Coaching for success

The range of responsibilities of an effective manager is frighteningly broad. Many agency business owners and managers struggle to manage effectively because they become preoccupied with the day-to-day running of their business. Further, many managers are also the office valuers, thereby performing two jobs for the price of one.

I hear managers frequently cite a lack of time and/or knowledge to coach staff, with many instead adopting a dictatorial regime, which has no long term gain. It is a lazy approach, but easy for those lacking the nous and inclination to develop their team.

It is extraordinarily difficult, arguably impossible, for a manager to perfect all leadership duties, so prioritisation is key. Developing individuals with an expanded remit to enable them to broaden their skill set and that of their team is key, as this enables managers to fulfil their key function; to manage.

Coaching

Coaching is an essential part of staff development. It will improve staff performance, motivation, loyalty, team versatility and ease succession planning, which should collectively increase income.

There is a recognised coaching model, STEER, which covers five critical areas of successful staff development: spot opportunity, tailor, explain, encourage and review, with each stage playing a key role in the staff development process.

Spotting opportunity means observing staff in work situations, both in and out of the office. Noting employee’s strengths and weaknesses and the quality of work will assist you in ascertaining the skills and knowledge requiring improvement.

Tailoring ensures that the coaching is appropriate to an employee’s experience, skill set, attitude and confidence. You cannot underestimate the importance and effectiveness of pitching training content and coaching correctly – the overuse of jargon will baffle recipients.

Explanation is essential to ensure the desired behavioural change. Verbal communication is quick, but can be misunderstood and misinterpreted, so supplement this with written guidelines. I have found the use of clear, documented standards indispensable in the coaching and training process. Provide checklists detailing the responsibilities of each role within your business and ensure all staff understand them and are clear about your aims and expectations. Agree a deadline for a full review of the success of the project.

Encouragement should be central to any comprehensive coaching. Staff should be praised when undertaking their role efficiently and guided when not. Invite staff to discuss their progress at any time, and enable them to do so without fear of judgement, to enable them to talk freely about their perceived success.

Review the effectiveness of the coaching process. This should be conducted in addition, but separately, from a review of employee’s progress. A success programme will effect behavioural change. Failure to achieve this may mean that your coaching requires tweaking, rather than a failure on the part of a member of staff. Of course, it is equally possible that an employee needs to return to the start of the programme.

The old adage ‘watch the pitch not the scoreboard’ is entirely apt here, as too many managers get preoccupied with poring over figures at the expenses of observing their team in action and embarking on an effective coaching programme.

When was the last time you went out on appointments with your valuers or salespeople? What do customer feedback questionnaires and mystery shopper reports tell you about the performance of your staff?

Once you have found time to consider the evidence, it is time to steer your team to success.