Performance for Growth

This is the place to post your questions or problems or any topic really that you would like us to consider for inclusion in our regular “e-See Answers” bulletin.   Every couple of weeks we will review any postings and choose those for answer.

I often get this question because once line managers get a grasp of what coaching is really about they see the benefits but also begin to see what they think are potential conflicts with their role as a line manager.
So what is coaching really about and why should line managers consider becoming better coaches. 
Put simply it is about helping people find their own solutions to problems or ideas for a way forward. The end result of this approach is that people gain increased awareness and self responsibility. The outcomes of these are higher performance, improved resilience against adversity, more determination to succeed. The longer term outcome is real development and life long learning. All of which most managers would agree are what they would desire from their staff.
The idea that seems to take most line managers by surprise is that when coaching, the coach does not give any solutions or guidance, even if they are an expert in the subject. Things you might hear are “How can this be right, I got where I am by being the expert and having all the right answers”?
Well that is probably true and in many situations you will still need to rely on that knowledge, but when coaching line managers must suppress that desire to help by giving the answer and become really great listeners and experts in asking powerful open questions. When managers can change their mindset and master the skills amazing changes can happen.
I have seen many managers go into practice sessions with very sceptical views and come out with significant shifts in mindset. The two most common experiences are, wow, when I was being coached it felt very productive, I have got some excellent new ideas of how to solve this problem, but my coach did not offer any suggestions, yet it felt very supportive.
When I tried to coach without giving suggestions it felt unnatural, I can see that this will take a bit of practice to get right, but I now know it is worth trying.
Apart from learning the approach and skills, the real key for managers is to create the right relationships with their people so that coaching is not only accepted but sort after. When trust and respect are present in the relationship the manager will still be able to discipline and give direction when required but also coach and develop when required, hence creating a very powerful high performance culture.

Find out more about Coaching Skills for Line Managers from Performance for Growth.

If this is not a question you have asked
yourself
then you may not be getting the best from your people.
Most leaders and managers want their people to perform at their best and achieve good results, but often get frustrated when the results don’t materialise. It’s easy to slip into the mindset that it’s their fault, there must be something wrong with them or maybe they are just not up to the job, “I’m sure I was clear about what was required”.
Well, it is possible that they lack the basic potential but are you sure that your leadership and management style is getting the best out of them, have you ever considered their performance might also be related to your performance as their leader!
If you want to engage and develop your people faster towards becoming high performing, self reliant achievers then read on. Situational Leadership® II provides leaders and managers with the skills, approach and tools to enable their direct reports to achieve their full potential in the shortest possible time. Situational leaders recognise that people are never at only one level of development but at multiple levels, each related to the task they carry out.
Situational leaders learn how to diagnose these levels accurately and how to match and flex their style to the most effective for the situation.
This is a blend of supportive behaviours and directive behaviours, when these are arrived at in partnership with the direct report the whole relationship increases to a higher level.
This may sound pretty basic, and I guess it is at concept level, most managers are able to very quickly take the concept on board and see the potential benefits, the real skill lies in diagnosing the development level, identifying what the blend of leader behaviours look like and then being able to demonstrate them when required.
Without some formal training, most managers end up thinking they are being situational leaders whereas in reality they are likely to be only paying it lip service and are not reaping the huge potential benefits to them, their staff and their business.

The Situational Leadership® II programmes supplied by Performance for Growth enable delegates to immerse themselves in the concept and spend quality time getting to grips with demonstrating the behaviours in a safe environment before they have to “do it for real”

Find out more about Situational Leadership® II from Performance for Growth.

I read a great little article the other day about the importance of a smile from the guys at manager tools, and it got me thinking about the link to leadership,  

How often have you walked along a corridor as someone is coming in the other direction, they seem to see you but make no indication of such. I can think of a specific example at a company I used to work for. I was making my way across the office and a senior manager was coming in the other direction, as we approached each other he looked right at me, made eye contact, and, nothing, no recognition that he had even seen anyone, not even the twitch of a face muscle, even though I had raised a small polite acknowledging smile.

I can remember the impact that had on me and my immediate thoughts. “How rude, what an ignorant *!?$!” 

Now, I don’t think he was ignorant, maybe he was lost in some heavy thought about the state of the business or the security of his job or maybe he was engaging a bit hierarchical power play, but one thing is for sure. A smile costs nothing, but can have a significant impact. 

It’s not a power play, it is not a sign of weakness to acknowledge others, even if you don’t know them, and in fact I believe it’s natural for humans to want to positively acknowledge each other. It’s definitely polite and a professional non-verbal greeting, but I believe it is also essential for anyone in a leadership role. 

You see as leaders we want, (need), to have a positive impact on people. When we have to call on them to make tough decisions or push through hard times, or go the extra mile, we want them to do it.

But the biggest factor in deciding how much and well they respond is not driven by how good a rallying speech we give but how they relate to us as a person, as a human being. This will have been influenced by every interaction we have ever had with them, however small! 

