Creating a coaching culture is a game changer that shifts the way people work together. Companies with strong coaching cultures have much higher employee engagement, greater revenue growth and radical improvement of results.

Given that the world changes at a rapid pace, only the organizations with the strong core will persist. Collaboration and open communication across teams and departments are two of the most important factors contributing to the strong organizational core.

This article looks into organizational coaching. It explores how coaching contributes to the improvement of organizational collaboration and how it impacts the overall growth of the organization.

As per usual, we start by explaining what organizational coaching is and then we dive into the importance of collaboration. The last part of the article explores the benefits of coaching for the organization as a whole. 

So, let’s get going.

What Is Organizational Coaching?

Organizational coaching typically has a systemic change as its main purpose. It combines individual and team coaching in order to improve employee performance, productivity and any other skill needed to create desired changes and reach organizational goals.

Once company members have structure, organizational coaching can help identify and achieve corporate goals. These development programs might include crisis management, profitability attainment, and diversity and inclusion issues.

Robert Carroll

Unlike other forms of coaching, organizational coaching is designed to create impact on the level of the entire organization, not just one department or a team.

Why Is Collaboration Important in an Organization?

In order for any organization to grow and scale, it needs to have strong leadership and engaged employees. One way to create strong leaders and engaged teams is to foster a culture of collaboration. In other words, everyone in the organization needs to be willing to share and work with others in order for the organization to grow as a whole. 

It’s as simple as that. In organizations that promote the culture of every person for him or herself, growth is very hard to achieve, if at all.

How to Foster a Culture of Collaboration?

There are many ways to foster a culture of collaboration. The several ideas listed below could be a good starting point, but do not represent a definite list of steps to take.

Lead by Example

It is hard to encourage collaboration among your employees if you don’t do it yourself. As with anything else, the best way to motivate employees is to lead by example. This is especially true for new employees who are not familiar with the organizational culture. 

If you’re in a managerial position, you can demonstrate collaboration in your relationships with other managers or executives. What is more, you can demonstrate it with your team members as well. That way, you’re showing everyone around you that successful collaboration doesn’t depend on a position someone holds in the organization. It’s more about being open, flexible and willing to work together towards a common goal.

Every Person Matters

Collaboration happens across levels, departments and positions. In startups and small companies, almost all employees, including the owner/CEO/founder, work together and communicate on a daily basis. Although this may be hard to achieve in large corporations, it is important to make every employee feel valued.

Acknowledge and celebrate the success of everyone, regardless of their level, experience and/or position. Some companies have recurring meetings where they share their wins and challenges. This is a great opportunity to not only congratulate a team but also single out an individual for a special contribution. 

Just as we should talk about mistakes and challenges, it is also important to talk about wins and successes no matter how big or small they are. If people feel that they are cared for, they are more likely to stick around and give their best.

Encourage Communication

Open communication is crucial for organizational success and growth. Given that we haven’t yet learned how to read other people’s minds, it is essential to talk about the good and the bad when it comes to our daily work. 

Many issues remain unsolved and turn into conflict just because people assume the reasons behind someone else’s behavior or words. We all bring our own interpretation into our interactions with others. While there are many benefits to that, a big disadvantage is that it causes misunderstandings and misinterpretation.

On the other hand, it is important to remember that there is a form that some conversations need to take in order to be successful. That’s why organizations need to offer proper feedback and communication training. Providing your employees with the tools and techniques needed to successfully communicate is a step in the right direction.

How does Coaching Help an Organization?

Coaching helps organizations on multiple levels. Coaches can work with organizations on large, monumental changes as well as those on a smaller scale.

An ICF survey of over 500 of the largest companies in the USA showed that coaching increases employees’ skills and competencies and has a long-lasting systemic impact on the ability to retain talent and the financial sustainability of an organization.

Performance Consultants

This article covers only a few of those skills and competencies that coaching helps improve and develop. Nonetheless, if done correctly, improving the skills and areas listed below can have a massive impact on organizational growth.

