COACHING TRAINING Participant Workbook

COACHING TRAINING Participant Workbook Presented by Michael Neill Michael Neill & Associates, Inc. 1613 Mercer Ave. College Park, GA 30337 404. 669.9348 www.michaelneill.com

Objectives During this session, you will: Discover the characteristics of an effective coach. Determine coaching behaviors to improve performance. Understand the top three reasons for employee underperformance. Comprehend the three different types of coaches. Uncover the four types of employees. Recognize how to correctly identify the root cause of a performance problem. Learn a nine-step process for confronting performance issues. MNA, Inc. 2 Participant Workbook

Section 1: Characteristics of an Effective Coach Key point: Coaching is critical to the success of the sales and service culture because it helps to create an environment that motivates employees to apply what they ve learned in sales and service training. One humorous definition of coaching from the great baseball manager Casey Stengel: Coaching is about keeping the guys who hate you away from the rest who are undecided. In other words, when a coach gets employees to improve their performance, even when they are reluctant, the coach wins employees respect. What Do Effective Coaches Do? Within your small group, discuss and list what effective coaches do. An effective coach: MNA, Inc. 3 Participant Workbook

Understanding the Coaching Challenge Coaching is about: How is coaching different than management? Coaching is. Management is. Remember, you can manage your way out of trouble, but you must coach your way to success! Coaching is a key component of leadership. Leadership is supported by: Coaching Strategic thinking Management Coaching Behaviors to Improve Performance Be more concerned about employees progress than their comfort. Discomfort is a function of growth. Model the skills you desire. People believe what they see. Don t joke about members. We don t give good service to people we disrespect. Take service seriously. Service is the essential job skill. Set high standards. Challenge under-performing employees to improve their behavior. Be optimistic. Employees will never care more about it than you do. Catch people doing it right. When you only catch people doing it wrong, they only learn what not to do not how to do it right. Continue to challenge employees. Winners want to be challenged. MNA, Inc. 4 Participant Workbook

Coaching Skills Match Match the coaching behavior called for in each situation by writing the letter of the best response from the list that follows these scenarios. 1. We re shorthanded today, and it s the busiest day of the month. How can we provide the great service members expect and still make our sales goals? 2. I ve been making my current sales goals just fine. Why do we have to raise them!? 3. I ve been a reliable employee for 12 years, and I believe in good service, but I m just comfortable with this whole sales thing. 4. I m having a real problem translating our sales training into my interactions with members. I just don t get how to try to sell members something without seeming intrusive. 5. Mr. Jones actually thanked me just now for suggesting debt cancellation coverage on his car loan! 6. I m the best balancer in this branch. So what if I m not Mr. Personality when it comes to interacting with members? 7. Come on, admit it! Mr. Podworjski has a really funny accent! 8. I know I ve been having a hard time meeting my monthly sales goals. Why don t we just set my goal for this month at the level I sold last month? A. Be more concerned about employees progress than their comfort. B. Model the desired skills. C. Never joke about members. D. Take service seriously. E. Set high standards. F. Be optimistic. G. Catch people doing it right. H. Continue to challenge employees. MNA, Inc. 5 Participant Workbook

Section 2: Why Do Employees Underperform? What credit union employees say: percent of employees say they are less than they used to be. Eighty-four percent say they could perform significantly better if. Fifty percent say they are doing to keep their job. To sum up the results of this 1997 CUNA survey of frontline employees: People are underperforming on a massive level. Top Reasons for Underperformance 1. It s human nature. Most people want to be comfortable, not challenged to achieve high performance. 2. The organizational environment fosters underperformance. Most organizations depend on negative and neutral reinforcement, which leads people to perform at less than their highest performance. 3. We don t understand the people we re coaching. You are different than the people you re coaching you are self-motivated and willing to work hard without someone pushing you to do so. You can t coach people the way you need to be coached. 4. We tend to parent employees rather than coach them. The parenting model is not an effective coaching approach! MNA, Inc. 6 Participant Workbook

Identifying Signs of Underperformance In a group discussion, suggest examples of dialogue or situations that reflect common reasons for underperformance. 1. It is human nature. 2. The organizational environment fosters underperformance. 3. We don t understand the people we re coaching. Coach, Don t Parent With no clear coaching model to follow, many managers use parenting as a substitute for coaching. Think about these two common parenting approaches as we discuss how coaching differs from parenting. Tough Parent Hard-driving, demanding: I don t need to say I love you. I supply your food and clothing and give you a place to sleep. Buddy Parent Looks for the best in everything the child does: You re not bad, just curious and creative! When these approaches are applied to coaching, you are treating employees like children and the result is childlike behaviors. MNA, Inc. 7 Participant Workbook

