Introduction
The traditional image of workplace coaching has been for the reserve of executives or individuals with high potential within an organisation. It is now reaching the shop floor with organisations realising that managers using coaching skills in the workplace can provide direct performance and business benefits.
More than 70% of organisations with any formal leadership development activities use coaching as an important part of that (Zenger & Stinnett) . This figure is supported by a recent learning and development survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) which states “just over 70% of organisations use coaching and 80% report that line managers are using coaching methods with their staff.†It goes on to state that line managers were typically delivering 36% of the coaching to their reports, while HR and TAA40104 Training and Development specialists were delivering 30%.
The evidence certainly suggests that there is an expectation for line managers to deliver more coaching. We will look later in more detail at the benefits and the implications that it presents.
In this report I am going to investigate the topic of coaching in the workplace. I will start with defining what is coaching in the workplace, and what it is not. I will cover how it works as a development tool and its purpose. I’ll then cover the topic of the Manager as coach. What their roles and responsibilities are; the deliverables to the business and look at the pros and cons of delivering coaching.
The reader will then be taken through how can a manager coach, who will they coach and to what end. This will also look at different styles and methods. To conclude I will discuss the issues that it may raise, how they can be recognised and some potential solutions.
Finally during my writing, I will be adding my own thoughts, as well as reference material and drawing comparisons through a case study of my experience as a manager in a multi national manufacturing organisation, where I had been involved with coaching first hand. This I hope will add some realism to the theory and reference material.
The aim of the report will give you the reader an insight into the subject area bringing together views, evidence, and real life perspective (the writers).
How does it work?
Coaching versus mentoring: a difference in name only? Before I proceed any further, it is at this point I feel it is important to define for the reader the difference between the two approaches. Although a large body of work has been done on both, there is still a difference of understanding. Sean Weafer claims “that a mentor is involved in transferring job specific skills or culture specific knowledge to someone junior to them, but not in their direct line of management within an organisationâ€. He then goes on to say “coaches usually focus on the clients perception of the challenges they faceâ€. Jennifer Wright argues that the difference is mentoring traditionally involves an individual with expert knowledge passing the knowledge in a specific domain.†Coaching is defined as a process in which the coach facilitates learning in the client and furthermore elicits solutions from the clients.
These definitions came from a coaching perspective; therefore to keep the balance, from a mentoring dimension I present a definition from Meggison and Clutterbuck . In their book “Mentoring in Action, their view is that mentoring is “off-line help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking.
To summarise these definitions for the purpose of this report, mentoring is the passing of knowledge and a directional approach, coaching is the facilitation of learning and in doing so non-directional. I hope that the reader will accept my condensed definitions for this purpose.
Organisations now realise that they can improve both the performance and motivation of their people through coaching. In Julie Starr’s book she states “increasingly a coaching style of management is preferred to the command and control traditional approachâ€. This is supported in an article by Sue Weekes that “old style directional management is unlikely to get the best out of younger employeesâ€. Instead of telling people what to do, there appears to be a shift to encouraging people and allowing them to think for themselves and come up with their own solutions. Rather than interjecting and solving the issues, a coaching manager would look to provide support, challenge, feedback and guidance.
Managers can also use this skill for example during team meetings to enable the team to take responsibility for their activities. One to one meetings can also be used as coaching sessions if the manager uses a supportive, challenging and developmental approach.
There have also been some recent developments, which has pushed coaching higher up on the management agenda. Coaching raises awareness, and an awareness of balance is coming to the fore. “Business has taken over too much of too many peoples lives at too high a personal cost†. This statement echoes to me of many people I have come across. Organisations have to recognise that their values and ethics are failing and in some cases failing under the scrutiny of staff and customers. Coaching works well at eliciting values and producing values in both individuals and organisations. These are not always in alignment.
Coaching is a more a management style rather than a tool. The application of coaching has many examples, some common ones are (but not limited to) delegating, problem solving, team building, planning and reviewing, appraisals and assessments.