Builds Stronger Leaders

No one is born a strong leader. No one is born a leader for that matter. Leadership is something we can develop over time. Some people are natural leaders, meaning that people tend to see them as leaders without them doing much about it (more like a character trait, although it is not) while others may need to work a bit harder to get there. 

Regardless of how you got to the leadership position, that is just the beginning of your journey. One way to improve your leadership is through coaching. Your coach works with you on detecting your weaknesses and areas for improvement. Then you create an action plan to improve those skills for maximum impact. 

The coach is there to help you through the process by motivating you, holding you accountable and being present. In addition to that, while working with you, the coach may model certain behaviors that you will benefit from as a leader.

An experienced executive coach can help create weekly action plans for clients and drive new levels of self awareness. With a proper pairing, coach and coachee can become quite close, and high levels of trust can become a springboard for growth and development.

Robert Carroll

Improves Communication

Coaching someone means asking them a lot of questions in order to get a clear picture of the situation or issue at hand. Also, coaches ask questions to gain understanding. This is a great opportunity for anyone working with a coach to improve their communication skills. As they answer questions, they will learn more about their communication style. Additionally, they will learn about how transparent and clear their communication is compared to what they think it may be like. 

What they learn and do during coaching hours can easily be put into practice at work with their colleagues. Eventually, the coachee will start asking questions for clarification and understanding. Also, he or she will be offering more feedback and become more present during the conversations. All of these create a great basis for open communication not only at work but in life in general.

Increases Accountability

As employees set goals and make plans with the coach, an added bonus is that the coach will hold them accountable to the action items they’ve co-created and committed to. This, however, doesn’t mean that employees will have to complete everything that’s on the list. Accountability is so much more than.

Being accountable involves continuous self-check in regards to one’s goals and the direction the person is taking. It is vital to keep an open mind and not stick to the plan religiously if better options become available as situations change. Continuous progress in the right direction is what accountability is all about. Accountability motivates employees to be efficient and productive, thus contributing to the overall success of the organization.

Feel free to read the article on accountability coaching I have written to learn more about it.

Enhances Agility

According to Betterworks

Business agility refers to the ability of a business to respond to internal and external factors. Agile organizations are resilient. In the face of change, they can flex, while others might break.

Betterworks

In a nutshell, an agile business accepts change as a constant and keeps adjusting and adapting to new situations, regardless of whether they’re positive or negative. 

That said, by helping individuals become more agile and adaptable, coaches help the entire business remain flexible in face of new challenges.

An important aspect of coaching is exploring different ways of thinking or approaching various challenges. When coaches work with employees, they work on helping them come up with ideas and think outside the box. All this makes employees more adaptable and accepting of change. In the long run, only those who can bend to the novelties will persevere and flourish.

Encourages Trust and Self-Responsibility

Establishing trust and safety is the foundation of any coaching practice. Without trust, people won’t open up and no progress will ever be made. Therefore, the first thing any coach does is making sure that the coachee feels comfortable, safe and secure. Once that’s established, the coaching can move forward. 

As employees work with the coach on their challenges and see the results of the process, they will be more likely to keep going. In return, that will strengthen the trust not only between the coach and the employees but also between the employees and the organization as a whole. In a way, the trust established between the coach and the employees extends to being able to trust the organization as well. 

It is important to note here that trust fosters responsibility. A trusting employee tends to be more responsible and willing to contribute more to the organization. They are more likely to check in with themselves and explore what it is that they can do to enhance the growth of the organization. Finally, they will feel more comfortable to share their honest opinions and point to the weak spots the organization needs to strengthen in order to grow.

All Things Said and Done

Working with a coach is a great learning experience for both the coach and the coachee. As they go through the process, employees increase their confidence, productivity and gain a clearer understanding of how they fit into the organization. Once employees find their purpose and meaning in the work they do, they will be more satisfied and willing to stay with the organization in order to contribute and learn more.

More and more organizations have started implementing coaching as part of their growth strategy.

