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When do I coach an employee versus manage them, and how do I do it?
By Sara Lee of S. Lee H.R. Consulting Inc.
In today’s business environment, and with the integration of four
very different generations in the workplace, managing an employee or a team
is no longer enough. Coaching has become an integral competency required by
all managers that choose to be successful in developing winning and
effective teams.
What is a coach? A coach engages a person by asking questions, listening and
being supportive in a way that helps the person discover for themselves the
ways in which their habits or attitudes are holding them back from being
successful. A coach offers tools that help people to explore opportunities
and options available to them to do something differently.
A manager expects employees to come to work with the appropriate attitude
already in place and typically, does not spend time and resources addressing
behavioural challenges. However, when it comes to successfully managing
employees, the key element is to focus on their attitudes. You want to
redirect attention and energies in a positive manner toward changing
negative attitudes. So, can you see the fallacy in approaching a management
style without accounting for the need to coach? It seems pretty clear that
in today’s workplace, and with the life stressors and expectations we have
for ourselves, our attitude is not always in check. It’s time to arm
ourselves with the tools we need to be successful as managers and to make
our jobs easier. We do this by employing the method of managing with a
degree of coaching mixed in.
You need to probe, research and investigate with the employee, as to what
the root cause of the problem is about. If it truly revolves around lack of
resources or training, then manage the employee. If the impediment to an
employee’s success is their attitude, then it is time to coach. Coaches do
not fix anything, give advice, or tell the employee what to do. They help
the employee build self-awareness by asking questions that help the employee
discover for themselves what it is that they need to be doing differently to
get out of their own way!
In closing, to leave you with “food for thought”, a coach believes in a
person’s potential. They do not always know or have the answers. They keep
the discussions light and they build awareness before action. Trust your
instincts and remember it is not personal or about you. It’s all about them!
For more practical advice on managing staff, contact Sara Lee of S. Lee H.R.
Consulting at 403.870.5253 or visit her website at
www.leeconsulting.ca
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