Coaching as a Strategy in Employee Development - Essay Example

Coaching as a Strategy in Employee Development Introduction Considering the emerging trends in the field of management, “One of the key most important organisational processes is employee development”, (Mowday et al, 2013, p.13). Over the years, organisations have learnt the importance of employee development which explains why major companies have invested heavily in this field. In addition, the human resource department is turning out to become one of the most vital departments within an organisation. In previous years, however, the situation a very different from what it is today. Employee development was not considered as an integral part of the management practice but rather as a tertiary process aimed at increasing the productivity of the employees. However, this misconception is what led to the underperformance of many organisations. Employees, from a management perspective, should not be seen as instruments of assisting an organisation to increase revenue. What is Employee Development? Employee development is defined as the process or the initiative that an organisation takes in increasing the performance of an employee through the available techniques. During the recruitment process, organisations often strive to get the best talent for the specific job description. However, the emerging trends in business have made it necessary for new and existing employees to undergo frequent skills upgrade so that they said employees can be abreast with the developments and the emerging trends in management. Being aware of the changes in an organisation is what sets the organisation apart from the rest of the competing firms. Effective management processes also add to the value of the organisation by increasing productivity, enhancing business operations and maintaining growth and sustainability of an organisation. Employee development mainly involves among other activities; training, mentoring and action plans. What is coaching? In previous years, the term coaching was used to refer to a negative attribute. From a general perspective, coaching referred to the need for additional skills but the meaning was contextualized to infer inability. However, the modern society, having embraced the practice of employee development, has come to accept the concept of coaching has having immense benefits to an organisation. In this context, coaching is undertaken in order to increase the productivity of the employees through greater skills and performance. From a management perspective, coaching is seen as the practice of developing the skills and capabilities of an employee in specific job areas. “Coaching causes a paradigm shift where the management team of an organisation ceases to offer transactional style of leadership and switches over to transformational style of leadership” (Tannenbaum & Yukl,2002, p.113). The transformational style of leadership and management is aimed at equipping the employees with the necessary skills so that they can take over the management positions someday. It is under such a background that the practice of coaching has been integrated with contemporary management styles. Currently, coaching contributes significantly to the capacity and the capability of the employees to effectively carry out their duties. Such effectiveness is the major determinant of organisational success due to the fact that a productive workforce contributes positively to the organisation. Benefits of Coaching According to the recent studies in employee development, coaching has a positive impact on the internal organisational environment. Some of the benefits of coaching include; Better communication: Through coaching, employees learn new techniques of opening up the channels of communication in the workplace. Effective communication plays a crucial role in the success and collaboration of various departments of an organisation. Without effective communication, most organisations are characterised by conflict of interest and overlapping decision-making processes. Less Conflict: Coaching leads to less conflict in the workplace. This is because, additional skills given to an employee enhance the employee’s decision-making process thus the employee can easily mitigate some of the frequent organisational disputes. In addition, employees learn various dispute resolution strategies in the workplace which include arbitration, diplomacy and mediation. Greater Cooperation: Through coaching, employees learn the importance of a more cohesive internal working environment. Some of the main benefits of having a close-knit internal working environment is that most of the organisational processes become more efficient. Employees who work together to achieve the organisational goals and objectives are more motivated thus increasing their productivity. This is in contrast to a workplace characterised by internal hostilities and wrangles. In such an environment, the motivation levels are low and a greater part of the time is spent settling petty scores as opposed to driving the organisational agenda. Shared vision and commitment: Having a shared commitment and vision is beneficial in that the employees feel the binding factor that drives them to achieve better results within the organisation. A unifying factor one of the strategies that organisations use to achieve their agenda. This scenario explains why there is an overall manager in an organisation. Employees can be able to relate to such an individual as opposing to having multiple leaders in the same organisation. Stakeholders within Workplace Coaching Different individuals play different roles in the implementation of the coaching process. The said individuals include; Line manager: It is highly likely that line management influence the success or failure