The bottom line: Ineffective coaching produces ineffective employee performance. When you coach, you treat employees like adults. Coaches give employees the tools and resources they need to get the job done and then hold them accountable for doing so. Group Discussion: Parent vs. Coach Have you ever been in a situation where your supervisor or manager treated you like a child instead of an employee? How did that interaction make you feel? Do you think you were as productive as you could have been under that form of coaching? Have you ever been in a position of supervising, managing, or coaching employees in which you felt you were in charge of a bunch of children? Looking back on that situation, can you identify things you may have done or said that contributed to the parenting-child cycle? Think about the best boss, coach, or teacher you ever had. How did this person help you succeed? What sets him or her apart from other coaches in your life? MNA, Inc. 8 Participant Workbook

Section 3: Coaching Styles and Performance Management 1. The Coach (tough parent): I make the decisions and solve the problems. Your job is to do what I say. 2. The Coach (buddy parent): I just want us all to get along. 3. The Coach, the only effective approach in this list: You re an adult, so I ll treat you like one. I ll give you the tools and resources you need to do your job, but it s up to you to succeed. How do you think a winning coach can most effectively confront an employee about underperformance? If you believe that correcting underperformance might take several steps, list those steps in order. Dealing with Underperformance Critical Coaching Tactics: Confront the issue. Train the employee. Terminate the employee. Motivate the employee. NOTE: These responses don t all work for the same person at the same time. MNA, Inc. 9 Participant Workbook

The 10-80-10 Principle 10% of employees are WILLING and ABLE: I want to do a good job. I can do a good job. 80% are UNWILLING but ABLE I could do a good job, but I don t feel like it. OR WILLING but UNABLE: I want to do it, but I don t know how. 10% are UNWILLING and UNABLE: I don t know and I don t care. The 10-80-10 Grid for Four Employee Types Willing Unwilling Able Delegate/ Recognize Motivate/ Confront Unable Train/ Educate Terminate What do you do for people who want to do a good job? Give them a good job to do, and recognize their performance! Important Factors in Performance Management What types of questions should you consider in diagnosing whether employees are willing and able, able but unwilling, willing but unable, or unwilling and unable? MNA, Inc. 10 Participant Workbook

Key Steps in Performance Management A key question to consider is: Has the employee ever come to you and asked, Can you show me how to do this? This and other questions are the first step in effective performance management diagnosing the problem. Once you have done so, it is essential to take these three steps. 1. Handle the, because it won t simply go away. 2. Analyze to determine the of the problem. 3. Address the cause with the employee. This second step is especially crucial: We too often misidentify symptomatic behavior as causal behavior. If employees are not cross-selling, that is a symptom. Determining whether they are unwilling or unable to cross-sell pinpoints the cause. All performance problems are a function of willingness or ability. If you address only the symptom of the performance problem, it will almost always get better, but only incrementally, moderately, and temporarily. This approach of dealing with symptomatic behavior, not causal behavior, amounts to management, not coaching. Coaching entails these steps: 1. Commit to handling the problem right away. 2. Determine the cause of the problem. 3. Address the issue with the employee. MNA, Inc. 11 Participant Workbook

Effective Confrontation The coaching tactic that is most effective with the typically-largest group of employees those who are unwilling but able is effective confrontation. 1. Remember, are good. It s their, or performance, that is unacceptable. 2. Express attributes about the employee. 3. Tell the employee what behavior is inappropriate. 4. Tell the employee the of the inappropriate behavior. 5. Ask the employee to provide you with a to the problem. 6. Agree on the solution. 7. the behavior. 8. Let the employee know you have when the behavior improves, even incrementally. 9. If the behavior does not change, be willing to. You may need to change your diagnosis of the problem and approach it from a different perspective. Continued unsuccessful attempts to change an employee s behavior are a sign that you have an unwilling and unable employee. In that case, a written warning followed by probation and then termination following the steps of the disciplinary process is the proper tactic. MNA, Inc. 12 Participant Workbook

