New Manager GuideGroup 3

Angela Foster, Dorian Herceg, Dave Lambert, Jen Smith, and Alex Beeman

13 Pages Included

Table of Contents

Current Trends and Challenges………………………..Pages 3-6

Trends…............................................................................ Page 3, 5

Challenges………………………………………………………. Pages 4, 6

Best Practices …...........................................................Pages 6-11

Best Practices in Coaching……………………………......Pages 6-8

Best Practices in Feedback…………………………….....Pages 8-9

Coaching Metrics……………………………………………..Pages 9-10

Feedback Metrics……………………………………………Pages 10-11

References……………………………………………………..Pages 12-13

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Coaching Employees and Giving Feedback: Current Trends and Challenges

Trends in Coaching Employees

Coaching has become commonplace in many organizations and firms within the United States.

Often it has become so engrained in business culture that employees expect to be coached (Hunt

58). Some of the current coaching trends include:

Technology

Technology has shaped the communication methods used in coaching employees. Social-

networking sites and online communications have changed the employee-employer relationship

(Garvey 149).

Younger generations of employees seem to adapt well to “virtual” coaching

Older employees may prefer face-to-face interaction.

Centralization

Centralization is another trend in coaching. This occurs when one central office or executive

position determines the coaching agenda, rather than the employees’ direct managers.

Often the agenda focuses on the importance of a strategic partnership with the organization

(Garvey 151).

The buddy system.

The buddy system is third trend found in the workplace. It places a new employee with a seasoned

employee who helps them learn their new position and feel more confident. Some employers

believe that using this system helps the employee become productive faster by making him or her

immediately feel part of the team.

When using the buddy system it is important that the “buddy” realizes his or her

responsibility to create a positive work environment (Lau 27).

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The graph above demonstrates the path employees can take when there is not

proper coaching involved.

Challenges in Coaching Employees

Some of the main coaching challenges include:

Generational differences

When coaching employees, it is difficult to have one strategy that works for employees of varying

ages.

Generational differences are evident in the workplace as younger employees have greater

exposure to technology, have more independence and value work-life balance more than

predecessors (Sujansky).

Employees often struggle if these differences are not identified and integrated into the

coaching strategy.

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Creating personal responsibility

Organizations that use centralization to determine the coaching agenda often have challenges

creating personal responsibility.

Centralized agendas often focus on broad goals that do not always engage the individual

employee (Garvey 58).

Determining if coaching is appropriate

Many organizations provide coaching for every employee. One challenge is determining if this is

the best form of intervention for the employee.

If the employee has specific challenges or performance problems, coaching for the employee

may need to focus on realigning performance (Idaho Division of Human Resources).

Trends in Giving Feedback

Giving feedback to employees is an important part of helping them be more productive. Current

trends focus on:

Overcoming the feedback form

Many organizations limit the ability to give feedback to an employee by using standardized reports.

These forms do not allow for individualized improvements

Some organizations are looking past the form and allowing managers and directors to write

their own comments and give feedback through emails or memos (Imperato).

Providing timely feedback

Some organizations have learned that yearly feedback is not effective.

These organizations have adopted communication methods that provide feedback that is

timely and related to a specific project

This allows for the employee to identify where they can improve while still relevant and

make real changes to enhance their performance (Imperato).

Not substituting a raise for feedback

Organizations have also learned that employees need feedback that is not just in the form of a raise.

A raise is a financial transaction and cannot take the place of a conversation expressing

praise or correction

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Feedback used in connection with a raise provides a clear message to the employee

(Imperato).

Challenges to Giving Feedback

Some of the challenges that come with giving feedback to employees include:

Giving a clear message

When feedback is given to an employee often the manager does not know how helpful that

feedback actually is.

Sometimes there is a disconnect between what managers believe they said and what the

employee hears (Imperato)

The best feedback provides a clear and consistent message to the employee (McGill 160).

Not generalizing

Making generalized statements when giving feedback is another challenge.

If a manager uses words like “all,” “never,” or “always,” the statement made could be false or

place arbitrary limits on the behavior (McGill 160).

Limiting unnecessary advice

Giving unnecessary advice is third challenge to giving feedback. Rarely do people not perform well

because the lack a specific piece of information.

