Coaching: It's The Manager's Job

I had the pleasure of conducting a course this week on coaching. In the audience were 20 smart, motivated, and keen managers - some new to the role, some experienced. Many of them told me: "We're told to coach, but no-one has given us a framework on how to do it."

This was a common refrain of managers 30 years ago, and it's still cropping up today. ("Coaching" may have been called "supporting your employees" back then, though.) I believe that managers are under even more pressure today to coach their direct reports, but are given no training, no support, and no time to do so.

And when managers do find the time to coach their employees, they are often not recognized for doing, well, what they are supposed to do.

But establishing a coaching culture in an organization is the most sure-fire route to engaging employees and achieving high performance.

Don't agree with me? Consider these points:

• coaching builds capability at all levels of the organization
• through coaching, a manager has the opportunity to clarify the organization's vision with the employee and get them to buy into it
• through coaching, a manager can address issues regarding goal execution, performance, and innovation

Some managers fear those difficult conversations required to improve performance. But it's part of their job! So, managers of managers, talk to your people about coaching. Determine a framework on how to get it done. And support your managers with resources, time, and recognition when they get it done right.