People Management: The Coach Effect!!!

Effective coaching can help maintain optimum performance, even in adversity…

• The frame of reference in which coaching is imparted plays a critical role in determining its impact
• Outside-in coaching is largely knowledge-centric and increases coach-dependency
• Inside-out coaching is more talent-centric and focusses on bringing out what is already present

Close analysis will reveal that “what is not right” dominates all workplace discussions among professionals across levels. This constant bickering and perpetual state of dissatisfaction merges well into the background when things have their sunny side up. However, these discussions suddenly become serious as the background changes and the economic crisis makes it look more threatening than ever before. Employees begin to watch every word they speak and fear its repercussions. The most worrying impact of it in an economic crisis is that workers begin to succumb to their own prophecies of what is ‘not right’ and how things ‘should have been’. The more negative they think the worse the situation gets, and in turn, their individual performance gets affected adversely. The vicious cycle of non-purposeful criticism leading to poor performance, followed by more criticism, is hard to break. Hence, workers and leaders have to be aware of the seriousness of their idle criticism in testing times like the current downturn.

Understanding why idle criticism can be threatening in a downturn is important for leaders. Employees giving their best is crucial during a crisis. However, employees tend to be at their worst in such times because of self-induced pessimism. Thus, it is important that leaders position themselves strategically to counter employee pessimism and create an environment that is more inspiring and performance-driven. One way of doing it is to offer coaching to employees to clear doubts and apprehensions, and equip them adequately with necessary guidance to perform well during tough times.

Destructive distractions

Coaching, if practised seriously, has the power to convince people to give their best even when everything around looks doomed. The power of coaching lies in the coach’s ability to cut distractions and help workers focus on what promises to be the salvage point for survival. Distractions are very harmful, especially those that focus on the negative aspects of a given situation. Indulging in discussions that hover on negativity can deplete employee performance and impact overall organisational productivity. In tough economic times, dwindling productivity is a nightmare, and therefore, leaders should work towards circumventing situations that may lead to further depletion in employee morale and performance levels.

Informal coaching

Coaching, as we all relate to it, is largely formal and takes place at a pre-determined time and place. However, experts believe that in times like today, when pessimism dominates the workspace, coaching has to be a day-to-day affair. Leaders and managers can influence the thinking of people around them. However, the framework or context in which coaching takes place determines its efficacy.

Coaching also depends to a large extent on the perception of the coach. The coach is like a doctor who prescribes treatment after analysing symptoms. For instance, if the coach believes that those being coached need external inputs for improving performance and the attitude towards work, then he is likely to provide the same by way of functional training workshops and some counselling. However, if the coach believes that they have the right potential to perform, and only need the right push and inspiration, he would then help them realise their real potential through motivation.

In the former “outside-in” approach, knowledge from external sources, mainly the coach, helps performance improvement. In this approach, the coached are dependent completely upon the coach for betterment. Further, there is a significant loss of self-belief, confidence, drive and focus. The coach, however, can help them overcome these.

The exact opposite of the “outside-in” approach is the “inside-out” approach, where the coach believes that those receiving coaching are competent enough to survive the competition and only need ‘a reason’ to perform. Thus, the coach here helps them realise their own potential.

Understanding the source of agony from an employee’s perspective is important for a coach. The need for coaching is immense in today’s stressful times, where employees are caught between their own shortcomings and the employer’s inability to keep them secure in their fold.

Reference:
The Managementor