Performance Management Skills
COACHING STYLES
COACHING
PERFORMANCE REVIEW MEETINGS
COACHING PROCESS
Be concerned w/ long-term performance & involves ensuring that the developmental plan is being achieved.
Coach is similar to serving as a consultant and, must establish a helping relationship.
Coaching is a pervasive organizational activity
Providing employees w/ guidance so that employees can develop their skills and knowledge appropriately.
A collaborative, ongoing process in which the manager interacts w/ employees & takes an active role & interest in performance. In general, coaching involves directing, motivating, rewarding employee behavior.
A day-to-day function that involves observing performance, complimenting good work, & helping to correct & improve any performance
Giving advice to help employees improve performance.
The employee is whole and unique. Must understand each employee is a unique individual w/ several job-related & job-unrelated identities (computer network specialist, father, skier) and a unique personal history. Must try to create a whole, complete, rich picture of the Development employee. It will be beneficial if the coach has knowledge of the employee’s life & can help the employee connect life & work experiences in meaningful ways.
The coach is the facilitator of the employee’s growth. Must direct process & help w/ content of a developmental plan but not take control of these issues. Needs to maintain an attitude of exploration; help expand employee’s awareness of strengths, resources, challenges; facilitate goal setting.
A good coaching relationship is essential.
The employee is the source and director of change. Must understand the employee is the source of change and self-growth. Change employee behavior & set a direction for employee's future. Needs to facilitate the employee’s setting the agenda, goals, and direction.
1st, the coach must listen in order to understand.
3rd, the coach needs to understand that coaching is not something done to the employee but done with the employee.
2nd, the coach needs to search for positive aspects of the employee because this is likely to lead to a better understanding and acceptance of the employee.
→ The manager needs to coach with empathy and compassion. Help develop a good relationship with the employee. An important personal benefit for the coach. The potential to serve as an antidote to the chronic stress experienced by many managers. Parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS), can help mitigate stress.
Providing employees support and being there only when the manager is needed.
Helping employees gain greater competence by guiding them toward acquiring more knowledge and sharpening the skills that can prepare them for more complex tasks and higher-level positions.
Giving employees confidence will enable them to enhance their performance continuously and increase their sense of responsibility for managing their own performance.
The Good Coach Questionnaire
Coaching requires a lot of effort from the managers. Managers attend monthly roundtables. At these roundtables, managers can solicit feedback from other managers regarding their own coaching performance. Need to engage:
Document performance.
Give feedback.
Motivate employees. Managers must reward positive performance.
Diagnose performance problems.
Communicate effectively.
Develop employees.
Establish development objectives.
Do you encourage employees to express their feelings openly?
Do you help your employees create action plans that will solve problems and create changes when needed?
Do you encourage open and honest discussions and problem solving?
Do you provide your employees with tangible and intangible support for development?
Do you understand the individual needs of your employees?
Do you help your employees explore potential areas of growth and development?
Do you listen to your employees?
Do your employees know your expectations about their performance?
These styles can vary in their assertiveness, use of expansive body gestures, and personal feelings.
Coaching styles like drivers, persuaders, amiable coaches, or analyzers are not necessarily superior.
Adaptive coaches can adjust their style according to an employee's needs, making a combination of styles necessary for employee development and growth.
Effective coaching should be viewed as a learning opportunity, setting clear goals, and delegating action.
There are 4 main coaching styles: driver, persuader, amiable, and analyzer.
Ineffective coaches stick to one style and cannot adapt to other styles.
Managers' coaching styles are influenced by their personality and behavioral preferences.
Persuaders sell what they want the employee to do, explain organizational benefits to employees through assertive body language.
Amiable coaches are subjective, directing employees to talk in a certain way because it feels right or because the employee feels it is the right way.
Drivers are assertive, often talking about tasks and facts.
Analyzers, on the other hand, are logical and systematic, following rules & procedures when providing recommendations.
Disciplinary Process and Termination
Observe and Document Developmental Behavior: To collect and evaluate data to assess the extent to which each developmental goal has been achieved.
