Training is not enough

There is a direct link between training and employee retention. Employees involved in ongoing training feel that their employer is interested in them doing a better job, and the employer cares enough about them to make an investment in their development. Training can also be the means for positive change in any organization; however, training is not enough to create lasting change without a vital link that will help your employees transfer what they learned into real-life application. That vital link is a strong coaching program.

To illustrate the importance of coaching after training, imagine sending your employees to attend a workshop. They learn new skills and how to apply them on the job. They are excited about how it will help them perform better; yet when they return to work their supervisor shows little interest in what they learned, and is too busy to offer support. After a few attempts to make some positive changes, the discouraged employees go back to doing things as usual. It’s no surprise that training is one of the first things cut when times get tough.

Coaching, when done properly, will become a supervisor’s focal point to leverage the performance of those in their charge. Coaching is a process of interacting with people in a way that teaches them to produce spectacular results, which is why it is often called “transformational coaching.”

To transform means to make a huge change, as in the way a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. Once the change is complete, the prior state ceases and the new state becomes the norm. In order to become a good coach, you must first make the transformation within yourself. You must make the inner changes to realize the outward changes in your staff. Bell-Atlantic CEO, Ray Smith said: “To create a high-performance team, we must replace typical management activities like supervising, checking, monitoring, and controlling with new behaviors like coaching and communication.”

As you become a better coach, it will transform the relationship you have with your employees. Rather than only looking at the bottom line to define success, a transformational coach appreciates and develops the people and processes that help to produce those results.

To better understand what it takes to become a masterful coach, Robert Hargrove in his book, [I]Masterful Coaching[/I], outlines six characteristics: “The ability to inspire, setting higher standards, honesty and integrity, disciplined intensity, forwarding action, and a passion to help others learn, grow, and perform.”

To help you remember the six traits, think of the acronym SHAPED, and realize that your successful coaching efforts will be the process that has shaped your employees into a high-performance team. Below is the acronym and a description of each characteristic. (Note: “Inspire” has been changed to “Encourage”.)

[I][B]S[/B]etting higher standards[/I]—Masterful coaches set high standards for themselves and others to achieve. They push their people beyond their perceived limits, and help them to achieve something great.

[I][B]H[/B]onesty and integrity[/I]—Honesty not only means not lying, it means having high ethical standards. Your people must believe in you and know that you will only speak the truth. Integrity is living your values, and having consistency between what you say and what you actually do.

[I][B]A[/B]ction (forwarding)[/I]—Masterful coaches take action, and make sure that their effort moves the organization forward to achieve a goal. They don’t get stalled, stymied, or bogged down strategizing. They focus on the next step forward and take it.

[I][B]P[/B]assion to help others learn, grow, and perform[/I]—You must have a burning desire to help others develop. This means you can discern where people are today, and what it will take to help them achieve their potential.

[I][B]E[/B]ncourage (inspire)[/I]—As a coach, you should constantly encourage your people to achieve their full potential, and also inspire them to want to make a difference in the lives of those they touch.

[I][B]D[/B]isciplined intensity[/I]—What distinguishes masterful coaches is their ability to motivate others to fully participate in the process of change. Disciplined intensity means giving and getting 100 percent from everyone.

As you help shape the behaviors of others, it will help shape the organization into your vision of what it can become. As a masterful coach, you will become a role model for others and inspire them to achieve higher standards. You will realize that training is not enough to make lasting changes. Transformational coaching will be the catalyst that causes your training efforts to produce exponential results, and create a high-performance team.

[I](Rik is a business instructor at Northern Marianas College and Janel is the owner of Positively Outrageous Results. They can be contacted at: biz_results@yahoo.com)
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