| | In This Issue: | | Coach Early and Often TIP OF THE MONTH:
10 Steps to Effective Coaching STRATEGIES FOR WINNING: Know Your Goals and Focus on them PRODUCT FOCUS:
Is Your Team Lacking a Coach? | | What's on at PROFILES | | Partner Training:
Tues 22nd Apr 2008,
2pm - 4pm Seminar:
No seminar scheduled for April | | Product of the Month: | | The CheckPoint 360 System is a powerful three-part solution for a manager's professional development: 1. Checkpoint 360 Degree Survey provides managers with multi-rater feedback from those who observe their performance: their bosses, subordinates, and peers. This is an important process because increased awareness motivates managers to change the way they do their jobs. 2. Organizational Management Analysis System that alerts top management to potential managerial problems that can develop when managers’ goals are not in alignment with the goals of the organisation. It can strengthen communication and builds stronger organisations. 3. Skill Builder Series rounds out the 360 degree feedback solution and is an organised management and professional development program that addresses specific managerial skills identified in the Checkpoint as needing improvement. Consisting of 18 modules, managers develop and complete a customised personal development plan using SkillBuilder modules which are available online self paced and are easily integrated into a manager’s schedule and tangibly accelerate effectiveness and efficiency. Until Jun 31st 2008, for every Checkpoint 360 Survey ordered we will provide a complimentary SkillBuilder module. | | Quotes of the Month: | | "The simplest thing you can do in a small company is develop goals. Write them all down. Share them." – Josh Bersin, Bersin & Associates "To learn anything fast and effectively you have to see it, hear it, feel it. " – Tony Holloway, professor "You get the best effort from others not by lighting a fire beneath them, but by building a fire within. "– Bob Nelson, author "Coaching is a conversation, a dialogue whereby the coach and the individual interact in a dynamic exchange to achieve goals, enhance performance and move the individual forward to a greater success." - Zeus and Skiffington, authors "Selecting the right person for the right job is the largest part of coaching." - Philip Crosby, author | | Contact Us: | | For Further Information Please Contact: Profiles International -Victoria 277 Moray St,
South Melbourne VIC 3205 T: (03) 9673 9888
F: (03) 9673 9898 . Email Us | | Coach Early and Often In our office, we like to encourage a variation on the electoral theme "Vote early and often." We substitute the word "coach" for "vote," and as opposed to the humor in the voting phrase, we are dead serious. We believe coaching is imperative to improved performance, and that the act of coaching offers a more robust work experience to both employees and managers. Research bolsters our belief in the value of coaching. Talent management analysts Bersin & Associates discovered the important role coaching plays in a survey of 750 organisations and 55 executives. Bersin wanted to get a feel for the top business problems today, challenges related to talent in our companies, and processes we use to recruit, retain and develop employees. Their research reveals that performance management is one of the most important things organisations can do for employees, and when we are managing performance, the most effective thing we can do is coach. Among the organisations surveyed, coaching ranks at the top of 22 processes which consistently drive the highest business impact. The results of continuous coaching? Higher levels of engagement, leadership, flexibility and performance. Companies seeing the biggest value use formal coaching programs and have discovered that the most effective coaching is tailored to the individual. The right kind of coaching determines whether each person fits his/her job; how employees are motivated and how they respond to stress; how a manager can optimize the relationship with the employee; the best role of the employee in a team; and how best to develop the employee's leadership abilities. Many of our employees already get this. One of the top reasons employees give for leaving a particular workplace is lack of coaching. Don't we owe them a management style that proactively prevents problems (coaching) instead of fixing issues after they occur (performance evaluations)? Adding coaching to the repertoire of management processes should spark creativity throughout our organisations. Imagine a manager's toolbox labeled "Performance Management." Inside the toolbox is a set of tools you can use continuously to recruit, hire, train and develop workers. Your mission is to help employees grow in all areas on the job. Further, you are to do that in advance of an employee failing. Thus, this toolbox pretty much does away with annual performance evaluations, which everyone dreads and which provide questionable results. Let's put them in the "obsolete" pile. Inside this—bundled with the coaching tool—are two tools labeled "Why Coach" and "How to Coach." The "Why" tool shows us that daily coaching elicits teamwork and creativity. Just like coaches of sports teams practice to develop players so they can go to the next level of play, managers in an office setting can adopt the same strategy. This kind of coaching, or the "How to Coach" tool, involves: - examining the employee's thinking style, behavioural attributes and occupational interests to see if he can be successful in the job, based on the characteristics of top performers. If there are gaps between the person and the best profile for the job, these specific areas invite coaching.
- watching how the person responds to the stress and challenges of the job.
- observing how the employee interacts with his or her manager (you); how you relate to each other; whether your styles mesh; how you can best communicate.
- watching how the employee interacts with other team members and what conflicts may occur based on the dynamics of the team; seeing how the employee can best be coached to produce in that environment. If the employee is also a manager, you need to use her management style as a coaching tool. This means you must understand her strengths and weaknesses in the leadership role.
The tools we add to our Performance Management toolbox and how we use them will be the strategies we develop along the way. Undoubtedly, those of us who actively coach will learn new lessons as we do so. Our creativity will develop, too, as we start enjoying the role as the coach of a team headed for a championship title. Jim Sirbasku, CEO Profiles International
PROFILES TIP OF THE MONTH: 10 Steps to Effective Coaching 1. Recognise the important differences between coaching and performance reviews. 2. Teach all that coaching is a standard part of development, not a punitive action. 3. Listen well, ask questions and speak clearly, using language that everyone understands. 4. Always focus on the behavior, never on the person. 5. Know where the manager wants/needs to go. This will help you develop a road map. 6. Remember that you do not control the process or the manager's behaviour. 7. Be a trustworthy partner and confidante. Do not gossip. 8. Act as a sounding board when necessary. 9. Support your partner's self-esteem. Never laugh at fears or worries. 10. Coaching is a process. Commit your time and patience for the best results.