The best feedback helps the employee better understand the issue, realize how the issue

developed and identify actions to be more effective (McGill 160)

Coaching Employees and Giving Feedback: Best Practices and HR Metrics

Best Practices in Coaching Employees

According to an article written by Ridge Associates, “coaching is individualized instruction that’s

mutually desired.” It is important that manager’s have a constructive approach to the development

of their employee’s merit and view coaching as a noble venture.

This is necessary for manager’s to promote growth and development in their employee’s

In order to train their employees effectively

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Managers must recognize that every employee has their own unique talents, skill sets, and

potential

Managers must have a belief in their employee’s capabilities, as this is vital to establish a

high-performance expectation for them to achieve.

There are several coaching techniques companies have implemented to equip their employee’s with

the tools necessary to enhance performance. Some of these techniques include:

Creating an environment in which employee’s feel their jobs are important, focusing on

behavior not traits, and promoting the full potential of all employees (Ridge Associates).

A manager that is able to recognize an employee’s weaknesses, as well as their strengths,

can help that employee understand what obstacles may need to be conquered in order to

excel in overall performance.

Feedback from a manager directly following a behavior is very effective for the employee,

right or wrong, thereby enabling them to continue the good work or to look for ways to

improve upon their work.

By observing employees periodically, managers are better able to determine which areas of

performance offer an opportunity for coaching.

Above is a graph depicting the core coaching skills and process. As you can see,

things such as listening, inquiring, connecting, and reviewing play a critical role.

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This graph demonstrates the important of inquiring and listening while coaching

and giving feedback. It shows the process by which they travel.

Best Practices in Giving Feedback to Employees

Coaching, counseling, and mentoring are useful techniques for managers to use with employees

(Stone).

It’s important the managers know the difference between all three techniques, as well as,

how and when to use each technique

Continuously encouraging employees to do their jobs is a key aspect of coaching and

mentoring (Stone)

In order to give meaningful and effective feedback, managers should be aware of the

elements of feedback and feedback should be common practice.

The elements of feedback include the manager’s willingness to give feedback, ability

to provide concrete information, and to include relevant elements of performance

that contribute to task success and that are under the recipient’s control (London).

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The graphs above shows survey results from employees and their thoughts on

coaching and feedback

HR Metrics in Coaching Employees

Most metrics will be used in feedback; however there is one application for coaching:

An online assessment of managers, specific employees, and even executives can be used to develop

a “coaching profile”

The assessment covers work priorities and current coaching activities

Each coaching profile can then be used to develop a personalized coaching strategy and

potential coaching development opportunity (Earley, 96).

“Effective feedback is possible only when it is based on accurate observation (or other kinds of

performance data)” (Hunt and Weintraub, 124).

Other areas of business commonly use quantifiable data in decision-making and HR should

be no different (Thomas)

It is widely believed that metrics in HR should be taken with a grain of salt, because nothing

compares to actual observation or face-to-face interaction. Essentially, there are three feedback

mechanisms to analyze coaching:

Performance feedback

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Performance feedback can be used in coaching to pinpoint areas where it might be utilized

best

This measurement includes a list of things the employee has exceeded and criticisms of

those they have not

Time series feedback shows the progression and influence of coaching on performance over

a period of time.

Employee feedback

Employee feedback measures how well the manager is coaching

Here the employee appraises the ability of his manager, which can include how well a

coaching experience is functioning

The 360 degree report

The 360 degree feedback report involves managers, peers, and other employees in the

creation a performance report

These reports can focus on specific areas such as coaching and development (Wright).

Metrics can be used to gauge the importance of coaching on the company’s financial statements and

performance. The idea is that a “coached employee is a more engaged employee and that the

improvements in engagement trickle down to others on the coachee’s team making coaching a great

way to impact employee engagement” (Marcus). In fact there is one example where a financial

firm’s common stock was devalued mainly because of the lack of “employee engagement” (Marcus).

HR Metrics in Giving Feedback to Employees

Most companies have the basic idea of HR metrics, which include employee engagement and

workforce productivity. Currently companies are measuring the return on investment (ROI) of

individual employees.

This makes it possible for an organization to measure the effectiveness of feedback and if

coaching employees makes a difference in productivity (Bates, 51).

