Does Your Organization Have The “Coaching” Gene?

The success of many organizations depends largely on the performance of its people and the development of their Human Resources.

What is commonly understood is that this is a domain of the HR specialist and the training department, but a little bit of digging deeper will make us realize every manager in the organization is responsible towards this goal, and every manager has an impact on the human resources of the organization.

An important aspect of human resource development is being able to coach your staff to help them improve and perform to their fullest potential on the job.

If you are the manager, this is a skill you should add to your repertoire. Why? Managers who are good coaches benefit in two ways:

1. They receive quality work from their associates.
2. They look good and earn respect and trust from their teams very quickly.

Being a good manager-coach means knowing whom to coach, when to coach and how to coach, and like any other skill the more you practice it, the better you will get at it.

So the question is – If you decide to coach an associate, where do you start?

The first thing you would want to do is ask yourself these questions:

1. Is there an issue that needs to be addressed?
2. Can the issue be solved?
3. Are there any obstacles you need to be aware of?
4. What is the right time to coach on the related issue?

Any manager who acts as a mentor, coaches the associate to develop professionally and thus helps build a better team.

Here are some tips to remember when conducting your coaching session:

1. Seek agreement about the need to change: The Manager and the coachee must be in agreement with regards to the issue being discussed and see it in the same light; otherwise, you will end up wasting your time.
2. Discuss alternative solutions to the problems: Getting the buy in of the coachee in creating the solution is very important in the process. You want the coachee to take ownership of the solution.
3. Agree on specific actions to be taken : Create a specific action plan with the coachee and ensure that they are commited to improving. Remember that “what gets measured, gets done.”
4. Follow up to make sure that said action was taken: Ensure that you follow up regularly with the coachee to check that they are on track.
5. Recognize accomplishments : Praising and recognition always re-enforces the right behavior and helps the coachee trust the coaching process.

The organizations that have a positive coaching culture are agile and innovate rapidly with the changing environment. When people are offered the chance to align their own behaviors with the values and the vision of the organization, coaching is the propellant to organizational change.

Additionally, coaching is a skill that will take you a long way personally and professionally. You will evolve into a manager that is sought after and respected.