When coaching is implemented on an organizational level, the benefits are truly profound. Organizational coaching works with the teams that form an organization. But even when the access to coaching is on a one-to-one basis, the entire team improves in key areas.

Allaya Cooks-Campbell

Coaching mindset enables growth on all levels and it can truly be a transformational experience for the organization.

The post How does Coaching Improve Organizational Collaboration? appeared first on Snowation.

Unfortunately, productivity is often misunderstood as being busy. In other words, if I am busy, then I am being productive. Hmmm, not really. 

In an attempt to clear this misunderstanding, I decided to write this article and explain what productivity is and how coaching can help improve it in the workplace. Also, at the very end of the article, I share some signs that are a good indication that your employees might struggle with productivity. It is up to you then to decide whether you’d like to work with a coach or just find someone to help improve certain skills that could ultimately lead to improved productivity.

Now, let’s dig into productivity and everything it brings along.

What Is Productivity?

Productivity can be defined differently depending on our reference point (economic, workforce, personal, etc.). Since the focus of this article is to show how coaching can improve productivity in the workplace, we’ll be talking about personal productivity.

In a nutshell, personal productivity describes how much an individual can accomplish in a day, be it in their personal life or at work. However, productivity does not refer to quantity alone; it also takes quality of the work done into consideration. Why so? Well, you can mark 20 tasks done, but if most of them have to be edited or redone, then you’re not really being productive, are you?

One way to ensure employees are productive rather than just busy is to hire a professional coach who can work with both employees and the management. In case this is not possible for a company at the moment, there are many aspects of coaching that can be done by managers or other employees who are not coaches that can help increase productivity in the workplace.

Before we get into the benefits of productivity coaching, let’s briefly define a few additional concepts.

What Is Productivity Coaching?

Productivity coaching is the process of helping you manage your time efficiently so you can increase productivity on the activities that achieve the biggest results.

Mark Pettit

In addition, productivity coaching helps you gain clarity on your goals. It also helps you learn to prioritize better while getting continuous support from your productivity coach. Finally, if done correctly, productivity coaching will help you feel less stressed and overwhelmed, thus enabling you to work more effectively.

What does a Productivity Coach Do?

First of all, productivity coaches, just like any other coach, provide support on various levels: emotional, mental, and sometimes physical (some coaches incorporate fitness training or workouts as part of their service). Your productivity coach will be there to hear you out and approach whatever is bugging you with an open mind. 

Additionally, a productivity coach will help you identify areas of improvement and bottlenecks that are steering you away from your goals. What is more, the coach will help you set clear goals and create an activity plan to tackle the obstacles and improve your performance and therefore, your productivity as well.

How does Productivity Increase?

If we define productivity as how much an individual can get done in a day, then we can freely say that productivity is strongly tied to focus. Therefore, in order to be more productive, you need to be able to focus better. 

There are many activities you can do to improve your focus, but they all revolve around eliminating obstacles and organizing your time so that you can do the most important things during the periods of your highest focus. In other words, you need to determine when you’re least likely to get distracted, then eliminate all potential distractions and get down to work – this is when you’ll be most productive.

Of course, this is easier said than done, especially when we talk about a workplace. Despite many changes in the workplace, many of us still have working hours that don’t always overlap with our personal focus period. So, what can you do then?

Simple: adjust and experiment. Once you know your patterns, work with your coach or manager to help you adjust your habits to your work environment. Then, give it a try and observe. As you go along, change anything that doesn’t work and find better alternatives.

In addition to focus, your productivity levels will depend on your emotional, physical and mental state. For example, if you feel tired or are not in a good mood, it is very likely that your productivity levels will be lower. Of course, there are ways to deal with all these, but a general rule of thumb is to be aware of what’s going on with your mind and body and act accordingly. If you insist on working hard even when you’re tired or your mind wanders often, you’re just being busy, not very productive.

How Coaching Can Improve Employee Productivity

There are many ways coaching can be used to improve productivity in the workplace. I have chosen the 6 steps listed below because they can be done not only by a professional coach, but a team leader or a manager as well. As I’ve mentioned already, working with a professional coach will be more effective and efficient, but if your company is not in a situation to do that just yet, the management team can easily use the steps below to help employees increase their productivity.