Let s revisit briefly our earlier discussion about effective coaching the winning coach style in comparison to the ineffective coaching styles of the tough or directive coach and the country club coach. Neither of the ineffective coaching styles employs effective confrontation. The tough coach: Won t take time to diagnosis the problem. Exhibits a shape up or ship out mentality. The country club coach: Enables the employee to exhibit childlike behaviors, which causes other employees to adopt the same behaviors. The rewards of adopting the winning coach approach include: A higher performing team Fewer personnel problems Higher morale The confidence of knowing you are coaching effectively and helping the credit union achieve its mission These benefits won t happen overnight, but over the long term, they will accrue to you, the employees you coach, and the credit union as a whole. MNA, Inc. 13 Participant Workbook

Applying the Winning Coach Model Case Study 1 Helen the teller has been with your credit union for 18 months. Before joining the credit union, she worked as a teller with a big bank. Helen handles the traffic in the branch well, keeping pace on even the busiest days. She is accurate and friendly while completing transactions with members. Her performance in balancing is average. She arrives at work on time. Helen s one performance problem is that she does not meet her cross-selling goals. Helen has completed two separate sales training sessions, and she scored well on a product knowledge assessment. You have worked with Helen one-on-one, demonstrating how to perform cross-selling effectively on the teller line. The goal for tellers at this branch is to cross-sell or refer members for 50 new products per month. Helen has not met this goal for the past four months; one month she cross-sold 40 products, but her average is around 30. Most employees at this branch meet their cross-selling goals, but Helen does not have the lowest average. Two other employees only cross-sell an average 10 products per month. Your Mission 1. Properly diagnose the problem. Helen is (circle one): Unwilling/Able Unwilling/Unable Willing/Able Willing/Unable 2. Based on your diagnosis, choose the appropriate solution: Train Confront Terminate Delegate 3. If you think we need to confront Helen, write down what your group would say to this employee. Remember to use the skills we have discussed. (Capital or corporal punished are not options!) 4. Role-play the interaction. Then discuss in your group how the role-play unfolded. Be ready to share your observations in a wider group discussion. MNA, Inc. 14 Participant Workbook

Case Study 2 Mark is the newest teller at your branch. He s been on the job about 90 days. This is his first job working for a financial institution, so he s had a lot to learn. He is enthusiastic and friendly with members, and he works hard to be accurate in member transactions and in balancing his cash drawer. He had a full week of training when he joined the credit union and additional training in one- and two-day workshops since then, including a two-day session on cross-selling skills. Mark also works regularly with a peer mentor, Sara. It is Sara s job to work one-on-one with Mark a couple times a week on basic teller skills, including demonstrating how to cross-sell. Mark also turns to Sara whenever he has a question. Mark was expected to meet sales goals of 50 products beginning his second month on the job. During that month, Mark cross-sold 5 products. In the following, and most recent, month, Mark cross-sold 15 products. You are scheduled to meet with Mark for his first quarterly evaluation next week. In all other aspects of his work, Mark performs well for a new employee, and he passed his product knowledge assessment (just barely, but he passed!). You are concerned about his cross-selling totals. Your Mission 1. Properly diagnose the problem. Mark is (circle one): Unwilling/Able Unwilling/Unable Willing/Able Willing/Unable 2. Based on your diagnosis, choose the appropriate solution: Train Confront Terminate Delegate 3. If you think we need to confront Mark, write down what your group would say to this employee. Remember to use the skills we have discussed. 4. Role-play the interaction. Then discuss in your group how the role-play unfolded. Be ready to share your observations in a wider group discussion. MNA, Inc. 15 Participant Workbook

Bringing It All Together: Review Activity 1. Define coaching. What do you think is the hardest part of fulfilling the challenge of coaching? 2. What is the basic difference between coaching and management? 3. What do effective coaches do? Which of these skills do you think you perform well? Are there any skills in this list you need to improve? 4. What are the most common reasons for underperformance? Can you identify examples at your credit union? 5. Why is parenting not a good model for coaching? Identify the two common ineffective approaches to parenting/coaching and explain how they differ from the winning coach model. 6. List four categories of employees based on their willingness and ability to do the job. To which category would you delegate additional responsibilities? Which employees need training? Which employees must be confronted? And for whom is termination the only solution? 7. Step through the process of effective confrontation. As you go through each step, think about how you would address an employee in a way that communicates the message effectively and feels comfortable to you. MNA, Inc. 16 Participant Workbook

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