Coaching
An individual grows professionally based on multiple factors, including:
- Good Training
- Talent
- Experience
- Environment
- Access to Tools and Resources
- Strong Leadership
There are, of course, many more components that factor into career performance, all of which can impact its pace and level of success.
Coaching is perhaps the most important factor of all. Training is typically where every employee begins with a new company, which some companies do exceptionally and others do at a minimum level to quickly get their employee up to speed and working. The latter is sometimes the approach not solely because a company wants the return on investment as quickly as possible, but as an enlightened approach that suggests that the real training happens while doing the job. To some degree that is true, and while companies can often overkill their training programs, the smartest approach is to hit that sweet spot that gives people a good foundation and allows for continued learning subsequent to training.
Part of that post-training learning happens not only through the experience of doing the job, but also via coaching that should be taking place regularly for the employee. If so, the next question each organization needs to answer is what their reason may be for coaching. Any organization can highlight their coaching program, and it does serve a company and organizations well when it comes to performance management that sometimes leads to employee termination. It is critical that a company can demonstrate that an employee has been properly trained, coached, and given ample opportunity to be successful. The level and quality of coaching going on is seldom scrutinized yet is often the reason an employee fails. A coaching program where leaders and coaches ‘check the box’ instead of conducting meaningful sessions is not a coaching program, but what an organization feels is the minimal effort they begrudgingly give to employees, viewing coaching as a necessary evil. Such organizations no doubt struggle to achieve objectives and likely have higher employee attrition than the industry average.
No ‘Check the Box’ Coaching
Rather than creating a coaching program, the real goal of a company and even an individual organization within a company, should be to create a Culture of Coaching. This is not only achievable and worth the investment, but will pay incredible dividends to the bottom line and to the strength of employee morale and engagement. This is achieved through the mission of the organization that, at every level, all employees are committed to their own development, and that of their colleagues. As a mission statement or promise to employees, it makes coaching a powerful and positive benefit for being part of the team, rather than a trickle down approach where each level simply oversees, manages, or offers feedback to the people reporting to them.
The true Coaching Culture only begins that the point of commitment. It transforms and takes hold of an organization when everyone buys in and is willing to accept coaching from a variety of sources, not only their direct leadership team. It begins with leadership, who need to set the tone for everyone else. The higher level of leadership, ideally starting at the executive level, the greater the influence over everyone else that Coaching will be the backbone and foundation for the success of the organization.
Assess Current State
To determine where and how to begin to build a Coaching Culture it is critical to assess the strength and quality of the coaching and leadership team an organization has presently.
- Strength: Is Coaching and Leadership strong, meaningful and consistent? Do leaders and coaches maintain a high bar for themselves and those they coach? Is coaching done with intent, creating the right atmosphere, accurately assessing their people, and mindful of how to partner with the coachee to agree on goals to set for improvement?
- Approach: Is it mostly a top-down approach where changes and strategy come from senior leadership, moving level to level until reaching the entry-level employees, all of whom are told how it will be going forward? While time-effective, possibly cost-effective in the short term, it will inevitably backfire, and alienate a workforce who feel less valued and invested, always expected to only do as their told without thinking or given the opportunity to truly buy-in and absorb the change.
- Consistency: Is the current culture a network where a philosophy and approach to coaching is consistent across the leadership and coaching team, such that as employees move to a different leadership team or organization, they are able to continue progress made rather than having to start from scratch with new leadership, having to adapt to a different way of thinking or unfamiliar goals?
- Collaboration: What is the level of collaboration within the company? Is there collaboration, or is the company made up of distinct and independent organizations and leadership teams and styles, each marching to the beat of potentially different drums? If so, is performance consistent across these organizations and teams, or do some perform markedly better than others? Is there a ‘secret sauce’ in one department that is allowed to become proprietary, not shared with other groups who may also benefit from a proven, successful approach?
Build the Coaching Culture
Independence can be a great thing, a powerful attribute in a leadership team, and one that if not harnessed correctly, can create a splintered, erratic experience for its people. Independent thought is important, so an environment is not one built on robotic, automated responses that always coincide with the thoughts and information shared from above. Without the avenues and encouragement that people are free to express themselves, ask questions, even appropriately object to changes if they feel it may be a mistake, it will be an uphill climb to positively impact culture. Independence can be a powerful asset to an organization if it is encouraged, recognized and praised for the innovation and creativity it promotes, and people feel safe and valued for coming forward with new ideas.
While reviewing and assessing the quality of a coaching program, it begins by reviewing the leadership team, who in most cases is the group responsible to deliver coaching to their direct reports. Some organizations do invest in a team of coaches that are not direct leadership of an employee, thought to provide a safer, more secure, environment where coaching is not a referendum on employee performance, but a true measure to help better the person. This can be effective for the right organization, but the more sustainable, powerful impact to an organization will come from creating strong coaches among your leaders, who will be able to coach not only within formal, scheduled sessions, but also in their day-to-day work. The value of this is that coaching is not the one-and-done, weekly/monthly exercise that can too often fall into that ‘check the box’ category. When leaders at all levels are coaching in all they do, regardless of responsibilities or department, an organization has a true Culture of Coaching.
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