According to a variety of studies, many employees – good employees – don’t feel that they receive the coaching they need to improve performance. After surveying 2,600 US workers, New York-based Mercer Human Resource Consulting (April 2003) found that:
- Only one-fourth of employees indicated that their managers coach them to improve performance.
- Forty-two percent say that their manager gives them regular feedback on their performance.
- Just 29% say that they are rewarded when they do a good job.
Towers Perrin, another New York-based consulting firm, concluded from surveying 35,000 U.S. workers that only one-fifth of workers are highly engaged in their jobs. While an equal amount of surveyed workers are disengaged in their work, Towers Perrin suggests that the middle three-fifths – “the massive middle” – offers the best opportunity for managers and supervisors. “Strengthening this group’s level of engagement may be the most critical task virtually every employer faces today.”
Despite the overwhelming evidence that points to the value of coaching as a way to develop talent, encourage growth, engender loyalty, generate commitment, and demonstrate leadership, many people in coaching roles don’t coach.
Why?
12 comments:
Historically I have found managers do not coach for a number of reasons. Lack of time: not realizing the investment in a little time today has far-reaching long-term benefits. Lack of experience / skill: require coaching / development themselves to be confident doing. Lack of top down support: needs to be clear expectation, understanding how, why, value, priority, support. As a manager of managers, I fully appreciate the value and need for managers at all levels to provide coaching. Our business success depends on manager effectivenss and associate engagement. I picture it like an symphony or a sports team. Business is the same, just doing different "stuff". Coaching is a critical component of relationships. Mistakes are a valuable means of growth, learning and improvement. We all need to know how we are doing toward expectations. Catch people doing things well. Who doesn't like recognition for doing things right? We don't know what we don't know. Having a culture that supports ongoing feedback --- constructive, positive, collaborative, with people being comfortable at all levels to provide (our leader, peers, team members, customers) we will achieve better results, more easily. When I think of great coaches I have had over the years, personally and professionally, I am so appreciative of the difference they have made in my life. We need to eliminate the barriers, perceived or otherwise, managers have to ensure coaching is a primary responsibility that is embraced and enjoyed. The fulfillment for them and for employees will contribute to a more productive, successful, energized, balanced, happy community.
I think that managers don't coach because:
- Most feel under more pressure today than they ever have. They feel they have no time.
- Most think of 'performance coaching' as a punitive activity - not an 'opportunity creation'.
I believe that we would all benefit if coaching were positived as a positive and upbeat activity for 'winners' - not a punishment for 'losers'.
I think managers spend less time coaching than they would like due to one main reason -- time. Managers probably try to work in opportunities as they present themselves, but that's simply not enough. Always functioning at top speed does not lend itself to a thoughtful approach.
I agree with some of the other comments. The pressure that managers (especially mid level) feel to fight fires and do administrative tasks can sometimes contribute to the coaching vacuum.
In my experience, this phenomenon is more prevalent in newer or less experienced managers. Ironically, rookie managers often attempt to please the organization in the wrong ways by spending their time on activities that offer the least leverage (more effort and fewer results). This can lead to a vicious cycle in which the manager becomes a single point of failure and his/her team is not reaching their fullest potential.
Good coaching can help break this paradigm. If the mid level manager and their Director/VP are clear that coaching is a priority and part of the managers results objectives, which is a big first step. From there, training, mentoring and role modeling become critical.
I think every manager aspires to be a good coach and spend time with their teams but they need to make the commitment to do it and build the habit and routine. This virtuous cycle comes from personal and organizational commitment as well as having the knowledge and skill to do it well (training).
There are no shortcuts on the path to being a good coach. You have to believe it is a critical enabler to increasing team results, you need to understand effective coaching models, and you need to practice and hold yourself accountable.
Why? Great question!
WIth a broad brush I suspect one or more of three things need some attention- Knowledge, Skill, and Desire.
1. Knowledge- Covey said it best "with people, slow is fast and fast is slow".
Has the manager that doesn't coach achieved "conscious competence" in the art/science of coaching?
2. Skill - Do managers practice coaching? Are they rewarded for practicing? Would practice increase confidence? And would greater confidence inspire more coaching?
3. Desire - How many managers rank coaching equal or more important than promotions, bonuses, and other incentives?
What if becoming a great coach equaled faster promotions and bigger bonuses?
Last question-
How many people supervising these managers are coaching them?
Stephen Bell, Learning & Development, John Hancock
Several reasons that I can think of: 1. Many people are promoted to "manager" because of their technical rather than people or leadership skills. While they were strong individual performers - they don't know how to transfer their knowledge or how to get results from someone with a different approach to the work. 2. Coaching takes time and managers are often pressured to or rewarded for "getting the work done." How it gets done is less important that getting it done - so managers don't find the time to do the coaching. Coaching skill is often overlooked and undervalued by the organization. 3. Good coaching requires good listening skills (and a willingness to take the time to listen), however, many managers think it's their job to fix things quickly.
