We are constantly redefining what it means to be a manager, and a recent trend to improve job performance for managers is to turn them into coaches. Still, a study by the Society for Human Resource Management reported a staggering 93% of managers felt they lacked the skills to properly coach. This statistic, ultimately, reflects untapped potential.
Actualizing this potential is why working with a premier leadership coach is imperative. Learn how to improve work performance by developing your managers into coaches.
Turning Managers into Coaches to Improve Job Performance
Create a Coaching Culture
Developing managers into coaches is essential when considering how to improve their work performance and requires establishing a positive coaching culture.
Managers are often too focused on accomplishing multitudes of tasks, which results in overlooking the value of coaching. Consilio CEO Stacey McKibbin said, “Coaching is exhausting and uncomfortable territory. It’s easier to deprioritize it and work on tasks that make managers feel like they’re moving the needle.”
To establish this culture and improve job performance, abandon archaic practices like formal annual reviews and cultivate a deep commitment to employee success. Consider encouraging and integrating the following into your corporate culture:
- Weekly or monthly meetings and check-ins
- Continuous learning and development
- Brain-storming sessions that inspire creative solutions
- Creating a feedback cycle
- Creating communications channels
Still, there’s always an element of what’s in it for me. To get everyone on board, build a case for coaching. Emphasize that the strongest, most successful executives and leaders are also excellent coaches.
Ultimately, transforming any company culture into a coaching culture is complex and requires the guidance of an expert leadership coach.
Establish Firm Expectations
Setting clear coaching expectations is also crucial to improve job performance. Make it clear that coaching is a primary responsibility and target for managers.
Part of folding coaching into your work culture requires making it inseparable from the manager and executive position; it should be a defining characteristic of the job description. However, to receive this commitment, you also must demonstrate commitment.
Allocate the time and resources necessary to develop these skills, make it a topic at every performance evaluation and one-on-one, and highlight it when celebrating promotions. We also advise integrating the topic of coaching into your team meetings.
Especially when brainstorming ways to improve results, be sure to ask how and if your team is coaching others to achieve desired outcomes.
Teach Coaching Skills and Put them into Practice
Teaching coaching skills and helping implement them is crucial to helping managers improve job performance. This training must include how to create a coaching experience that inspires problem-solving and collaboration.
Interactions that motivate both parties to lean in, or take steps towards one another, build trust, which is critical to successful coaching relationships. An employee’s relationship with their manager shapes their experience and performance in the workplace.
Study after study reveals that the #1 reason people leave their job is their direct manager. This influence is why equipping managers with coaching skills is vital. Core coaching skills to develop should include:
- Active listening
- Questioning
- Building rapport
- Delivering and receiving constructive analysis and feedback
- Empathy
- Practice and role play
- Expectations and goal setting
- Prioritization and decision making
- Supportive encouragement
- Delegation
- Holding others accountable
- Leveraging employee talents and strengths
“The ability to hold people accountable is the ability to be a great manager coach,” Stacey elaborated. Supply your managers with on-demand tools to adjust and respond better to their team’s needs, strengths, and weaknesses.
We also recommend encouraging them to take the free DISC assessment to better understand their personal communication style and motivations, how to recognize and adapt to others’ styles, and how to communicate effectively with others.
Provide flexible learning opportunities, like role playing exercises adjusted to their specific skill level and needs, as live chances to practice and embed coaching skills. These opportunities are also a chance to receive feedback to improve decision-making, augment learning, and tailor their approach to individual employees.
Ultimately, managers also need to work with a coach to experience the benefits first-hand, which is when consulting with a premier leadership trainer is invaluable.
Reward Well-Executed Coaching
After implementing training, it is imperative to reward well-executed coaching. Recognition is critical when determining how to improve your managers’ job performance.
A reward-based approach helps determine how well managers are growing and encourages growth. Identify positive coaching outcomes and celebrate achievements by providing rewards for performance outcomes.
Still, be aware that, if done incorrectly, this will also erode trust instead of building it. People must know you are sincere, so do it in a way that is meaningful to that person. Cookie-cutter approaches will benefit no one.
Reward the strongest coaches by making them candidates for promotions, and referring to their coaching ability will send a strong message to your organization.
Schedule a Consultation to Improve Job Performance by Developing Managers into Coaches
Coaching is not an innate skill in many people. Many managers receive promotions based on individual performance, which often makes it feel counterintuitive to focus on coaching when determining how to improve their work performance. Still, a manager is responsible for nurturing employees to help them realize their potential and improve job performance. This process of development requires considerable training and experience to execute.
Fortunately, at Consilio, we provide unrivaled leadership training that turns managers into coaches who elevate everyone around them. Schedule a consultation today.
