Needing encouragement, reassurance versus needing firmness and authority
In tomorrow’s Advisor, we’ll provide the conclusion to this training session on coaching, including a wrap-up and an exercise.