Coaching in Modern Times

Coach, Role Model, Counsellor, Supporter, Guide...do these words ring a bell? Being a
coach involves being a role model, sometimes a counsellor or supporter, and always a
guide. Coaching is based on a partnership that involves giving both support and
challenging opportunities to employees. Knowing how and when to coach is an essential
skill that can benefit both you and your organization

There are two schools of thought about coaching. One school suggests that the person being coached has all the answers. We just help them find that answer. We are a facilitator.


The other school of thought suggests that we have an obligation to share some of what we have already learned. We are more of a partner in the coaching process.

For our purposes here today, coaching is based on a partnership that involves giving both
support and challenging opportunities to employees.

Knowing how and when to coach is an essential skill that can benefit both you and your
organization.

Coaching is still a relatively new skill in a supervisor’s tool box, and how we coach has changed over the years. However, effective managers at all levels recognize the need to develop the employees they supervise. By helping others expand their capabilities and
improve their performance, managers and supervisors have more time to work on the things that will improve their own performance.

Managers and supervisors who are most effective at developing employees have incorporated the skill of coaching into their management style.

Coaching should not be confused with career counselling or performance reviews.
Although coaching is related to both these activities, it differs in that it is the day-to-day
hands-on process of helping employees recognize their opportunities to improve their
performance and their capabilities.

This skill resembles on-the-job training but goes beyond this and requires you to have
skills that allow you to analyse ways to improve performance, plan mutually acceptable
actions, create a supportive and helpful climate and influence employees to change
behaviour in positive ways.

Critical skills:
 Interpersonal communication skills
 Helping skills
 Mentoring skills
 Teaching skills
 Challenging skills

Those interpersonal skills are extremely critical. If your employees feel like you aren’t
approachable, and they can’t talk to you, none of the other skillsare going to matter very
much. Now, let’s deal with the other four skills.

Helping Skills
 Give your employees some problem solving tools, such as determining pros/cons
of various options.
 Ask them to identify options and make a recommendation as to which option they
favour, and then analyse the consequences of each option.
 Become good at asking questions and probing.
 Stay open-minded if their ideas aren’t your ideas.

Mentoring Skills
 Find ways of introducing them to other people in the organization.
 Arrange for them to sit in on meetings that would be of interest to them, when
appropriate.
 Help them find other mentors in areas where you have very little knowledge and
they have interests.
 Talk about their future with them so you can learn more about what they want to
do and help them see opportunities for getting there.
 Keep your eyes open for positions they might be interested in applying for.

Teaching Skills
 If I find myself often in a “teaching” position and I’m not very good at it, I might
want some training in teaching skills.
 Be patient.
 When they make mistakes, use these as learning opportunities for the employee.
 Encourage them to try their new skills at every opportunity.

Challenging Skills
 Remember that my role as a coach is to help an employee reach their potential.
 Be certain I’m clear in my own mind what I expect my employee to do and then
discuss those expectations with the employee.
 Spend a little time with the employee so I have a better sense of progress.
 Help them set SMART goals and put a plan in place for reaching these goals.
Make them accountable.

Remember, coaching is an art in which science must be applied...Let this be a guiding principle to all of you who value and understand the importance of caoching in the corporate world.