Ask Questions to Find Solutions

Yes, I know, we all have limited time and can’t always wait for employees to come up with their own solutions to problems. Sometimes, it’s just easier to tell them what the solution is. Agreed. BUT… in the long run, it is always better to help employees find their own solutions and alternatives while teaching them how to do it in the most efficient way possible.

If you’re helping a person solve a problem, ask a lot of questions that will guide them to come up with their own alternatives. For example, instead of giving your own solution, start by asking something along the lines of “How do you think we could approach this problem?”, “What do you think might be a good way to tackle this problem?”. 

And then, if you get an idea, probe for more. For example, “That’s great! What else comes to mind?” or “OK, anything else you’d like to try?”. The more alternatives you get, the more enthusiastic the employee will be to get started and start testing. 

Finally, work with the person on outlining the pros and cons of the proposed solution and help the person choose a solution to start with. Remember, you shouldn’t be the one to propose and/or choose the solution. You’re there to guide and offer support.

Also, make sure to praise the employee on the work well done. Praise is a strong motivator for productivity and you’d be surprised how much output a few nice words can generate.

Give Regular Feedback

If you’ve read any of my other articles, you’ll know by now that I talk about feedback a lot. And with a good reason.

Positive feedback strengthens performance. People will naturally go the extra mile when they feel recognized and appreciated.

Daniel Nilsson

Long story short: when feedback is given in the right way and consistently, the employees will be more likely to be more productive. In case you’d like to learn more about constructive feedback, feel free to read my article on 4 rules to make your feedback count. 

Keep Employees Accountable

Once you create an activity plan or set goals with your employees, make sure to keep them accountable for the work they’ve signed up for. Schedule regular check-ins with your employees to track progress and talk about potential obstacles or issues that need to be addressed. Also, remember to set up a one-on-one to talk about these goals/tasks and their progress. 

Please, note that all accountability check-ins and meetings should be scheduled separately from your regular one-on-ones because they’re designed to follow up on a particular plan or an agreement you had with the person.

Keeping people accountable will motivate them to be more productive and get more done. Most people don’t enjoy letting others down, so if they’ve committed to completing a task and/or reaching a goal, with regular check-ins and accountability, they’ll be more likely to follow through, thus increasing their productivity the right way.

Help Employees Prioritize

People are more likely to get things done if they know exactly what they’re doing and why they’re doing it in the first place. So, when assigning tasks to your employees, make sure to set clear expectations and give clear instructions. Clarity is very important in order for employees to be able to complete their tasks. 

Once that’s out of the way, work with the employees on the importance of each task or a goal. Not everything needs or can be done right here and right now. This is where coaching comes in. The coach can work with the management team on setting goals if needed so that enough clarity is provided from the very beginning. Then the coach will work with employees on how to organize their time in the best way possible to complete the most important tasks at their peak productivity time. 

Often, just by asking questions about a certain task, the coach helps an employee get organized. These questions cover the scope of the task, how it relates to other tasks, obstacles that need to be tackled and who might need to help in order to complete the given task.

Sometimes, just by seeing the whole scope outlined, the employee is able to organize better, prioritize and focus on the right things at the right time.

Reduce Stress and Overwhelm

When you adopt less stressful ways of thinking about work, you can be more productive and efficient with your time.

Mark Pettit

As mentioned earlier, one of the benefits of working with a productivity coach is gaining clarity and improving employees’ organizational skills. This alone helps reduce stress and the feeling of being overwhelmed. The more stressed and/or overwhelmed an employee is, the less productive he or she will be. 

Ideally, the coach will help eliminate stress from the employee’s daily routine. However, even if they manage to just reduce it to the amount that’s not impeding their productivity, it’s a step in the right direction.

