Coaching

Many organizations believe they have mastered the science of executing the performance management process and are now focusing on the “art” of managing great performance. Mastering the “art” requires strengthening every managers’ ability to communicate, prioritize, inspire, develop and support employees in the pursuit of their goals. In successful performance management, the responsibility for growing and developing employees belongs to managers, regardless of their level in the organization’s hierarchy. Organizations usually mandate some number of periodic dialogs between managers and their employees during the performance period. The essential aspects of these dialogs require assessing progress toward goal achievement, discussing barriers and roadblocks that need to be eliminated, and development needs that can better position the employee for success. The success of these dialogs is key.  Most organizations say they want to strengthen the quality and richness of these dialogs. Several said they are increasing the frequency of training to provide more practice and support for coaching (see A Global Financial Organization: Coaching as the Engine of Performance, page 26). Others are increasing the degree to which managers develop their employees by adding it as a factor in the manager’s own performance rating. And one organization reported implementing a manager scorecard which shows employees ranking of the managers’ ability to hold effective dialogs and support employee development. The most challenging side of the coaching dialog is to provide honest feedback when performance is not meeting a minimum standard. As Ram Charan notes in Execution, “We’ve seen again and again that people love to give rewards; they love to be loved. But they don’t have the emotional fortitude to give honest feedback and either withhold a reward or penalize people. They don’t feel comfortable rewarding performance and behavior. They procrastinate, sugar coat and rationalize. Leaders sometimes even create new jobs for non-performers. As a result, the organization below is totally confused.” Respondents said the inability of the performance process to result in rewards for excellent performance and provide consequences for poor performance is the highest barrier to success. Equipping managers to hold the tough, or as some would call them – courageous – conversations is the task performance management process owners see facing them now. No one has commented on this article. You are encouraged to offer your thoughts and comments in this dialog. Name: E-mail: (required) Company: Comment(s):