Moving into a management role brings with it a whole load of new responsibilities. Many people who move to management level find it difficult to coach their employees and step into their new role with confidence. There are many things you can do as their boss to help them become fantastic coaches to their employees, which will lead to a more productive working team and happier employees. If you have recently hired new management, here is just how you can get them to coach level. 

What is Workplace Coaching? 

Being able to define what coaching is can help us inform managers of what to do and how to act. Coaching is a skillset and it aids to help employees reach their full potential at work and improves their overall performance. Within coaching there are both directive and non-directive skills. The directive skills that are included within coaching in the workplace are: advising, teaching, offering suggestions and giving feedback. This is often done in the form of an appraisal.  Non-directive coaching within a workplace focuses on asking the right questions and listening to the responses given, rather than offering an approach. This type of approach is much more effective, as allowing an employee to come up with their own solution to an issue means they will be much more committed to their role, and these changes are then likely to be taken on board. A great coach will know when and how to ask these questions, when to use a non-directive response and when to advise. While managers can have some of these skills, it is difficult to master them all without help. 

Learning to Be a Coach in the Workplace 

Learning to be a good coach takes time and it can begin with a great teacher. Your manager needs coaching training, which will allow them to begin to understand the true concepts behind coaching and see real examples. This will ensure they can then bring these new skills into the workplace, on real situations that they are facing or may soon face as a manager. Findcourses.com has many different coaching sessions available for your staff, including courses for executives and coaching in the workplace courses. For coaching training visit this site and allow the masters of coaching to show your management how it’s done. 

Teach Managers to Take a Step Back 

Management often want to impress and show that they know more than their staff, hence why they are in that role. This is a behaviour you want to discourage immediately, as a manager who takes control of all situations could lead to employees that become lazy and disinterested. Although being a manager does mean you need to know how to fix problems, it doesn’t mean that they know better or that they should immediately fix every situation. Especially in the case of new management, they want to impress and will jump on the bandwagon of trying to fix every problem to look good. Make sure your manager knows when to take a step back and ask employees’ opinions on a matter or see if they have any ideas on solving a problem before jumping straight in and doing it for them. If a manager is constantly solving their employees’ problems, those employees will never develop or reach their full potential. 

Using the GROW Model 

Many coaches in the workplace or elsewhere use the GROW model to help them remember the basics of coaching and get the most out of every conversation with an employee. GROW stands for goal, reality, options and what is next. Drumming this acronym into their head until it becomes second nature is one sure fire way of knowing they are thinking of the best outcomes for a situation before going full steam ahead. The goal aspect is about asking the employee what they want from the discussion. The reality aspect makes the employee think about the reality of the situation and about what is really happening, as sometimes when you say the problem out loud, it isn’t half as bad as you have made it feel in your head. You can then ask what options there are to solve a problem and this may be when they answer their own question without even knowing. Often employees come to managers with the right answers, but they just want some approval first. Allowing the employee to feel as though they have come up with these correct answers should leave them feeling more confident if the problem arises again, or in assisting other employees in a similar situation. Ending the conversation on what to do next means the employee can go away and act on their issue.