Provide Learning Opportunities

Working with a productivity coach enables employees to detect their weaknesses and areas that need improvement. This is a great starting point for the company to be able to create appropriate learning plans for employees to improve and grow. If the company knows exactly what to focus on, it saves time and money on learning plans. Also, it provides the most tailored opportunities for its employees to develop and improve their skills. 

Knowing that the company cares for them and their professional development increases employee engagement, loyalty and productivity. Remember, when people feel genuinely appreciated, they tend to give back more than expected.

3 Signs That Your Employees May Need a Productivity Coach

As you go through these, please keep in mind that these signs need to be somewhat consistent over a period of time. If any of these happen once in a while, it might just mean that your employee is struggling with something else that is affecting his or her performance. So, the first thing you should do is talk to the person. Now, if this is something consistent or both of you agree that a coach might help, then you know what to do next.

They Keep Missing Deadlines

Missing deadlines is usually connected to poor time management skills. Employees underestimate the time needed to complete a task or their time available to do the task required. A productivity coach can help identify the cause of this misplaced sense of time and help the employee improve in this area.

They Are Constantly Tired

This is typically a sign that the employee has too much on his or her plate. The reason for that can be poor organizational skills or not enough time off. A productivity coach can help employees learn to take breaks, not pile things up and start approaching work without stress and anxiety.

Lack of Focus

If an employee is finding it difficult to focus on one task at a time or stay focused enough to complete a task at hand, they may be in need of a productivity coach. The coach will help them get back the focus needed to complete their daily workload without creating additional stress and frustration.

Remember to Follow Up

Coaching is not a quick fix. It is important to constantly continue to coach and be engaged in the employee. The work never stops

Daniel Nilsson

Try to create routines that will help your employees improve continuously. Ultimately, you’ll want them to continue working in these routines even without your help. However, that does not mean that once employees are good on their own, you should just forget about them. As Mr. Nilsson would say, the work never stops. 

A simple way to do it is to have a quarterly meeting with your team members and check in on them once you’re not doing it on a more regular basis. This will tell them that you still care. And remember, when people feel looked after, they will want to return the favor and keep the relationship balanced.

If you need help getting your team to the next level, schedule a free consultation with me and let’s talk about it.

The post How Can Coaching Improve Productivity in the Workplace? appeared first on Snowation.

So, let’s cover the basics and then move on to the juicy part.

What is Employee Coaching?

In a nutshell, coaching an employee means that you’re helping employees reach their full potential. You work with them on improving their skills, understanding the objectives and overcoming obstacles and challenges at work.

How do You Coach Employees?

As with any other coaching practice, it can take many different forms. Most frequently, employee coaching involves scheduling individual sessions with employees (in case of an in-house coach, these should not be mistaken for your regular one-on-ones). 

Coaching sessions should be a safe space for employees. They need to be comfortable sharing the good and the bad in order to improve their performance, productivity and solve problems. 

Even though employee coaching must be aligned with the company goals and objectives, keep in mind that your client is always the employee. So your first and foremost concern should be the employee and the challenges s/he is facing no matter how that relates to the current workplace.

What Is the Focus of Employee Coaching?

The focus of employee coaching is to celebrate wins and identify obstacles that prevent employees from performing at their best. This is achieved through working on developing and enhancing employee skills in order to improve performance and productivity. In return, investing in employee growth through coaching improves the overall employee contribution.

How Can Coaching Enhance Employee Skills?

Although beneficial, a coach doesn’t have to know how to do the work of an employee to be able to help him or her improve their performance and develop skills. Through regular meetings and continuous feedback, the coach can help employees work on their problematic areas. The more employees are aware of their weaknesses, the more they’ll be able to work on improving them. Additionally, a coach can help an employee find a mentor with a needed expertise for the skill the employee is looking to improve. Finally, the coach can encourage employees to talk to their manager openly about their professional development needs and ask for help to find the solution.

Long story short, it takes consistency and collaboration. Through partnering with employees and managers, coaches help organizations grow by working together to enhance employee skills and improve performance.