Coaching embraces 2 fundamental principles, that of awareness and responsibility . Huge potential lies within all of us, and this is supported by a study to determine the percentage of people’s potential manifests itself in the workplace. Surprisingly it was as low as 40% . The top three statements from the participants were, things people do so well outside the workplace, how well people respond in a crisis, and I know that I could be so much more productive. What then blocks this unleashed potential? The report came back with “restrictive structures and practices of my companyâ€, the “lack of encouragement and opportunities offered by the organisationâ€, and “the management style of the company and/ or my managerâ€. The single most common internal block was that of self belief. Building self awareness, responsibility and self belief is the goal of a coach.
The first key element of coaching is awareness . This can be raised by focussed attention and by practice. It is much more than seeing and hearing. It is the clear perception of the relevant facts and information. It is an understanding of systems, dynamics and of relationships between things and people. Also it helps in recognising when and how emotions or desires distort our own perception.
Responsibility is the other key element. When we accept, choose or take responsibility for our own thoughts and actions, our levels of commitment increase, and so does our performance. Performance is more likely to improve if someone chooses to take action, rather than being told to do so.
It is questions, and in particular effective questioning in a conversation that best generates awareness and responsibility. The function of questions is to elicit information. The information is however of secondary importance to the coach. It is more important to raise awareness with the coachee. The types of questions used are important. They should be open questions, usually beginning with words like what, when, how (much/many), and who. Why is discouraged as it often suggests criticism, or a need for the individual to justify themselves, and therefore a tendency to become defensive. Coaching is non judgemental, and therefore this approach is not effective.
The questions should start broadly, and then focus in more detail. To maintain focus and interest of the coachee in order to bring into their consciousness things that otherwise may not be apparent. The questioning will follow the coachee’s train of thought. If they appear to be going way off track a simple interjection like “I notice we haven’t talked aboutâ€, helps bring things back on course. Leading questions and implying criticism should be avoided. The coach should be attentive to the answers as this will quite often form the next question in the conversation, and in doing so allow the process to flow naturally.
So we now have the questions, but what should we ask, and in what sequence? There have been several coaching models offered up to deal with this. One of the most familiar is the (T) GROW model . The G is for Goal, setting the agenda for the session as well as the long term aspiration. The R is for reality, checking to explore the current situation. The O follows for options and alternative strategies or courses of action. Finally W is for what is to be done, when, by whom (sometimes known as the way forward). Readers will notice that I have omitted the T. This was added by Noble Manhattan as identifying the Topic is advance of setting the Goal. This makes sense for me as the coach should not presume to know what the conversation is going to be about, and produces clarity for both parties.
Other coaching models exist, such at the SHOOTS model developed by Leeds University and adopted by the Wirral Hospital NHS Trust . Here they cover Seek to understand, Hone the goals, Objectives set, Options and action planning, Try it out, Success review. One further coaching model of mention the “Coaching pathâ€, is another model that can be used . Although I personally prefer the TGROW model, it is appropriate to pick one that works for you. Following a model sequence combined with effective questioning will yield the best results.
To conclude the coaching cycle it is up to the coach to give the coachee a clear and accurate record of the action steps that the coachee has agreed and committed to take. The coach should then confirm that they fully understand as it constitutes the actions they will carry out.
The Manager as Coach the pros & cons One of the first questions that come to mind is how can a manager be a coach and do their own day job? With all the demands placed on managers these days, adding one more task to their list of objectives in an ever demanding workplace. This eventually puts more pressure on managers.
Organisations now realise that they can improve both the performance and motivation of their associates through coaching . More than ever a “coaching style†of management is preferred to the “command and control†traditional approach. Rather than managers directing people, they are focussing more on encouraging people to think for themselves. Furthermore when there are issues, a coaching manager doesn’t automatically jump in and solve it for them. Coaching managers provide support, challenge, feedback and guidance, but rarely the answers.
The manager can use the platform of team meetings, and their coaching skills to support the group to take responsibility. Julie Starr then goes on to say “one to one meetings can now become coaching sessions, as the manager adopts a more supportive, challenging and developmental approachâ€. This surely must be a more preferable approach than the traditional performance appraisal telling the associate what they have done wrong and “telling†them what they need to do to improve (in the eyes of the manager). The benefit of this to the manager is that they can spend more time on long-term work, objective setting and so on.