Charles Handy wrote “The Leader does not just get the message across, the Leader IS the message”, Stephen Covey talks about the “Emotional Bank Account” that exists between two people, where we make deposits and withdrawals and Daniel Goleman talks about “Emotional Resonance” when emotionally intelligent leaders tune-in at an emotional level in order to communicate effectively with their followers. 

Whichever way you look at it, failing to connect with a simple smile might make the difference between success and failure when, as a leader you need to step up and ask others to follow you into the challenges ahead.

See Leadership Development programmes at Performance for Growth

The publication of the MacLeod report, “Engaging for Success”, in Mar 2009, confirmed what many larger organizations have known for some time. Employees who are deemed to be highly “Engaged” out perform those who are less engaged in almost every critical area from quality of work, productivity, accident rate to attendance and advocacy. The report was commissioned by the previous government and at 100 pages long is one of the most in-depth studies made into employee engagement.  43% less absence, staff retention up by 87%, individual performance increased by 20%, business financial performance 4 times higher. These are just a small sample of the comparative benefits reported by organizations of having more engaged employees. So what can an organization do to increase the engagement of their employees and what role can HR play.There are four key areas where HR can take a major role, although it does depend somewhat upon how aware the senior management are of employee engagement.

Communicate, Educate, Inspire, Support.

Communicate:  Before any organization embarks on improving engagement they must be aware of what it is, what the benefits are and how to get it. There is a wealth of information now available and a huge amount of case studies showing real businesses getting real tangible results. HR can start this process of communication in many ways, find a sponsor on the board, make presentations to the board to raise awareness and create some desire. One of the key findings is that there needs to be real commitment from the top to make the changes required. Some have said that employee engagement represents a strategic opportunity for HR to re-establish the profession at the heart of business and organization success, rather then being seen as a cost centre or administrative centre. 

Educate:  Line managers are at the centre of what really makes the difference and they will need to be educated as to how their behaviours with direct reports have a direct correlation with levels of engagement. Once this is understood managers will need access to a wide range of tools, techniques and training to enable them to up-skill where required. HR may also have to ensure that only those with the right natural “talent” get to be in line management roles.

Inspire:  HR has a real opportunity to inspire others by developing the kind of organizational culture where engagement can thrive. Becoming champions themselves, aligning policy and building networks both internally and externally. Sharing success and creating a voice for employees.

Support:  Support is required in many ways but most importantly for those that will have to make the biggest changes. It may also mean providing support for those line managers who are unable to make the changes and recognition for those who can.

4 Line Manager Responsibilities:  Line managers have to do many things but there are three areas that really make the difference when it comes to building engaged employees.

Clarity & Stretch:  Engaging managers offer absolute clarity for what is expected from direct reports. They ensure it involves some stretch and are able to describe what great performance looks like. They know their people well and ensure where possible they match desire and skills to the work required.

Feedback & Coaching:Engaging managers are skilled at giving timely corrective feedback in a way that motivates towards change and are constantly finding ways to recognize opportunities to give praise and recognition for things done well. They are also skilled at helping direct reports find their own solutions as a way of facilitating development.

Efficient Work Design:Engaging managers know the work of their reports well and are actively involved in ensuring there is a constant challenge to make improvements and to ensure that people have the “right tools for the job” , where tools may be information systems.

Fairness & Respect:Engaging managers know their people well, regularly talk to them and have a genuine concern for their wellbeing. They treat each person as an individual and build strong relationships. This creates an environment where respect and fairness are the norm

CIPD Report shows worrying trend

The CIPD has just released it’s quarterly survey of employee attitudes and it shows a worrying trend around trust of senior management. Only about a third of employees said they trust or have confidence in their senior managers. This is clearly not a good place to be as we ease (slither) out of recession. They correlate this low trust with the fact that employees have a negative perception about consultation, this has got worse over the last four quarters. Senior leaders should take note as this could make a big difference to the speed at which the organisation recovers or how well they take advantage of a disrupted market. The pickings could be rich but if the employees have low trust they may not respond they way you need them to.
This reduction in the perceived level of consultation could be linked to leaders having to make difficult decisions over the past year, and clearly that’s what they are expected to do, and often those decisions are not the sort that could be consulted on, but somehow the leader still needs to make the employees feel involved and communicated to. Savvy leaders who recognise this and dedicate time and energy to address it will reap the benefits.
Trust is a multi faceted thing and often means different things to different people in different circumstances, so while sending out the occasional corporate memo to update people is a positive thing to do, it is unlikely to build trust.
Our Leadership Development programmes are always tailored to your needs, we help leaders find their “authentic voice” and help them connect to employees at an emotional level which is key to building trust. Click Here or call us on 044 (0)1189832017 for a no obligation discussion