8 Tips for Employee Performance Coaching in the Workplace

Remember to Coach

It is often hard to step back and let the other person do the talking. This is especially hard if you’re an internal coach who’s also the team manager. Switching between the two roles can be challenging, but not impossible. 

For the purpose of this article, it is important to remember that as a coach, you coach – you don’t manage. What does that mean?

Coaching process is a collaboration, or partnership, between the coach and the coachee. When you’re coaching your employees, let them take the lead when it comes to the content. Ask them questions, listen, ask for clarification, guide the process but don’t give solutions because then you won’t be in the role of a coach anymore. 

Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share your thoughts and knowledge. Step back but don’t hold back. Provide feedback, share experiences, create a safe space for growth, but follow the lead of your employee and address their concerns. Remember, the focus is on the employee and them figuring things out, not you telling them what to do.

Praise Achievements and Growth

Offering constructive feedback is essential to growth. Talking about mistakes and how to fix them helps employees understand where they need to improve. However, praising employees may be even more important at some points when it comes to improving employee performance.

Giving positive feedback reinforces the expectations you have for them and assures them that you have confidence in their abilities to maintain or exceed those expectations.

Indeed

Praising your employees reminds them of the trust you’ve placed in them. It motivates your employees to feel good about themselves, which in turn motivates them to keep doing a good job. Also, it can be a good reference point when they make a mistake – it will prevent negative thinking and self-pity.

Help Identify Roadblocks

Often, when we feel stuck, we can’t see the clear picture and the direction we’re supposed to take. As a coach, it is your job to help employees identify the obstacles and create action plans to overcome them. 

Sometimes, just letting employees tell you about the problem can be beneficial and they’ll come up with the cause of the problem on their own. Other times, you’ll have to ask questions to understand the situation better in order to be able to help.

It is frequently the case that the roadblocks are hidden in employees’ perceptions or assumptions they make so make sure to ask about anything and everything. This may take some time, but the point of the process is to help employees move forward with their tasks, not to patch up an issue and move on.

Be Present

This one may be a bit more challenging, but it is so important for the coaching process. Being present means listening carefully to what employees are saying, not assuming anything. You can address their words, expressions, ask for clarification or just be quiet and give employees time to think and space to process.

You have to be there mentally, with them in that room and your thoughts should be directed to whatever the other person is saying. There will be times when you won’t know what to do next and that’s totally fine. Being open and honest with your coachee will take you a long way. 

Remember, transparency is the key in business, even when it comes to coaching. You don’t have to be a know-it-all. You just need to be there.

Build Confidence

Building confidence helps employees perform better. When they’re sure about their actions and decisions, they’ll spend less time questioning themselves and more time completing the task and moving onto the next one.

Coaching in the workplace should be highly oriented toward support and guidance. Employees who receive adequate support stand out in the process of achieving goals.

Attendance Bot Blog

Remind employees of their strengths and congratulate them every step of the way. When people know that they’re appreciated and valued, they’re more likely to invest themselves and give their very best.

Encourage Employees to Learn from Others

Over time and through experience, we tend to develop our own way of thinking and approach to tasks. Even if two people had the same education, they are different individuals so they’ll do the work differently.

Encourage your employees to interact with one another. This may go without saying when it comes to employees doing the same or a similar job, but interacting with employees who do something completely different can be beneficial, too. Communicating with their peers at work creates a collaborative environment and company culture. It also enables employees to seek help from their fellow coworkers. 

Learning on your own is great, but collaborating with others can be more efficient and effective at times; not to mention fun as well.

Build Self-Awareness and Reflection

By providing continuous feedback, you teach your employees how to approach a problem and see their own mistakes and wins. They become more self-aware and start understanding their patterns better. 

Self-reflection is important, not only when a mistake has been made, but also when a task has been completed or a problem solved. Understanding what works and what needs to be improved on a personal and team level can greatly help employees improve their performance and create better results.

Hold Employees Accountable

The coaching process starts with setting goals. Once employees commit to the goals they have set for themselves, it is your job to hold them accountable. As I’ve mentioned in my article on benefits of accountability coaching for startup founders and business owners, people are 95% more likely to reach their goals if they’re meeting regularly with the person they’ve committed to about a given goal. The more goals employees meet, the easier it’ll be for the business to scale and grow.

