The 2 Major REASONS Managers REALLY Do NOT Coach Their Employees
We hear it all the time "I don't have time to coach my employees" or "our industry is really different and our managers are working managers" or "we hire really good people" or ???
The fact of the matter is some of the aforementioned reasons certainly have some merit but what if managers could creatively build their own coaching programs and apply coaching strategies even when they're physically not present? What if managers were really taught how to address the two major reasons why they do not coach and provided real world assistance and support? What if there was a support system that taught managers specific conversation pieces that made the coaching process easier?
The two reasons why managers don't coach are as simple as the following:
1) They don't know what to do after the training
2) They don't know what to say (lack conversational excellence)
As simple as this sounds we can train managers on how to coach all day long but once they go back to their desks or their field of employment they now have to go through the application process which includes knowing what to do as well as what to say. This is typically were managers will struggle. Managers are faced with so many situational challenges today like never before. First, we have this younger age group coming into the workplace who want feedback immediately as well as a promotion by next Tuesday. We also have an aging workforce who just want to do their job and be left alone and certainly not coached, yet we need them to be as productive as ever. We also have top talent who we need to retain and grow and provide career based coaching conversations because unemployment is low and they have more choices than ever. These are certainly not the only things facing managers but you get the idea there are so many situational challenges. Without the knowledge of knowing what to do as well as the skill of having such conversations associated with the situational challenges organizations will be faced with talent development issues both short-term and long-term.
If you are interested in learning how Progress Coaching can help your organization go way beyond training and provide your managers with real world support specific to developing coaching programs that makes sense for each manager as well as providing them support to adopt conversational excellence check out our train the trainer program: For more info: click here
Hi Tim,? In addition to other comments I would say that asking managers to coach has to be seen in the work context thy operate in.? If they are rewarded and assessed on say hitting a sales target they are not necessarily going to bother with coaching if it is not cystal clear how coaching will help.? The chances are they will defer to what they are most comfortable with.? Also need to consider how many thousands of repititions it will take before a new behavour is really rooted. KR,? Bob
Administrative Assistant.at CCTSMC & Mobile Produce, Inc.
6 年As an older person, I have begged higher management for more lines communications and ways to achieve a more productive work environment and the previous employers had me feeling ignored and stupid for wanting to be a better producer for the company. On the flip side, trying to be that role model and show the path to the younger to mid-aged personnel, I saw some that were truly not ready to work. The hiring managers were just put a body in a space. Filling the numbers. Seeing these type of employees made me shake my head in disbelief. Knowing that in orientation, they were trained in the same as the rest of the team. How to greet people, How to use the equipment, Safety in the workplace, Discrimination in the workplace and signed the Employee Hand Book, the Social Media and Electronic devices forms, the same as the rest of the employees. The disgruntled ones act like employment is beneath them. I believe that's because they are scared to try. That if they succeed, their scared someone will come take it all away. These are the people that will tell me that there's no "I" in team, but there is. When "I" choose to ignore my training, the team suffers and when "I" step-up my game, the team will benefit. Team is action, I join-in.
Owner at A2Z Tech Fix LL
6 年So much truth in this article. A manager can't train if they were never taught how by their superiors. If you hire in to an organization like this.... Move on quickly.
REGIONAL MANAGER (SouthWest) at KKONTech
6 年I would like to add the third reason to why manager to want to coach. Managers are scared of been taking over of the positions by. subordinates and fear of subordinates to know more than they do and management might noticed that and get them promoted ahead of the managers.Also,employers dont like to send workers for training for the fear that after the training,the workers will demand more pay and has the options of resigning since he/she has acquired new skills to market himself/herself with to get a good paying job and with a higher role.lastly,employers or managers dont like to train because after the training the salary might be increase and u could save and start planning to leave ur current job for a rewarding career. This happens in some part of the world especially Africa.
Marketer, Educator & Leadership Coach
6 年I think that one training alone is not sufficient to instill confidence in managers.? Managers need a series of training sessions and perhaps sharing sessions too for them to build that confidence.