By Cliff Hebard
The semantics of training and development do a great job ofmuddling the topic of human effectiveness on the job.
What, precisely, are the differences and similarities amongterms like “engagement” and “performance management” and“performance appraisal,” and even “motivation”?
At the Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness, wemostly leave these questions to others. We focus instead on askill that drives any and all of the above – regardless ofterminology. In fact, it has been our number-one workshop formore than 25 years.
It’s not trendy, perhaps, to work on coaching skills. Yet we seea growing demand for leaders and managers who know how tocollaborate and succeed through other people and teams. That’swhat we teach in our flagship workshop, Eight Step Coaching.
We acknowledge the expertise and commitment of those who design,use (and pay for) some of the sophisticated performanceappraisal systems available today. We maintain, however, thatwithout strong coaching skills in a corporation’s leadershipranks, even the best of these systems is at risk.
Performance appraisal systems simply can’t get the job donealone. More than once we have watched respected organizationsinstall an advanced (and expensive) performance appraisalapparatus – without making sure their coaching skills aresufficiently strong. The results have been disappointing to allconcerned.
The heart of performance management, of exercising influence tocreate positive, creative change, is a human exchange. It is aset of people skills and experiences that allows a manager toimplement the goals of the organization – and, presumably, ofthe performance appraisal system.
In other words, management coaching is essential. With coachingskills in place, performance appraisal systems have a clear shotat success. The issue becomes execution, and skilled execution –not merely installation or investment.
Our approach to management coaching is practical. Leaving theoryto the theoreticians, we help our clients understand what reallygoes on in a coaching session, in the coach’s thoughts as wellas in those of the person being coached. In particular, we teachthem how to fully appreciate and act upon the need formotivation and commitment.
In much of the management literature, motivation and commitmentare motherhoods, briefly venerated and just as quicklydismissed. In our Eight Step approach, motivation and commitmentare numbered among the eight steps. Workshop participantsanalyze them and practice them. Finally, although the Eight StepCoaching workshop addresses too many other topics to detailhere, we also tackle the question of why so many managers andleaders fail to coach. We help them see and understand why suchobstacles appear, and give them strategies for clearing thehurdles they encounter.
The coaching partnership we help create focuses on change, andon success. It supports and extends the reach of strong leadersand of performance management systems. Most of all, our clientstell us it works.
If you would like to learn more about CMOE’s global experiencewith management coaching, please contact a Regional Manager tollfree at (888)262-2499.
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