Plan for the future
Provide legal protection
Create trust
Be specific
Minimize cognitive load
Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly
Activity constraints
Balance positives with negatives
Time constraints
Be comprehensive
Situational constraints
Focus on job-related information
Standardize procedures
Describe observable behavior
Each of these sessions should be seen as a work meeting with specific goals including:
Regardless of the specific type of meeting, several steps must be taken before the meeting.
Conduct self-appraisal
Share ratings and explain rationale
Explain the purpose of the meeting
Discuss development
Ask employee to summarize
Discuss rewards
Hold follow-up meeting
Discuss approval and appeals process
Conduct final recap
Classical performance review
Merit/salary review
Self-appraisal
Developmental plan
System inauguration
Objective setting
Performance review discussions serve very important purposes:
First, these discussions allow employees to improve their performance.
Second, they help build a good relation- ship between the supervisor and the employee.
Two patterns of behavior indicate defensiveness:
First, employees may engage in a fight response
Second, employees may engage in a flight response
What can supervisors do to prevent defensive responses?
Be open-minded
Observe verbal and nonverbal cues
Be empathetic
Encourage participation
Establish and maintain rapport
Minimize threats
Set Developmental Goals: Identify resources and strategies that will help the employee achieve the developmental goals.
Set Developmental Goals: Developmental goals are a key component of the developmental plan.
Implement Strategies: Implementing the strategies that will allow the employee to achieve the developmental goals.
Give Feedback: The coach provides feedback to the employee, and, based on the extent to which each of the goals has been achieved, the developmental goals are revised, and the entire process begins again.
Specificity
Verifiability
Frequency
Consistency
Timeliness
Privacy
Enhances involvement
Consequences
Develop competence
Description first, evaluation second
Performance continuum
Helps build confidence
Pattern identification
Confidence in the employee
Advice & idea generation
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
PRAISE
Third, in giving praise, managers should take their time and act pleased, rather than rush through the information looking embarrassed.
Finally, avoid giving praise by referring to the absence of the negative, for example, “not bad” or “better than last time.”
Second, praise should be about specific behaviors or results and be given within context so that employees know what they need to repeat in the future.
First, praise should be sincere and given only when it is deserved.
Negative experiences in the past. Managers themselves may have received negative feedback at some point in their careers and have experienced firsthand how feelings can be hurt.
Playing “god.”. Managers may be reluctant to play the role of an all-knowing, judgmental god.
Negative reactions and consequences. Managers may fear that employees will react negatively.
Need for irrefutable and conclusive evidence. Managers may not want to provide negative feedback until after they have been able to gather irrefutable and conclusive evidence about a performance problem.
Be respectful. It is important to treat the terminated employee with respect and dignity.
Have the termination meeting at the end of the day. It is better to conduct the termination meeting at the end of the day so that the employee can leave the office as everyone else when there are fewer people around.
Pitfall 4: Negative affective reactions. The employee may respond emotionally ranging from tears to shouts and even threats of violence.
Pitfall 5: Failure to consult HR. Hundreds of wrongful termination cases have cost millions of dollars to organizations that have not followed the appropriate termination procedures.
Wish the employee well. The purpose of the meeting is not to rehash every single reason why you are letting the employee go and every single instance of poor performance.
Send the employee to HR. Let the employee know that he needs to go to HR to receive information on benefits, including vacation pay, and to receive information on legal rights.
Pitfall 3: Performance standards are “unrealistic” or “unfair.” The employee may argue that performance standards and expectations are unrealistic or unfair.
Get right to the point. At this stage, the less said, the better.
Pitfall 2: Failure to get the message through. The poor-performing employee may argue that she did not know the problem was serious or that it existed at all.
Have the employee leave immediately. Keeping the terminated employee on-site can lead to gossip and conflict, and disgruntled employees may engage in sabotage.
Pitfall 1: Acceptance of poor performance. Many supervisors may want to ignore poor performance, hoping the problem will disappear.