Coaching Underperforming Employees

Transcription

1 Coaching Underperforming Employees Management is commonly defined as getting things done through other people, so as the manager your only reason for being is to do everything possible to help your employees be as successful as you need them to be. The end result of this is that you get paid for what they do, much more than for what you do. Your employees are your score card, so their successes and failures reflect on you. The flip side is, like it or not, you need your employees more than they need you. Owners and managers in the services industry seem to always have a steady stream of either new and/or underperforming employees in both their sales and service departments. Often managers assume they know why employee performance problems exist, but since most managers aren t mind readers, they are also often incorrect with their guesswork. That s why it is important to have a quick and simple method for identifying the underlying reasons for these deficiencies, and then having an uncomplicated coaching process to improve the employee s performance. For any employee to improve, they have to be willing to change and then follow through and actually do it; but more often than not it seems that the only people who want to be changed are wearing dirty diapers. You will be way more successful trying to bring about change if you concentrate on directing behaviors rather than attitudes. How do you even know what employees attitudes are, since they are not observable, which makes them virtually impossible to determine and evaluate? Do you assume people do good work or bad work based on their attitude? On top of that, emotional buttons get pushed very easily when an attitude becomes the topic of a conversation. On the other hand, behaviors can be watched, measured and discussed unemotionally, so that you can see when they are good or bad, and coach them accordingly. All behavior is a function of consequences, and there are only two consequences that are possible; positive and negative. Behavior followed by a positive consequence will normally repeat itself, and behavior followed by negative consequences typically decreases in frequency and intensity. So you can change behavior regardless of attitude, and after you do, the attitude usually follows. So let s get to the coaching process. I m sure you have been exposed to more than one process over the years, but most seem overly complicated to administer for managers who seek a simple and easy method of assessing and coaching their folks. I like the process that was developed by Ferdinand Fournies, former business school professor at Columbia University, who went on to become an international speaker and consultant until his death in This process will help managers determine specific behavior problems and then provide a format for intervention to shepherd employees into compliance with management s objectives.

2 His coaching process consists of four steps, which may sound as if they occur at one sitting, but are four completely separate events: Step 1 - Neutral Feedback 1 (Keyword is neutral, meaning non-judgmental) 50% of nonperformance problems occur because of lack of feedback, and specific feedback is the quickest, cheapest, and most effective intervention for improvement. So here you question the employee about poor performance relating to an assigned task or particular work step. EXAMPLE: Sparky, do you know that you are the only technician during this off-season who is not attempting to set Home Inspection appointments with your customers for the sales inspectors to complete? Follow up to check for improvement, always being careful to reinforce any that is observed. The understanding gained from the manager s feedback may be all that is necessary to correct this deficiency. Step 2 - Neutral Feedback 2 On the other hand, if performance doesn t improve following the initial feedback, the manager should repeat it; this time asking the employee why their performance is unsatisfactory and asking for specific behavior changes, concluding with offering any needed assistance. Again, follow up and reinforce improvement as it is observed. This may bring the employee back into compliance. Step 3 - Coaching Analysis It may well happen that performance still does not improve. Now it s time for the manager to use the Coaching Analysis Guide (Attachment A ) in order to attempt to understand why behavior is unsatisfactory. If something is discovered the manager should take action to eliminate what is influencing the poor performance. Although the analysis process looks pretty busy, it is really logical and systematic. Managers would go through this analysis alone, assuming they have adequate information. If necessary they could obtain additional information from someone familiar with the situation, possibly even the employee himself. If the manager talks with the employee, it is only to gather information, not to discipline, since at this point management is simply seeking the reason for the nonperformance. After completing the analysis, only when it is revealed that the employee could do the task in question if they chose to do it (meaning it s not a skills-related issue), should a Coaching Discussion occur. A Coaching Discussion will not be effective if nonperformance is occurring because of one or more of the reasons in the Coaching Analysis. It is only effective in redirecting behavior when all other possibilities have been eliminated. Since emotions easily escalate on both sides of the table during discussions like this, managers must prepare and organize their thoughts and sequencing of any specific information needing to be covered. For this purpose the Coaching Discussion Plan (Attachment B ) will be helpful to create an outline to keep the manager on message. Working alone, managers should devote sufficient time to making notes prior to the coaching discussion.