Strategies for Winning:
Know Your Goals and Focus on Them Goal setting is a subject to be emphasised early in the development of a business career, and we can't emphasise it enough. We have formed the habit of setting goals daily, weekly, monthly, annually and for the next 10 years! We think you should, too. Here is an interesting approach to this subject. We present these ideas so you can use them to drive the car of your dreams and obtain all of the other goals important to you, too. Is your life an antelope hunt or a chipmunk chase? A former world leader once used an analogy wherein he regarded himself as a lion, the head of a pride, no less. And all of the issues he ever faced were either antelope or chipmunks. Even when a lion is dying of hunger, he won't give chase to any of the many smaller animals, like chipmunks, which gambol nearby, offering a quick and easy snack. Why? Even if he made the effort and caught one, and there's always an outside chance he'd fail, it simply wouldn't satisfy him. However, even when weakened by hunger to the extent that he can hardly move, when an antelope shimmers into view miles away across open plains, the sight moves the lion to action. In spite of being so weakened that he knows a failed effort could be the end of him, the lion commits to the hunt. If there's even a slight chance of success, he'll give his all because success will fill his belly for weeks to come. The greater reward is worth his all, and so he begins the long process of focused effort which he clearly envisions will end in a successful kill. A single-minded focus upon clearly defined antelope is what also characterises most successful businesspeople. Have you identified your antelope? Do you hunt them every day at the expense of less-satisfying chipmunks? Look out across your plains and spot your own antelope. 1. Think about your life or your business and write down what you'd like to achieve. Would you like to drive your company sales up to $10 million? Write a book? Hike through the Himalayas? On a single piece of paper, write down everything you'd ever like to achieve. 2. Identify the one item on your list you most want to achieve. This is your first antelope – shimmering in the heat of day, miles out on the plain of your life. 3. Focus on this first antelope. Build a clear picture of it in your mind. How will you feel when you catch it? How will it change your life? What will your loved ones say? Get a clear mental picture of exactly how the end of a successful hunt will feel. See it in full color, full detail. As you sight your first antelope and begin, the process of throwing your whole self into an all-or-nothing hunt, you are going to need the energy to keep you in the hunt, even when things become difficult. That energy is passion. Fuel your passion: review the mental picture you've built, and capture on paper all of the benefits you'll enjoy once you've run this beauty to ground. Describe every benefit in detail. The more benefits you record, the greater the passion you'll bring to the hunt. 4. If it were easy to catch an antelope, we'd all dine on venison daily! At least we'd enjoy the benefits of achieving major goals daily. Life simply isn't that easy, is it? Obstacles always seem to get in the way. So now write down every obstacle that comes to mind. What's going to stop you from bringing down your antelope? Work out precisely how you will deal with each obstacle. Form a clear strategy to deal with every pitfall you can predict. Doing so will enhance your confidence and vision. 5. Set clear deadlines in writing. Think about the various stages of a successful hunt. What must you do first? How much time will you need? What has to happen next and when will the next stage be complete? Work your way through all of the stages of a successful hunt. Your target deadline is the date at which the last stage of your hunt is complete. 6. Now do it again. Go back to your list and find more antelope, and work them down to the deadline stage. Don't separate out a whole herd. Simply find one or two prime candidates. Later, as you complete one hunt, you can replace it with a new one. 7. Finally, on an index card (or using the software program of your choice), note all of your antelope as succinctly as you can, including your deadlines. Once they're written, see if you can refine them – make them even sharper and more compelling. Keep this information in sight at all times. Read it first thing in the morning and last thing at night. As you start each day, ensure that you have scheduled some actions to take you closer to your antelope. No day should go by without moving you closer to one or all of them. Don't allow yourself to get distracted by those easier-to-catch chipmunks. Always keep your focus on those more satisfying targets way out on the plains. *From the book 40 STRATEGIES FOR WINNING IN BUSINESS by Bud Haney and Jim Sirbasku. © S&H Publishing Co.
PRODUCT FOCUS
Is Your Team Lacking a Coach? Let's say your organisation provides assessments that tell employees where they are and where they need to go. That's good; you have given them valuable, clear training. Now you wait for it to take hold. And wait. And wait some more. You could be waiting a long time to see the changes you’d like unless you follow the training with coaching. An article in Workforce Magazine indicates that training alone ups productivity by about 22 percent. But training plus coaching increases the productivity line by a whopping 88 percent! The secret ingredient is a coach who daily makes employees accountable and thus increases their effectiveness. When you have decided you've waited long enough, it's time to explore Profiles SkillBuilder™, an enhancement that provides the day-to-day, collaborative style of coaching that each employee needs to upgrade his job performance. SkillBuilder™ is part of the Checkpoint 360° Feedback System™. Although similar systems simply report a participant’s strengths and weaknesses and provide suggestions for improvement, SkillBuilder™ was created on the knowledge that the best professional development happens when people are actually performing their jobs. The SkillBuilder™ process begins with the training/developing need, or the issue that is keeping an employee from performing at his best. From identifying the need, the next step is gaining the employee's personal commitment to reach his development goal. Then we assign a coach/mentor; use the tips and interactive job activities for building skills; look for the "aha" factor – when the coachee shows awareness of what he needs to do and acts accordingly; and, finally, we apply the accountability action plan. At Profiles, we call this the KSS process: - Keep doing the thing you do well;
- Stop doing the things that interfere with development;
- Start doing things that improve performance.
If you are ready to stop walking in place and begin the coaching process that makes your workforce productive, contact us now. |