Dari Damazo, Director of Training and Development writes:
I believe that most managers want to coach and see the value in it. However, they lack the time and the preparation to do so effectively. They may have had a bad experience on the receiving end of coaching or they might have delivered what they considered to be a "coaching session" to an employee and had it go wrong. If you couple the bad experiences with the lack of time and preparation, coaching is something that managers often push aside. However, if companies invest the time in those who need to coach by teaching them how to do so regularly and effectively, a lot of the employee issues managers end up spending their time on would be minimized and the work environment and peoples' feelings toward it would be much better!
Edwin Visalden, Field Service Manager writes:
My experience has identified that we continue to improve on budgeting finances, but we don't budget time for our staff. We certainly plan to, but we often get so caught up in trying to complete so many other projects or tasks, we forget that one of those tasks is helping our staff to improve their performance. Another perspective is we get caught up in using processes to train and often assume that a well defined process inherently leads to development. What many don't appreciate is the growth opportunity coaching provides for the employee which in turn grows the company through dedication and improved performance. It provides Clarity on expectations and how to meet those expectations. Coaching helps you identify with your staff and them with you. It is an invaluable tool that let's your staff know that you are there for the business and for them. It is worth every minute spent.
Julie Dervin, VP of Learning & Development writes:
In my experience, I have observed a few main reasons why managers won't coach:
- The belief they do not have time, and since their direct manager is not coaching them and/or not holding them accountable for coaching their directs, this managerial responsibility does not seem to make the list of top 3-5 priorities of "things I have to do."
- Lack of quick and instant gratification a manager gets when he/she solves the issue for the employee or "tells" the employee how to do something.
- And finally, many managers I have worked with believe they are coaching, and do not realize the difference between their behaviors and "real" coaching skills.
I think many of the comments listed are spot on.
In the current age of working more with less, has resulted in sales managers having to reprioritize their time. Effective coaching requires the manager's ability to properly analyze their individual contribuor's strentghs and developmental areas. They then have to devise a proper strategy to, not only address the developmental areas, but to enhance the individual's strengths. This requires a working knowledge of the roles and responsibilities, as well as the time necessary to do the research, planning, and something that is critical, follow-up.
Currently managers are being pulled in many different directions, leaving them with limited resources, and prompting them to be more reactive. They are somewhat forced to address issues with the intent of resolving and moving on to their next task. As a result of this band aid approach, the "root" of each strength and developmental area is never fully influenced.
Answering "Why" more managers don't coach is worthwhile. It is also worthwhile to focus on how to manage the behavior of managers so that they spend more time coaching.
1. Coaching is a habit that needs to be managed so the behavior becomes automatic.
2. Managers should be paid according to how well and how often they coach.
Our best hope for changing the culture of coaching is with first-time managers. Train them and manage them to value the impact of coaching. Think about how coaches of sports teams are required to coach players everyday, day after day, with players of varying skill and experience. The coaching role and standards for it are made clear. Over time, as new managers become more experienced and begin to manage other managers, there can be a long-term, cultural change in what activities managers are expected to prioritize.
To the second point, pay people based on their coaching abilities. How good are they and how frequently do they coach? Those who manage other managers will get all the coaching they want if they make it a priority goal and hold their managers accountable for quality and frequency.
These are a couple of suggestions that can move us from "Why (not)" and help us focus on "How (to)".
From Bill George, author of "True North" and former CEO of Medtronic:
Terry,
I love your question but disagree with most of the respondents. Lack of time is an excuse many weak leaders use, not a reason for not coaching.
The problem, as I see it, is the perspective leaders have about their jobs. Over the last 25 years the HR community has turned performance reviews into sessions to judge and evaluate subordinates, and to critique their weaknesses, not to coach them on how to use their strengths. So most leaders in middle management roles, and many on top, do not understand that the largest component of the leader's job - and the key to their own success - is their ability to coach their subordinates to use their strengths and to minimize any weaknesses that get in the way of their success.
Coaching should take place every day and in every meeting, not just at performance review time.
At Medtronic, leaders were evaluated on their success in developing leaders within their organizations. Those who focused on coaching others to succeed were the ones who got the promotions, not those that drove their organizations to make their short-term numbers - and drove the high potential people out of their organizations. We had a policy never to promote someone until we got feedback on how their subordinates felt about their leadership.
So the problem starts with us - not with the managers themselves. We need to agree on a new philosophy of leadership as developing and empowering others to lead, not driving others to follow us or our directives. Organizations and leaders that do so are much more successful and effective.
Bill George
Author of "True North" and former CEO of Medtronic
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