This was my experience at a new BMW Group site that I was involved with. The one to one sessions were very much in the style of a coaching session where I encouraged associates to find the answers for themselves and have much more ownership of their tasks and responsibilities. There is however a critical mass where it may no longer be feasible for the manager to give one to one sessions to all their team.
This may then be diluted by managers coaching their first line, and then the first line coaching the supervisors, and supervisors to the shop floor. In theory this may sound a good idea, however in deployment not all supervisors and managers may make good coaches. Training resource and operational conditions may hinder the amount of time required to do this on a repeatable basis, and may therefore question its effectiveness. There may also be the dimension of hidden agendas that can be present within organisations. This may cause a hindrance to the successful deployment of coaching.
In a recent learning and development survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) it is suggested that managers who have been trained in coaching can also self coach. There is a double benefit here of both the associate and the manager developing. It goes on to say that “while operational coaching carried out by line managers will help to improve performance, it is dedicated internal coaches who will bring about the sort of long-lasting behavioural change that can really add value. This is supported by (Mc Girk-CIPD) that says “line managers with coaching skills instils coaching behaviours throughout an organisation, but on its own won’t necessarily help companies to develop the in-depth coaching capability that dedicated internal coaches will offerâ€. He concludes that both are important.
Although there is evidence here that both are to be used, in my experience within a manufacturing environment during the last 12 years, I have found no evidence of this being carried out within my own organisation, or suppliers and customers that I have interacted with. Therefore from this perspective I do not agree in totality with these statements. The idea of dedicated internal coaches within an organisation must raise the question of value for money and cost effectiveness. My own observations of cost-cutting programmes, flatter organisations, and the need to demonstrate value for money leave little room for a coach to exist as a dedicated resource.
owever this is from a manufacturing perspective and other sectors may see it differently. Indeed the Workplace Coaching strategy paper issued by Wirral Hospital NHS Trust , discusses having qualified workplace coaches, but goes on to state that it is not using dedicated resources for this role. This paper supports my argument, however I am more than happy to hear to the contrary.
It is equally important for the manager to recognise when coaching is not appropriate. They are not therapists or councillors. Here they would need to seek guidance from their own HR/ Training department. Coaching is not a “catch all†and managers will have to decide when they need to coach, mentor or direct.
So far we have focussed mainly on individual coaching. There are some additional pros and cons for coaching a team . First I will look from the perspective of the coach in that a successor could be created, it avoids team members being “off the job†to develop their skills, and it can be cost effective. The potential downside to this is that they (the manager) may feel their own job may be jeopardised, it can be time consuming, and giving people responsibility may encourage them to dispute the coach’s authority. The success of the manager in coaching may lead to a feeling of lack of confidence if the coaching experience does not go well.
From the perspective of the team the positive benefits are that they will be coached by someone who knows them and their development needs. Development is part of the job and is therefore directly relevant and useful, and it makes work more challenging and interesting. Again the downside could be if first line management doesn’t take coaching seriously, there may be no other way to develop the team member’s potential, and of course the first line manager may not have good coaching skills.
As mentioned earlier, coaching may not always be appropriate for all situations. Often the manager may have to switch from a coaching role to a directing role and then back again. For example I recall while working in a press shop producing body panels, we had a major tool failure. While it may have been beneficial to take the time and ask the team how we might solve the issue, and listen to everyone’s input, in this high pressure, high volume environment immediate action is required. As long as this is explained to the associates and team this should not cause an issue. If not then the manager’s behaviour can be seen as somewhat ambiguous.
In order for the manager to be successful at coaching, he needs to build rapport with the people he is coaching. Without this coaching will have limited benefits. When starting out with the coaching relationship, the manager needs to establish the reporting hierarchy. The relationship will often be one to one, however in the case of a development or performance focus; the manager may have to report to a sponsor to give feedback. All parties will need to know this from the start. Clearly the manager cannot handle this from a standing start, and will therefore need to undertake some form of cert iv training.