When to Coach and Mentor Your Employees

"Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction."  ~  John Crosby

"The ultimate leader is not afraid to develop people to the point they surpass him or her in knowledge and ability.”  ~  Fred A. Manske, Jr.

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.”  ~  Albert Schweitzer

“One day with a great teacher is better than a thousand days of diligent study"  ~  Japanese Proverb

I have read a lot about why Managers should coach employees. A lot has also been written on how to coach employees. You can find many articles on the Pygmalion Effect, which explain how employee coaching works. But I have only seen very few articles, however, that help you to know when to coach employees.

That's what I will attempt to do here.

By and large in our careers, I would suspect, any successes we have enjoyed have had, at their base, the founding action that someone once in our past believed in us.  And if  any of us have done things we didn't think at the time that we could do, it was because someone else thought we could. 

We who have experienced this have seen first hand the following truth in action: A good leader will make the members of his team see what they can become, rather than what they presently are.

Before Coaching Employees

At the heart of employee coaching lies this fact: Most of the time, a manager should not coach their employees.

To understand that counter-intuitive statement, it helps to know what employee coaching is and what employee coaching is not.

Giving employees the knowledge and skills they need to perform their job tasks is not employee coaching; that is employee training.

On the other hand, employee coaching is an on-going process of helping employee identify and overcome the hurdles that prevent them from excelling at their jobs.

Note that employee coaching involves helping employees identify solutions to their performance barriers: You are not coaching your employees when you tell them what to do.

When Not To Coach Employees

Before you can effectively coach employees you must know that they are properly trained and that they know what is expected of them. The following instances are NOT the time to coach employees:

Their training is not complete

When an employee has not been completely trained, it is a waste of your time (and theirs) to try and coach them in those aspects of their job.  If they have been properly trained for their job, you can coach them in that part, but not in the areas where they have not yet been trained.  Make sure the training is done first; then do the coaching.

They don't know the expectations

It serves no purpose to coach employees who don't know what is expected of them and how their results are measured.  Remember that employee coaching is supposed to be designed to help them overcome performance barriers.  Too often, I have seen talented employees moved off of positions where, if led properly, would have excelled to the benefit of both themselves and their superiors, if only they knew where they were expected to be.  If you don't point them in the right direction, they won't know how to get there.  Set clear objectives for your employees; then do the coaching. 

Don't rush it

Coaching and development take time.  When you're in a hurry, you will not do a good job.  You will not take the time to help your employees identify solutions; rather, you will be more likely to just tell them what to do.  Like everything worth doing, you have to make the time to do it right.  Then do the employee coaching. 

Stay calm

When you're upset, you won't exhibit the enthusiasm and friendliness you need to be effective as an employee coach.  You may not be fair or equitable.  You may even give subtle signals to the employee that could undermine the coaching you have been doing up to this point.  Get your emotions in check, and not for insincerity's sake.  Then do the employee coaching.

When To Coach Employees

We need to let people to make their own mistakes so they can learn from them. We can train them and advise them, which will help some of the time, (which then, by definition, means that there will times that their training and your advise will be of no help), but actual experience is often the best teacher.

A good manager, therefore, will hang back and resist the impulse to jump in every time an employee encounters difficulty. A good manager will always monitor what their employees are doing, but will not intervene to coach their employees except in the following circumstances.

Their behavior is dangerous
When an employee is doing something that could cause harm to themselves or to others, you have to step in.  This is one instance where you can't let someone learn from their mistakes.  You need to provide immediate coaching.  Rather than tell them the solution, however, you can still suggest a couple of alternatives and let the employee figure out which is best.  Make sure they understand why the behaviour they were planning was dangerous though;

Their actions are illegal or unethical
You can't allow employees to do things that are illegal and you shouldn't allow them to do anything unethical.  Whether the behaviour is illegal or unethical because of intent, design, or ignorance, you can't allow it.  As with dangerous behaviour, provide alternatives, let them decide, and explain why the planned behaviour was a poor choice.

They are hurting the team
You need your employees to work together as a team.  If one member of the team is doing something that will cause the others to exclude him/her from the team, you have to step in.  If an employee always takes credit for the work of their team, you need to coach them.  If an employee in a close area (re: cubicles) always yells into the phone and disturbs those around him, you have to step in and help him/her find a different behaviour.

