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#EXECUTIVE COACHING

Unlocking Potential: The Art of Performance Coaching.

BY
Andrew Langat
November 12, 2024
An Image Showing a coach guiding someone to improve their performance and skills.
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According to McKinsey, companies spend about $100 billion yearly on training employees in skills needed to improve performance. One of the main techniques used is employee performance coaching, which targets employee development and performance.

In this article, we will review the meaning of performance coaching, the processes involved, and the benefits of the performance coaching process.

What is performance coaching?

Performance coaching is a structured process that is aimed at improving the employee's performance in the workplace. It focuses on helping employees learn new skills, achieve specific personal and professional goals, enhance their strengths, and address areas of improvement.

It is a form of continuous performance management in which a performance coach tracks progress, offers first-hand support, shares feedback, and encourages continuous improvement.  

Types of performance coaching.

Performance coaching can take various forms, including the following:

  1. Executive Coaching: concentrates on the competence building of the top managers and business executives to improve organizational effectiveness.
  2. Example: A CEO can employ the services of an executive coach to enhance his/her decision-making process during a company's reorganization.
  3. Team Coaching: Focused on enhancing aggregate team outcomes concerning communication, coordination, and inter and intra-team conflicts.
  4. Career Coaching:  Each learner can build a career plan and meet career objectives that involve changing careers or employers, career transitions, or career progression within the current employer.
  5. Skills-based Coaching Targets the improvement of definite abilities or capabilities acquired within a particular area of working activity, such as communicative or organizational skills, oratorical skills, or specific knowledge.

Key Elements of Performance Coaching.

1. Goal Setting.

Performance coaching begins with the fundamental building block of accountability and goal setting, specifically and realistically. Establishing goals has been said to give an end product and scope to a project, and thus, it is helpful for a coach and coachee to set goals because it orients the two toward what should be achieved. These goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based. Measuring and reviewing goals is much easier if they are set right at the start of the coaching process.

2. Feedback and Reflection.

Constructive feedback is something that is used in performance coaching. Feedback gives people the chance to be informed about their impact, what they are doing well, and what they are doing wrong. This feedback has to be prompt, detailed, and usable for it to be most beneficial. Continuous feedback is an ongoing process for coaches to improve and develop.

Reflection, on the other hand, involves employees evaluating their performance based on the feedback they receive and considering how to improve it in the future.

3. Skill Development.

Skill-based training is typically directed at creating or modifying selected behaviors crucial to an employee's job duties. These skills can include management and interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills and approaches, and even specialized skills such as conducting financial analysis. The purpose is to increase employee performance and provide the right instruments to achieve the objectives.

4. Self-awareness.

Another aspect of performance coaching is self-awareness. The proactive role coaches acquire in this process is that they assist employees in developing self-awareness of how they influence and what they should do. Such self-awareness enhances personnel development and creates opportunities for ever-expanding education. It also helps people note areas they do not consider, and thus, they can design methods to improve performance based on how they want them to be.

For more insight: Self-awareness in leadership.

5. Action plan.

Coaches and coachees develop specific action plans that spell out the activities required to accomplish set goals. These plans should contain information on timelines, required resources, and risks so that the coachee can easily see how to achieve a goal. This helps the coachee maintain compliance with the stated plan and make certain changes whenever new challenges surface.

Benefits of Performance Coaching.

Here are a few benefits that the workforce can gain from a successful coaching program;

1. Increased job satisfaction.

Effective employee performance coaching creates a supportive environment where employees can thrive and feel empowered. More benefits can be derived from personalized performance
coaching, where employees can receive honest feedback and guidance. This support increases engagement, as employees feel their organization is invested in their success.

Moreover, with successful performance coaching, issues like dissatisfaction, burnout, and frustration can be reduced.

2. Improved employee performance.

Performance coaching can empower employees by helping them understand areas of strength and where to improve. A performance coach will help address challenges, and the coaching sessions will help individuals be accountable for their performances. This results in improved productivity and stronger alignment with organizational goals.

Example: A leader struggling with time management may benefit from coaching to learn how to prioritize tasks, delegate effectively, and meet deadlines. Over time, this results in better team outcomes and less stress for the manager.

3. Higher talent retention.

When organizations invest in high-performance coaching, they are more likely to retain talent. When employees feel supported and see a clear path for professional development, they are more likely to stay long-term.

Reduced turnover also benefits the organization, as retaining top talent is more cost-effective than hiring and training new employees. This keeps employees more motivated and engaged in their work.

4. Enhanced leadership development.

Leadership performance coaching is especially vital in creating several vital leadership competencies, including decision-making capability, conflict-solving, and strategic planning. Leadership performance coaching assists leaders in developing more insight into how they can bring out the surprises in their leadership style. It enables them to solve problems effectively, control and prevent conflicts

Coached leaders are more prepared to address many problems and mobilize employees to deliver superior performance. For instance, an executive who has been recently given a new and higher rank might begin working alongside a personal coach to enhance their strategic outlook and better liaise with other executives in the organization to avoid misunderstandings within the division of departments.

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Performance coaching models.

A successful coaching program relies on the effectiveness of a coaching model. Leaders need to have the right tools to coach well and ensure consistency within the organization.

