Coaching to Combat Challenges
You’re a manager in an organization that has a few challenges, as most organizations do. Maybe your company has issues with performance management. They might have a tendency to hold onto long-time employees who are not quite up to par as they once were. Or perhaps your organization has a retention problem. They’re seeing strong team players who are highly valued move on to greener pastures, and they are difficult to replace. Or maybe your organization is suffering from retirements occurring before new leaders are ready to take over the reins. There are solid junior or mid-level employees who need a bit more development before they take on additional responsibilities.
Does any of this sound familiar? Are you experiencing similar issues in your organization? What can you do?
Consider hiring a leadership coach to work with your organization and leadership team. You will need to face and address these issues in order to overcome them. How can a coach help?
Performance Issues
Organizations with performance issues typically have a strong commitment to staff and/or a culture of “nice”. Often, they are more concerned about loyalty and being “nice” than how “nice” negatively impacts the business. Ignoring performance issues due to a culture of “nice” hurts the rest of the team and your credibility as a leader. Morale suffers when you allow performance issues to fester. Everyone notices and everyone wonders why you, the leader, are not addressing the problem. A coach can help you get clear on the culture and results you want. You will have the tools to assess your team, create goals on how to address the problems, and your coach will support you as you execute on your plan. Just as you work through your goals with your coach, you will reset expectations with your team. Maybe your employees with performance problems will turn around once they see you are serious in holding them accountable. If not, you will have given them every opportunity to improve before you show them the door. It still might be painful, but you’ll know you have done everything you could.
Retention Issues
If your organization has issues with turnover, you need to assess why people are leaving. Is it the culture? Is it morale? Is it workload? Exit interview data from your Human Resources department may help you identify the trouble spots. Your company and/or department engagement survey results are also helpful to evaluate. If the issues are something you can address within your own team, such as workplace culture, morale, and/or workload, how can a coach help? A coach can help you identify and improve behaviors you want to emulate to be a more effective leader and make improvements in your work environment. Your coach is a partner who will hold up a mirror when needed, help you set goals on where you want to go, and will be by your side to help you get there.
Retirement Issues
If your company is experiencing retirements without anyone ready to take over in the vacated roles, take a close look at your bench and assess who could be accelerated with some additional development. Do you have strong players who could get where you need them to be with some immersive development? Consider a leadership development or training program coupled with coaching for the staff you identify for your acceleration plan. Coaching will reinforce the learning from the leadership development program and help the employees get comfortable in their new roles more quickly than they would otherwise. Research shows that coaching following leadership development programs increases productivity by 88%.
As you can see, there are various ways a coach can help you overcome the issues you are facing as a leader. Consider hiring a coach. Need a coach or know someone who might? Share this article. And call me.