They are repeating their failures
When employees have repeatedly tried to solve a problem, and their solution isn't going to work, you need to step in.  Often we try something and it fails or succeeds.  If it fails, we try it again to make sure we did it the way we meant to.  If it still fails, most people move on to something different.  If the employee keeps trying, however, they aren't learning.  Start coaching them.

The financial costs are too great
Almost any mistake is going to cost the company money, either directly or in lost profits.  You can't step in every time an employee might make a mistake just to save money.  Consider it an investment in the employee's learning and development.  However, if their planned actions would have a significant negative effect on the company financially, you have to step in.  You have a responsibility to the company to protect its fiscal assets that is as great as the responsibility to develop its human assets. Provide the employee with alternative behaviours; let them figure out the appropriate choices, and explain why you had to step in.

Managing this issue

Knowing when to let an employee make a mistake they can learn from and when you need to step in and coach them is the balancing act. You have to balance their opportunity to learn and grow against the harm they could do to themselves, their team, and the company. The more confident you are in your own abilities, the more you will be able to let your employees make their own choices. Remember, you role in coaching employees is to help them find the right behavior, not just tell them what to do.

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 If you have any suggestions or topics you'd like to see covered, or if you'd like help with an issue you're currently experiencing, please drop me a line at gbossinakis@live.com
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Rising To Incompetence, Part III: Flattenning The Corporate Hierachy

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"The only risk in failure is a promotion"

~Scott Adams

"Be careful in dealing with a man who cares nothing for comfort or promotion, but is simply determined to do what he believes to be right.  He is a dangerous, uncompromising enemy of the sycophantic corporation, because his body, which you have bought, gives you little purchase upon his soul".

~ Gilbert Murray

"Plenty of men can do good work for a spurt when immediate promotion is in mind, but promotions should go to the man in whom good work has become a habit."

~Henry Doherty

In part I we discussed the repercussions of promoting an employee beyond his skill level and a few possible solutions to rectifying it.  In part II, we showed a few ways on how to do it.

In this final part, I will try and address ways in which the structure of the company may be contributing to the relentless upward pressure to advance, and ways to change that corporate culture from one of trying to advance to one where the satisfaction of a job well done is just as rewarding as the corner office.

Employees, as has been pointed out by now,  are often promoted to their level of incompetence. Often, those employees who are conscientious enough to realize that they have bitten off more than they can chew would like to step back to a position where they were successful but can't. Their ego may get in the way, the position may have already been given to someone else, or the company may not know how to handle such a request.

Smart companies recognize the damage done to their organization by leaving people in a position at which they are incompetent. They use Performance Management to move them sideways, if possible, or back down. If Performance Management doesn't work for you, or if you want out-of-the-box thinking, consider self-directed teams as an alternative. 

Self-directed teams

Self-directed, or self-managed, teams are not new. Their utility in business situations is well documented.

One aspect of the value of such teams that is often overlooked, however, is their ability to effectively manage the competency levels of the team members.

Self-directed teams are frequently created within traditional business organizations either to address cross-functional issues or to promote employee empowerment. They also are found in non-profit companies and in non-business organizations, such as social clubs. One of the more recent appearances of self-directed teams is in "virtual" corporations.

"Virtual" corporations

"Virtual" corporations are formed when several individuals, or small companies, band together to pursue a business opportunity. Usually it is an opportunity for which that the individual or small company could not successfully compete on their own. This can be due to lack of specialized expertise or simply lack of size. By teaming with others, they can overcome their handicap.

These virtual corporations are a prime example of how self-directed teams manage incompetence. The teamings are usually short-term, like the business opportunities they pursue, but are often repeated frequently.

A group of 10 individuals may have a long term understanding, which allows them all to work together smoothly. On any given team, a smaller number of group members may participate based on the opportunity.

Which members participate changes frequently, depending on the needs of the group.

In cases like this, an individual or small company simply will not be included in those opportunities for which they are not qualified. The group self-selects the best members for the opportunity. Incompetents just are not selected.

If the team continues to select an incompetent, perhaps because he is the only one in the group with a specific area of knowledge, the group will not be able to compete as effectively. In time, they will either cease to exist or they will replace the incompetent with another individual with the level of expertise needed. Self-directed teams can function in this same manner within a company.

Flexibility required

There are many requirements for a self-directed team to be successful. In terms of managing the competence levels of their members, however, the key requirement is flexibility.