Here are a few coaching models:

1. The CIGAR model.

This coaching model provides a structure for the coaching process, ensuring that each coaching session is focused and productive.

The model aims to assist individuals in recognizing and addressing the gaps between their current status and desired outcomes.

The CIGAR model is an acronym for Current Reality, Ideal, Gaps, Action, and Review. Let's break them down;

  • Current reality refers to an individual's current situation, including strengths and weaknesses. This is the first step of the CIGAR model, where the coach learns what's going on beneath the surface.
  • Ideal refers to an individual's desired state based on their aspirations and beliefs. The coach helps coaches visualize their desired outcomes.
  • Gaps: refers to the difference between the individual's current reality and ideal state. By identifying the gaps, an individual can develop a plan of action to address the rift. Also, figuring out the gaps between where they currently stand and where they want to be.
  • Action entails making a purposeful and conscious effort to achieve the goals. The current role of a coach is to support them by illuminating the path and helping them increase their likelihood of learning more about the process to close the gaps left in their story.
  • Review: it involves a comprehensive review of the entire coaching process. At this stage, the coach will monitor performance regularly to gauge whether the performance goals are being achieved.  

The CIGAR coaching model is quite effective as a goal attainment and performance tool, and it is enhanced due to the gaps in the analysis between the current situation and the desired state. One has to note that it is indeed possible to have this model come with a review feature, which would be helpful in coaching.

It is important to begin by recognizing that no strategy, no matter how successful, nor any coaching model, no matter how effective, will remain relevant forever. They must be constantly reviewed and developed to sustain and progress further.

2. The FUEL model.

This coaching model is designed for behavioral change within an organization. Many performance coaches prefer the FUEL model because it focuses on the overall growth of an individual. It also helps coaches have structured conversations with their clients.

The FUEL model is based on the premise that all clients have different needs and that these needs can be met by having candid conversations to understand the areas that require improvements.

FUEL coaching model stands for Frame the conversation, Understand the current state, Explore the desired state, and Lay out the success plan.

Frame the conversation.

The coach and coaches converse and agree on the coaching process, purpose, and expectations. This helps identify the performance objectives and performance improvement plan.

Understand the current state.

The coach asks open-ended questions to clarify the current situation. This process helps the employee identify any beliefs that may affect their behavior and offers a perspective on the need for change.

For instance, In what ways are your actions affecting you and those around you?

What do you think is challenging? and How does it impact your goals?

Explore the desired state.

This is where a coach's two-way communication skills are required, in this instance, their active listening skills. A good coach will provide an environment where the client can feel free to share their desired outcomes. Then, both parties can design a vision of success and mutually agree on how to achieve the goal.

Lastly,

Lay out a success plan.

At this stage, a personalized action plan is created to achieve the desired outcomes. The plan must be realistic, achievable, specific, and within a certain time frame. It must also be the coachee's plan, and they should be responsible for it.

The FUEL coaching model is ideal for coaches who want to evaluate and analyze the coachee's situations. It is commonly used in developing high-potential employees, executive coaching, and establishing development action plans. The FUEL coaching model benefits both the coachee and the coach, allowing the coach to practice leadership skills such as motivation, communication, and coaching.

Situations where performance coaching is effective.

1. Onboarding new employees.

A performance coach effectively facilitates the integration of new employees into their new jobs because it involves assessing and developing performance needs.

For Example, A new software developer might receive coaching to learn the coding standards and software development practices, ensuring they can contribute effectively to projects within their first few months.

2. Leadership Transitions.

Organizations temporarily remove people from regular work, make them managers, and then coach them to learn how to steer employees and make effective decisions.

For Example, an employee who has recently been transferred to the headship of a specific department may be advised on how best to manage that department, bearing in mind that their previous roles may not have prepared them well enough to head a department.

3. Performance Improvement Plans.

Performance coaching is appropriate when an employee is not effective and needs to be trained on how and what to do to improve performance

4. High-potential employee development.

Coaching as an application assists in developing high-ranking performers in the organization due to information on feedback and learning, focusing on succession management for future leaders.

Example: A high-performing project leader with the potential for an executive role might receive coaching to develop strategic planning skills, improve financial awareness, and gain exposure to cross-functional leadership. This coaching prepares them for a smooth transition into a senior leadership position.

Inspiring, isn’t it ? Want to learn more about connecting self-awareness to professional development? Get in touch today.
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How do you choose a performance coach?

A performance coach is key to ensuring that the coaching improves performance. The right coach can make a significant impact in achieving success. Here are a few factors to consider when selecting a performance coach:

  • Experience and Expertise:  Make sure the proper coach is chosen to match the coachee’s industry/position so that the coachee has a good chance of giving insights on improvements.
  • Coaching Style: To avoid a nonproductive coaching relationship, select a competent coach whose working modality matches the coachee’s learning disposition and temperament.
  • Credentials and Training: The best coaches are those who have been trained or certified by professional organizations, including the ICF-International Coach Federation.
  • Track Record: One trend to follow when choosing the right coach is that the coach has achieved good results with other clients.

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AUTHOR
Andrew Langat
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Andrew Langat is an experienced content specialist in Leadership, Productivity, Education, Fintech, and Research. He is an avid reader and loves swimming as a hobby. He believes that quality content should be actionable and helpful.