Coaching Skills

The Value of Business Coaching

Business coaching is about helping employees become more effective—and supporting and involving employees in the process. Coaching influences employee adaptability, productivity, and retention, and effective coaching is necessary in order for triumph on all sides. Coaching skills can be used in many areas of a person’s job. They can help with interpersonal teams, clients, customers, and between managers. By definition, coaching is a method and technique that is used to guide an individual to new learning in a dedicated time frame. Its specific goals are motivating and inspiring individuals to do more and reach higher, supporting clients in breaking down large goals into manageable steps, and holding individuals accountable to their commitments to more quickly produce results.

The Coaching Process

There is a specific process that a manager should follow in coaching:

1. Start by assessing the skills, personality traits, and learning styles of their employees.
2. Define their vision and successful outcomes.
3. Create an inspiring mission statement that will make an impact with team members.
4. Establish timely goals with objectives to meet them regularly.

During a coaching session the manager should detail why the coaching is necessary, then specifically define the opportunity or issue, analyze all of the options and possible outcomes, and finally develop an action plan for coming to a desired result.

Trust Is Essential

A manager needs to build trust with their employee from the very beginning of the coaching process. If the employee doesn’t trust the manager, they will resist being coached, and there will be no point to the process. The leader should ask open-ended questions to determine the best way to approach the issues and the ways in which the team member should be trained.

Tailor Your Approach

Different employees may require different approaches. The manager should gather as much information as possible about the situation in order to decide how to proceed. This is why effective assessments are crucial at the beginning of the process. Coaching skills training can help managers learn how to better mentor their direct reports. There are many coaching skills training activities and materials available at HRDQ. Find all of the assessments, activities, workshops and programs you need to help managers improve their own coaching skills and improve others’ work behaviors at the same time. Build a more engaged and efficient staff, from top to bottom.