Step 7- The Last Step to Amazing Employee Transformation!
Step 7 is the final step in the coaching model. The first 6 steps are all about creating clarity with the employee regarding performance expectations and consequences for continued sub-par performance. In step 7 the coach says, “Here is how I am going to help you get better.” Great coaches that see talent development as their primary responsibility see themselves as the teacher and guide to the players on their team. Step 7 gives the coach the opportunity to lean in, and create regular brief, but impactful meeting times for the coach to check in with the employee. There are multiple purposes for these check-in meetings. The primary purpose is to hold the employee accountable by letting them know that they are being monitored and measured. Don’t look at this as a punitive. The employee’s improved effort and/or performance can be praised in these check in meetings. Further, the coach may seize the opportunity to do some teaching that may better quip the employee for success. After a few meetings the coach will become more intimately acquainted with the strengths and weaknesses of the employee. This keen insight allows the coach to be even more effective as the employee’s mentor. If it becomes evident in the meetings that the employee is neither incapable or unwilling to meet the coach’s expectations, then plans for a smooth exit can be put in place sooner. Lastly, These follow up coaching meetings will serve to enhance the relationship between the coach and employee. The result will likely be increased trust, higher levels of motivation, and improved retention all because the coach cared enough to engage the employee in a meaningful coaching conversation about their opportunities and responsibility to improve their performance.
I hope you enjoyed the video blogs and the role plays between Doug Semenick and me. I encourage you to lean in more closely to your employees. Engage more often in coaching conversations. Help them be better employees by clarifying your expectations as well as the consequences for not doing so. The great ones on your team will thank you. The not so great ones will be identified and provided the opportunity to join your competitor’s team. And that will be a good thing.