The team has to be given authority to add or remove team members. This does not have to be total authority. The company can, and should, place guidelines around the process. However, the team must be given sufficient latitude to adjust the composition of the team that they can achieve their objective.

If they have this latitude, and if they are committed to achieving their objective, they will either exclude incompetent members or they will move them to a position where they can contribute.

Flatten the pyramid

Self-directed teams are one way to flatten the pyramid. Others should be explored. The more we can remove the hierarchy from the organization structure, the less pressure there is on an individual to continue to seek promotion to "higher" levels, even to levels for which they doubt they are qualified.

We should also provide an opportunity for individuals to move laterally in their search for challenging, fulfilling work rather than always having to move "up". Finally, there is less resistance on the part of the individual to moving back down, and there are a greater number of options for the company that needs to move someone to a different position.

Manage This Issue

The flatter the pyramid, the greater the flexibility you have to manage. Don't create organizational levels that are not required. Take full advantage of self-directed and matrix teams in your efforts to flatten the pyramid. Not only will you get a more responsive organization, you will be able to limit the number of individuals who rise to their level of incompetence, only to get stuck there.

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 If you have any suggestions or topics you'd like to see covered, or if you'd like help with an issue you're currently experiencing, please drop me a line at gbossinakis@live.com

Rising To Incompetence, Part II: The Performance Management Alternative

"Incompetence - When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there's no end to what you can't do"

~ Larry Kersten

"The real work is accomplished by employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence"

~ Laurence Peters

"Let's face it, in today's corporate environment, it's the bureaucratic nuts running the corporate nuthouse; if you show ineptitude and incompetence, your odds of landing a job or promotion improve exponentially"

~ Quentin Braun

In the previous article, we looked at the damage done to businesses that promote people to their level of incompetence and leave them there. I suggested demotions as the best approach to solve this problem, for both the employee and the company, and renamed them "Inverse Promotions".  However, we must also recognize that many people have an ego problem with demotions and it is not an idea that will catch on any time soon.

Something Must Be Done

The fact remains, however, that something has to be done. The cost to the business is too high. Leaving an incompetent manager in place costs the company in errors, lost productivity, high turnover, and low morale.

There also is harm done to the self-confidence and self-esteem of the individual who has reached their level of incompetence and doesn't know how to go back.

If employees can't request a return to their former position, or if they won't accept an inverse promotion, the company still must take action. The company has to protect itself, its other employees and even the career of the individual who has been over-promoted. The question is, how can this be done in a manner that effective and efficient for the company and that protects the ego of an otherwise valuable employee who got in over their head?


Performance Management

Performance management is one way to limit the damage and expense of an individual promoted beyond their level of competence. There should be a clear goal of determining whether or not a plan can be developed to adequately coach an individual to an acceptable performance level in a fairly short period of time.

The plan should be developed, written down, and agreed to by the individual and his or her supervisor who should both sign it.  The plan needs specific, measurable milestones and specific time frames.  Make sure the goals you set in the plan are S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely (or Time sensitive.)

Annual Performance Reviews are a waste of time in this instance. They are too formal and too infrequent. While the ultimate assessment of whether or not the individual met the plan laid out above must be formal, the steps to get there should not be.

Remember, this plan isn't for the few who were smart enough to decline an inappropriate promotion. This is for those who should have declined the promotion and didn't, either because they didn't realize it was beyond their capabilities or because they wanted the position for another reason, the prestige, for example. For that reason, the goals and metrics in the plan have to be unequivocal.

Manage This Issue

You can't leave an incompetent manager in place. It costs too much in money, morale, productivity, and innovation. If the employee won't request a return to a level at which they were competent, the company must take action.

-     Assess how quickly, if at all, the individual can be coached to an appropriate performance level.
-     Set unambiguous milestones and time frames and have everyone agree to them in writing.
-     If the goals are met, you have successfully managed the development of an employee and made them and yourself more valuable to the company.
-     If the goals are not met, everyone will agree that a step backward is in every one's best interest and the employee is more likely to be able to accept the "demotion"

Next in Part III, we'll look at what changes that company can instigate in order to try and avoid repeating these mistakes.



If you have any suggestions or topics you'd like to see covered, or if you'd like help with an issue you're currently experiencing, please drop me a line at gbossinakis@live.com. 
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