COACHING

Coaching
• Coaching is a fundamental performance management
activity that takes the opportunities presented by the work
itself and uses them to develop the knowledge, skills,
competencies and therefore the performance of people.
Coaching opportunities arise in two ways: informally on a
day-to-day basis, and after a formal performance review
that identifies learning and development needs.
• Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
survey 2008 found that 44 per cent of organizations offer
coaching to all employees and the most important
providers of coaching were line managers.
 Coaching
• Research by Graham, Wedman and Garvin-Kester
(1994) showed that specific coaching behaviors
have been directly correlated with net increase in
sales. Research by Ellinger (2003) indicated that
improvements in systems and cost savings may be
directly attributed to coaching interventions by
managers. Another research shows that supervisory
coaching behavior is a highly significant predictor
of employee job satisfaction and performance.
 Coaching
• Coaching can be distinguished from mentoring and
counseling. Mentoring describes a relationship in which a
more experienced individual uses his or her greater
knowledge and understanding of the work or workplace to
support the development of a more junior or inexperienced
colleague.
• Counseling addresses the employee’s emotional state and
the causes of personal crises and problems. It is usually
conducted by trained counselors and involves short-term
interventions designed to remedy problems that interfere
with the employee’s job satisfaction.
 COACHING DEFINED

Coaching is the ability to take the opportunities

presented by the job itself and use them in a
conscious manner to improve the knowledge, skills,
competencies, and therefore performance, of the
learner.

It is fundamental to performance management and

generally to good management practice.
 HOW COACHING WORKS
Every time a manager delegates a new task to someone a
coaching opportunity is created to help the individual learn
any new skills or techniques needed to get the job done.

Every time a manager provides feedback to an individual

after a task has been completed there is an opportunity to help
that individual do better next time.
 COACHING AS PART OF THE NORMAL
PROCESS OF MANAGEMENT
• Help people to develop new or improved skills
(teaching/instructing)
• Discuss how to develop skills during feedback sessions
or performance reviews
• Use whatever situations that may arise as opportunities
to promote learning eg asking someone to carry out an
unfamiliar task
• Making people aware of how well they are performing
• Controlled delegation
• Encourage people to look at higher-level problems and
how they would tackle them.
 APPROACH TO COACHING
• Coaching can provide motivation, structure and effective feedback if
managers have the required skills and commitment. As coaches,
managers believe that people can succeed, and that as their managers
they can help people to identify what they need to do to develop and
grow their skills.
• When coaching, managers look for the best in people and try to build
on their strengths, rather than dwelling on their weaknesses.
• The aim is to help people to help themselves. Coaching encourages
self-directed learning using any resources such as e-learning that are
available. It is not a matter of spoon-feeding people.
• Look for the best in people
• Build on their strengths
• Help people to help themselves
• Encourage self-directed learning
 APPROACH TO COACHING

• Woodruffe 2008) recommended a three-part approach to coaching.

• Discovery: The aim of the first meeting – or meetings- is to focus on
discovery. In this stage, individuals being coached find out about
themselves. Personality inventories may be used to facilitate
discussions concerning the individual’s self-perception.
• Action Plan: Once individuals have a clear picture of their strengths,
weaknesses and how they come across to others, they are encouraged to
set goals and objectives to develop and challenge themselves.
• Review and Recommit: At this point individuals review their
performance against the goals they had set. Action plans can be updated
and altered if necessary. The sessions are used to discuss and build
upon successes, as well as examining how obstacles and difficulties can
be overcome.
 TECHNIQUES OF COACHING

• Encourage people to think through issues

• Get them to see things differently

• Enable them to work out solutions for themselves

which they can ‘own’

• Empower them to do things differently.

 INSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
1. Prepare

2. Present

3. Demonstrate

4. Practice
 THE BENEFITS OF CONTROLLED
DELEGATION
• Delegation is the best form of coaching.

• It is a natural part of what managers do and it provides a

great opportunity for people to develop new skills or extend
existing ones.

• The process of controlled delegation can indicate to

managers where people need guidance and help.
TECHNIQUES OF CONTROLLED DELEGATION
To make the most of delegation managers should ensure that individuals understand:
why the work needs to be done;
what they are expected to do;
how they are expected to do it;
the date by which they are expected to do it;
the authority they have to make decisions;
the problems they must refer back;
the progress or completion reports they should submit;
how you propose to guide and monitor them;
the resources and help they will have to complete the work.

People may need guidance on how the work should be done, but not too much.
 COACHING SKILLS

A good coach:

• questions and listens

• understands that his or her role is to help people to learn

• gives individuals given guidance on what they should be

learning and feedback on how they are doing

• builds on strengths and experience