3 Step 4 - Coaching Discussion When poor performance is occurring by employee choice, this discussion should be conducted with the objective of convincing employees to alter their behavior choices, as well as establishing and informing them of the consequences of their actions. * You should prepare for a Coaching Discussion like you would for a performance appraisal meeting by conducting the meeting in private, one-on-one with no interruptions (not in a restaurant or vehicle). * Allow as much time as needed and don t start the coaching until emotions are under control. * Ensure you have a specific description of the behavior discrepancy. * Decide prior to the meeting what minimum employee action will be acceptable, what some possible alternatives are, and when the expected improvement should occur. * Be prepared to clearly state positive consequences of desired performance and negative consequences of continued nonperformance. From this point this coaching technique contains five stages, three that occur during the Coaching Discussion and two that happen afterward as the employee returns to his/her job: 1. Get employee agreement that a problem exists. The first step in the discussion is by far the most difficult and will probably consume about half of the meeting time. It is fruitless to go to the second step if the employee doesn t agree that a problem exists. The manager should use thought transmission to get the right words to come out of the employee s mouth by asking open questions rather than saying, do you understand, because yes or no responses are meaningless. Manager should also have patience to listen to what the employee says. 2. Mutually discuss alternative solutions. Identify and write down suggestions to solve the problem. 3. Mutually agree on action to be taken to solve the problem. Choose several from the suggestion list established and then determine when employee will begin taking action. Conclude by thanking employee for agreement about the problem and specify a time to meet again. 4. Follow up to measure results. One of the biggest shortcomings managers have is failure to followup. Many times during a coaching discussion, employees make promises to change and managers tend to believe them but then fail to follow up to see that they actually do. A critical aspect of follow-up is timeliness. Because the corrective effort targets specific behaviors, results should be immediately observable. 5. Reinforce any improvement when it occurs. Recognize improvement right away, because if you can t read their mind, they can t read yours either, so they need to hear your positive comments. The sooner reinforcement occurs, the greater it s influence. When correcting performance problems, managers typically expect employees to go from failure to perfection in one jump. With most issues that s not reality, so be prepared for incremental improvement and keep praising the employee as progress continues. By using this coaching process, many of your people problems relating to productivity will decline and employee turnover will decrease. Your stress level should decline as your work life is simplified, since you are now dealing with concrete behaviors, rather than trying to wrestle with invisible attitudes.

4 Coaching Analysis Guide Attachment A Identify behavior discrepancy Is it worth your time and effort? No Don t waste your time Do they know performance is unsatisfactory? No Give them feedback Do they know what they are supposed to do? No Tell them Do they know how to do it? No Train them/practice Do they know why they should do it? No Tell them Are there obstacles beyond their control? Yes Remove the obstacles Do they think your way will not work? Yes Convince them Do they think their way is better? Yes Convince them Do they think something else is more important? Yes Explain priorities Positive consequences for good performance? No Give positive reinforcement Any negative consequences for performing appropriately? Yes Remove them Anticipate future negative consequences for performing appropriately? Yes Correct their thinking Are there positive consequences for performing inappropriately? Yes Change consequences Performing inappropriately without receiving negative consequences? Yes Deliver them Are personal problems interfering? Yes Employee solves personal problem Could they do it if they chose to do it? No Either transfer or terminate employee Conduct a Coaching Discussion to change employee behavior choices

5 Coaching Discussion Plan Attachment B 1. BEHAVIOR DISCREPANCY (what is the employee doing wrong or not doing right) 2. RESULTS OF THIS DISCREPANCY (who is hurt or inconvenienced, what is the added cost, etc.) 3. CONSEQUENCES TO THE EMPLOYEE IF THE BEHAVIOR DOES NOT STOP (list all that could be invoked) 4. WHAT IS THE DESIRED BEHAVIOR (possible alternatives)

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