By understanding what is being done and what is possible in the next few years may encourage

organizations in adopting metrics and an analytical–based approach to human capital management

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“The value of metrics, the report concludes, is undeniable: metrics can bring both “hard-

dollar” and strategic savings, as well as significantly higher operating income growth for

organizations that use workforce measurement approaches and technologies.” (HRfocus, 6).

Learning management, performance management, talent management, and workforce analytics are

all tools used for metrics related to coaching and giving feedback (HRfocus, 7).

Other measures include:

Employee engagement, personal and professional development, and turnovers (which could

relate to feedback and coaching).

The key to success is the organization’s strategy.

It’s important that the organization standardizes and agrees upon a set of metrics

The metrics value produces measurable outcomes related to the impact they have on

organizational performance (HRfocus, 10).

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Works Cited and Consulted

Garvey, B., P. Stokes, and D. Megginson. Coaching and mentoring: theory and practice. London: Sage, 2009.

Hunt, J.M. and J.R. Weintraub. The coaching manager: developing top talent in business. London: Sage, 2009.

Idaho Division of Human Resources: Performance Management. 10 Sept. 2009 <http://www.dhr.idaho.gov/dhrapp/training.PerformanceManagement/Coaching.htm>.

Imperato, Gina. “How to Give Good Feedback.” Fast Company 18 Dec. 2007.

Lau, Shari and Vicki Neal. “Economic Trends, Buddy Systems, Receiving Criticism.” HR Magazine 54 (2009): 26-29.

McGill, Ian and Liz Beatty. Action learning: A practitioner’s guide. London: Kogan Page, 1994. 159-163.

Sujansky, Joanne G. The Private Sector: Energetic Generation Y bores easily, needs coaching. 8 Sept. 2009 <http://www.keygrp.com/about.php>.

Bassi, L. and D. McMurrer. (2007, March). Maximizing Your Return on People. Retrieved September, 27, 2009, from Harvard Business Review - Current Business Articles and Case Studies web site: http://harvardbusiness.org/product/maximizing-your-return-on-people/an/R0703H-PDF-ENG.

Bates, S. (2003). The Metrics Maze. HR Magazine, 48, 50-55.

Ridge Associates. Coaching at Work. Retrieved September 27, 2009, from Ridge Associates’s website: http://www.ridge.com/downloads/Coaching_At_Work.pdf.

Earley, C. (2009, May). Coaching for High Performance: A medical supply company learns that being nice only gets you so far. T+D, 96.

Homan, Madeleine and Miller J. Linda (2008). Coaching In Organizations. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Hunt, J.M. and J.R. Weintraub. (2002). The coaching manager: developing top talent in business. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

London, M. (2003). Job Feedback Giving, Seeking, and Using Feedback for Performance Improvement. 2nd ed. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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Marcus, M. (2006, January 12). Defining Executive Coaching. HR.com. Retrieved September 25, 2009, from http://www.hr.com/sfs?t=/blogs/blog.show&e=UTF-8&i=1116423256281&l=0&blogid=1137096243688&highlight=1&keys=coaching+%2Band+%2Bfeedback&active=/blogs/index.

Schlosser, B. et al. (2006). The Coaching Impact Study: Measuring the Value of Executive Coaching. International Journal of Coaching in Organizations, 4, 3, 8-26.

Stone, F.M. (2007). Coaching, Counseling & Mentoring How to Choose & Use the Right Technique to Boost Employee Performance. 2nd ed. New York: AMACOM/American Management Association.

Thomas, Z. (2009, January 9). HR Analytics Drive Sound Decision Making in Turbulent Times. HR.com. Retrieved September 25, 2009, from http://www.hr.com/SITEFORUM?t=/contentManager/onStory&e=UTF-8&i=1116423256281&l=0&active=no&ParentID=1119278070334&StoryID=1231298604512.

What Companies Are Measuring, and Why There Is More Metrics Work to be Done. (2007, May). HRfocus, 84.5, 1-15.

Wright, T. (2008, November 4). The 3 Feedbacks That (Can) Matter to Employee Engagement. HR.com. Retrieved September 25, 2009, from http://www.hr.com/SITEFORUM?t=/blogs/blog.show&e=UTF-8&i=1116423256281&l=0&blogid=1225826514049&highlight=1&keys=coaching+%2Band+%2Bfeedback&active=/blogs/index.

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