Peachy! Right?

Yes and no. Despite its many benefits and advantages, there are some disadvantages to coaching employees in the workplace. More often than not, coaching takes time and the results are not seen immediately.

Companies that are strict or are highly driven through results will not find coaching employees an ideal to see improvements in the short-term.

Attendance Bot Blog

Nonetheless, the benefits and perks of coaching outweigh these disadvantages by far. More and more companies are now on the lookout for a leadership style that is geared more towards coaching. The CEOs and founders tend to be more open to hiring a coach for their employees as they understand the long-term benefits of it. 

Finally, as I’ve already mentioned in my other articles, you don’t have to hire a professional coach to work with your employees. Managers can also learn coaching skills given enough time and resources. However, if you’re looking for maximum results and a more effective approach, I’d highly recommend connecting with a professional coach or a coaching organization.

The post 8 Tips for Coaching Employees to Improve Performance appeared first on Snowation.

Just like sport teams, business teams need coaches to help them grow and succeed as well. It seems like nowadays, more and more companies are opening up to coaching practices. They started realizing the potential of coaching and its importance when it comes to performance, growth and development. In this article, I’ll be exploring the connection between coaching and employee performance. We’ll look at what performance coaching is and why it should be done. Also, I’ll list several benefits of coaching for performance which help create stronger individuals and teams and ultimately help you drive your business forward.

What Is Coaching for Performance?

Coaching for performance is a coaching method used to identify areas of improvement when it comes to employee performance. However, not only does it identify gaps, but it also creates a learning and growth plan in order to close those gaps in employee performance.

This process involves open communication, encouraging and acknowledging good behavior and getting employees back on track. It also involves challenging team members to encourage growth and learning and holding them accountable for setting and achieving their goals.

Who Can Coach for Performance?

Some companies have internal coaches who have been trained to do this job. Nevertheless, a company can hire an external coach to improve employee performance as well. Finally, if you’re not in a position to work with a professional coach, any team leader can do this as well. All that’s needed is a bit of training in order for the leader to understand how effective coaching works and how to do it properly. 

For example, one of the most important things in coaching is creating a safe environment and building trust. So, if team members don’t trust a leader, the first step would be to change that situation. Otherwise, having such a person coach others could be detrimental to the business.

What Is the Purpose of Coaching in the Workplace?

One of the reasons you may want to introduce coaching in the workplace is to improve employee performance. As we’ll see further in the text, there are many aspects that coaches cover when they’re coaching for performance as many factors influence the results an employee presents during his or her working hours. 

In addition to performance, coaching is used in the workplace to create stronger bonds between teams, help team members resolve issues when it comes to communication, teamwork, personal and professional growth, etc. Finally, it gives employees a better understanding of how their growth fits into the company growth. In return, that clarity enables them to become more effective and efficient contributors in the workplace.

How Can Coaching Improve Performance?

As mentioned above, coaching for performance incorporates many aspects of one’s professional life. The areas listed below are just a few, but there are many others that can be included in the list. 

Personally, I believe that the greatest advantage of coaching for performance is the clarity it gives employees when it comes to their place in the organization. That alone enables employees to better define their goals, motivates them to contribute more and be more effective, thus turning workers into leaders and advocates of change. According to Forbes:

68% of workers say training and development is the most important workplace policy.

Ed Ross

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how coaching helps improve employee performance.

Creates Self-Awareness

A performance coach drives self-awareness among team members by providing feedback on behaviors, practices, and the results they produce. The insights and opportunities for improvement can help employees understand how to better achieve their goals.

CMOE

With time, employees will learn how to check on their practices and results on their own. They will be able to assess whether their processes are contributing to the company goals or not (and if not, how to change them). Additionally, through their experience with the coach, they will learn how to provide feedback for their team members as well, thus developing a skill they will benefit from in the long run (more on feedback later in the text). 