BIS report uncovers compelling evidence

David MacLeod and Nita Clarke were commissioned by the Department for Business (BIS) to take an in-depth look at employee engagement and to report on its potential benefits for organisations and employees. The Secretary of State for Business, Lord Mandelson, encouraged the independent reviewers to examine whether a wider take up of engagement approaches could impact positively on UK competitiveness and performance, and meet the challenges of increased global competition.The independent reviewers’ answer is an unequivocal yes.
Since Autumn 2008 they have seen many examples of companies and organisations where performance and profitability have been transformed by employee engagement; they have met many employees who are only too keen to explain how their working lives have been transformed; and have read many studies which show a clear correlation between engagement and performance – and most importantly between improving engagement and improving performance.
The evidence is clear, engaged employees generate 43% more revenue than disengaged ones, 70% of engaged employees indicate they have a good understanding of how to meet customer needs and engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their organisation.

The same sort of correlations can be found with most key metrics including productivity, lost time accidents etc, but the $1m dollar question is how do you increase employee engagement.
The answer came through very clear, aside from the need for senior management to communicate, the single most influencing factor is the behaviour of the employee’s direct Line Manager, and what’s more, there are some very clear behaviours and attitudes that make all the difference. How are your managers doing, do they know what makes the difference?, do they have the skills?, do they care? 
If you are interested in having your employees give 57% more discretionary effort or generate 43% more revenue or become 20% more productive then get in contact, our leadership and management programmes are fully aligned with driving engagement and if you want a specific programme to focus just on engagement we also do that. Click Here or call 044 (0)1189832017 for a no obligation discussion.

Case Study

Coaching is sometimes perceived to be a soft option or even a perk, nothing could be further from the truth but coaches often face the challenges that these perceptions present. The following case gives some insight, all the references have been changed for reasons of confidentiality.
Stephen was a VP in his organisation and was being lined up for a larger role but had been given feedback about some areas he still needed to work on. His CEO had engaged a coach personally before with great success and was confident Stephen could benefit in the same way so had arranged for Stephen to be coached.
Stephen was not convinced but agreed to attend to keep the CEO happy. Stephen had heard about coaching and considered it to be a soft option, a bit of a cosy chat and felt his time would be better spent with an expert who could help him quickly overcome the feedback by telling him what he needed to do differently, after all he was a fast learner and wanted to sort this quickly so that he could progress into the role.
The first meeting was the key to how  this coaching relationship would continue, (or not, as all good coaches will help the coachee find another coach if they think the chemistry is not right).
Stephen’s approach was to put up barriers and try to get the coach to tell him what he needed to do. The coach resisted the temptation to buckle under Stephen’s assertive behaviour but steadily built the relationship to the point where he was able to provide a significant challenge to Stephen through questions. This could have destroyed the relationship there and then, but the rapport was strong enough for the challenge to land effectively and after a long a difficult silence, (which the coach purposely allowed Stephen to fill with his own thoughts), Stephen opened up and revealed the real reason why he was struggling, (in the areas where he had received feedback).
There were some deep rooted confidence issues that Stephen had never shared with anyone. He couldn’t share them at work because he knew this would be seen as an even bigger weakness, and, for someone in his position to admit would be career suicide, yet here he was talking about them for the first time.
After the first session Stephen could not wait for the next and felt very motivated to work on the things his coach had helped him identify.
The final result after five sessions was that Stephen successfully addressed the feedback areas and went on to get the larger role.
He is now an advocate of coaching and says that he has never been challenged so much, but in a way that felt supportive at the same time. He no longer sees coaching as a “soft option”

If you would like more information about our flexible coaching programmes Click Here or call 044 (0)1189832017 for a no obligation chat.

Government Grants are available through the LSC

The government has made funds available for grants up to £1000 for Leadership and Management training through the Learning Skills Council (LSC).

Each organisation can apply for a total up to £1000 of grant support

  * The first £500 must be used for the senior person.

  * The second £500 needs to be matched by you.

  * You must apply to see if you qualify first.

  * Organisation pays for all training first, then receives grant after.

Qualifying Criteria

  * Must employ between 5 and 249 people

  * Be from an EU country

  * Not have received Leadership and Management funding previously.

If you think you might qualify and would like to discuss more, give us a call on 044 (0)1189832017 and we can help you.

visit our website Performance for Growth

Don’t miss out on these valuable discounts

As a special incentive for the new year we are offering some generous discounts of up to 20% on our core programmes.The Early Bird scheme applies to any new programmes that are effectively booked with us before the end of Feb 2010. The qualifying programme can be delivered any time during 2010.

So for example: If you contact us during Feb and are interested in running some Leadership training later in the year and you receive a costed proposal from us, we will show the discount in the proposal. When the programme is delivered the discount will be applied to the final invoice even if the programme has been modified since the proposal. (The discount will not apply to any work that we are already in discussion with you about)

Click Here to contact us or call us on 044 (0)1189832017 for a no obligation discussion