Categories: Leadership

Developing Employees for Peak Performance

“All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.” – Albert Einstein

Developing employees is a cornerstone to improving the performance of any organization. As the manager, coach and leader of any team, developing will be done through the delivery of proper feedback. Successful managers and leaders play the role of coach for their teams on a daily basis.

Coaches are part friend, part motivational speaker, part manager and part consultant. As the manager of your group, you will be required to coach the individuals on your team and assist them towards greater accomplishments and responsibilities. Developing team members through coaching creates accountability and measurable results. When employee behaviors support the required competencies to be successful in a role, the individual is on a path to achievement for themselves and the company.

While managers have goals that must be met, they must also recognize that those goals will only be met if the individuals entrusted to them possess the required competencies to achieve them. It is the job of the manager to be the coach that develops their skills to alter their behaviors and achieve what they have set out to do. This can be done through formal coaching session and by providing on the job guidance.

iSpeak Coaching Process

The starting point for leading people on the path to achievement is knowing and understanding the target. The goals for an individual should be aligned with the goals of the team to support the overall goals of the organization. The goal may be a personal development goal to improve their competencies and the underlying behaviors that support that competency. It is the job of the Coach to understand the unique competencies of each member of their team. Then through effective coaching, they will be able to guide each individual towards their goals.

Goals

For each individual employee, goals must be set during coaching sessions (depending on the job, this could be daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly). These goals will be personal, but will also align with the goals of the team and organization.

Coaching

This form of development is methodical, supportive and structured in scheduled interactive conversations. Coaching will often times lay the foundation for new discoveries and new goals or objectives. The coaching sessions are meant to be discussions that will keep this person motivated and working towards their ultimate goal. If there is only one coaching session per year, much wasted time will be discovered because of the lack of communication.

Guidance

This form of development can come in the form of Discipline or Recognition. If the manager observes destructive behaviors that do not support the overall goals, they will immediately step in to offer Discipline to correct the behavior. This is a time to remind the individual of their ultimate goal. If the manager sees new behaviors that support the competencies and goal, they will immediately Recognize the individual to reinforce their behavior.

Observing

The manager will be required to observe the behaviors of their individual team members. Since all competencies can be defined by the supporting behaviors, the manager will need to watch for the associated supporting behaviors. One of the most simple tools to be used for observation is called “Good, Bad, New.” The focus of this tool is to focus on three key areas for improvement.

The Good - These are the skills that should be continued. These are skills that you observe as skills that are working the person towards their goals. It is important that the good actions be reinforced and made permanent.
The Bad - These actions must be recognized and eliminated. In most cases individuals are unaware of their actions. Once they are made aware of their actions, they agree that the behavior needs to change.
The New - After observing an employee, you may notice that there are certain actions that should be added to improve their overall performance. This is where you would document new skills or actions that should be added to their skill set.

The final stage of the coaching process will be evaluation. Without a reflection on the actions taken or the changes implemented, measurement of success would be impossible. When objectives and goals have been set, processes and procedures implemented, the review process to evaluate the effectiveness will provide the information required to set a course for even more adjustments. This will ensure that you are developing your employees for peak performance and leading them on the path to achievement.

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