What’s important here is that the coach demonstrates self-awareness as well. By sharing examples from experience (either personal or from working with others), the coach is demonstrating the process itself, which can later be mirrored by team members. Finally, by asking for feedback on his or her own coaching practice, the coach shows the team what self-awareness looks like in practice.

Develops Problem-Solving Skills

Working with a coach means answering a lot of questions. Coaches share their experiences and offer feedback, but usually, coaches are there to observe, listen and ask questions whereas the coachee is the one coming up with answers. This leans back onto the self-awareness part mentioned above: we will remember things we’re told, but we’ll definitely stop and think about things we figured out on our own. 

As employees work with a coach, they learn how to detect and define problems. Yet, more importantly, they learn how to approach the problem in order to solve it. Developing problem-solving skills and critical thinking will benefit not only the employee but the company as well because the culture of problem solving (and not problem searching) is the one that goes above and beyond.

Improves Feedback and Open Communication

86% of employees and executives cite lack of collaboration or ineffective communication for workplace failures.

Todd Kunsman

I have met so many people who claim to know how to give and receive feedback, but in practice it turned out to be the complete opposite. Even though it is not rocket science, knowing how to give and receive feedback is a form of art: there are patterns to be followed and it requires practice. Of course, as with any other skill, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

When leaders and managers take the time to sit down with employees and talk openly with them, it builds trust. Building trust with employees makes them feel more comfortable to share their honest thoughts or opinions.

Unboxed

Working with a coach gives employees ample opportunities to give and receive feedback. In order to set the right goals, employees will have to be forthcoming with their interests, which direction they’d like to take when it comes to professional development, etc. 

Furthermore, being comfortable to speak up enables employees to share their pain points, ideas and suggestions and makes them more involved and interested in the company’s growth. Developing such a culture takes time, but you can always start with one person at a time.

Helps Reach More Goals

Coaches love setting goals, at least I do. It is such a powerful motivation for people because it gives them a direction, something to look forward to. In addition, the point of improving employee performance is to be able to produce better results (among other things). Now, how can a coach help?

Easy. The first step in the coaching process is to set goals. In case an employee doesn’t know how to set goals or doesn’t set goals in the right way, the coach is there to help. Through the coaching process, an employee can learn how to ask the right questions and what to consider to set more meaningful goals that align with the company’s goals and direction.

Then, the coach is there to hold employees accountable for their actions in order to achieve those goals. This helps employees stay on point and on the right track. What is more, it helps reduce procrastination, thus leading to achieving goals more effectively and efficiently.

Increases Employee Engagement

Employees who know that they’re taken care of are more likely to invest themselves into work. Regular one-on-ones encourage employees to take action and participate in building the company. Employees tend to take a more active role in the workplace if they know that their efforts are being acknowledged and appreciated. And what better way to show employees that you care about them than to help them work on their personal and professional development.

Enhances Ability to Coach Others

Through challenges and learning experiences that the coaching process offers, employees tend to change their perspective. As they work on their own improvement, many realize the benefits of coaching and are more willing to share that knowledge. Furthermore, they’re more willing to use the newly gained skills to help others grow. Having a positive experience with coaching can go a long way and have incredible positive effects on the overall growth of both employees and the employer.

Only when you can teach, do you really understand something. Being willing to set time aside to teach is such a blessing and a step in the right direction for any company planning to scale and grow.

What’s Next?

If you haven’t already, I’d highly recommend setting up a coaching practice in your company. As I already mentioned, you don’t have to have a professional coach to do it, but for maximum effect, I’d encourage you to give a chance to someone who’s got the knowledge and experience to help you and your team move in the right direction.

If you’re not sure whether this would be the right approach for you and/or your company, you can start small: get a personal coach and test it for yourself. This will help you gain insight in the process and experience it on your own before deciding whether it is a good fit for your company.

Either way, give it a go. With a good coach, an impartial person you feel comfortable with and can trust, you can do incredible things. Still not sure? Well, you won’t know until you try.

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