of any coaching strategy. Line managers in this context are tasked with the responsibilities of, Reviewing the strategy used for employee development: Line manger are expected to analyse the existing strategy used for employee development and asses the viability and the effectiveness of the strategy under the backdrop of the new changes in the management practice. Employ their coaching skills for the betterment and the development of the organisation. In this context, it must be known that that the skills and experience that line managers have are very useful to the organisation. However, the application of such skills in both theory and practice should not be limited to the context of management but, such skills should be applied to their maximum best. The objective is to achieve optimum results in relation to organisational performance. Role of a Workplace Coach Workplace coaches are always departmental and other low-level supervisors who are charged with the responsibility of supporting employee development through the channels and the methods suggested. The level of support is dependent on the strategy used by the workplace managers to impact knowledge and skills development tin the workplace by the workplace coaches. This support goes a long way in enhancing employee development as well as equipping the employees with both theoretical and practical skills within the management framework. The Role of Directorate of Learning and Development Workplace coaches and managers are part of a larger department and a group of individuals who play a significant role in employee development. The directorate of learning and development in the workplace comprises of trained individuals who are charged with the responsibility of matching the skills of the coaches with those of the coaches. The directorate often trains coaches and establish the skills of the coaches that may go hand in hand with the specific needs of a particular employee. Role of Individual (Coachee) A coachee is an individual who expresses interest and applies for coaching support. In some organisations, employees do not have to apply necessarily for the support but rather, it is mandatory that employees go through the process in order to increase their knowledge and skills in specific areas of operations. There is a well-structured guideline regarding how the process takes place and one of the most emphasized aspect of this process is confidentiality. The coaching agreement between the coach and the coachee dictates that both parties especially the coaches maintain the highest level of confidentiality. This involves non-revelation of any information regarding the process by the coach to other parties not related to the process. When is Coaching Appropriate Moe (2002, p.54) is of the view that coaching should be undertaken when there is a general feeling that it is the best strategy to carry out employee development. In most cases, an organisation has other methods of employee at its disposal. However, most of these methods may not be applicable in specific cases depending on the desired outcome. For coaching to be effective, there must be a persistent need to learn practically or gain skills in a certain area of interest. The level of attachment and the relationship between the coach and the coachee greatly influences the process. When used for genuine purposes, coaching can be very effective in employee development and how the process is carried out determines the effectiveness of coaching to impact positively on employee productivity and organisational performance. The Coaching Framework The coaching framework is set under the guidelines set by the organisation in relation to how the process will be carried out and the intended time for the processes. The major objectives of the coaching framework involve a trainer programme where the organisation seeks to have a systematic approach to coaching. Some of the key elements in the coaching framework include; The employee seeks to understand the needs of specific employees. During the recruitment process, the organisation seeks to establish the best talents that employees have. It may be assumed that having recruited the best candidates in specific job description, it is not necessary for the organisational to undertake employee development. However, employee development is very essential in that an organisation has to align its workforce and the human resource department with the emerging trends in management. The organisation then establishes the goal of the employee development program. The employee development program should be used effectively to address issues to do with poor workmanship, low motivation levels, laxity in the workplace and individual conduct. The coaching process is a bit specific as opposed to the methods of employee development. This is because, the coachee sets out to learn in both theory and practice the factors behind the success of the organisation and that of the coach. The coach in this context acts as the transit point for the coachee and organisational behaviour. The other step under the coaching framework is the establishment of action planning. Different organisations have different approaches towards action plans within an organisation. In previous years, the employee development component of human resource was not taken seriously. This is because, employees were seen as more of instruments meant to achieve organisational objectives. However, subsequent studies in management revealed that the success or failure of any organisation is entirely dependent on the effectiveness of the human resource department. The increased focus on how effective the labour aspect of an organisation is a clear indication that the employees often shape the destiny of an organisation. A highly effective and efficient workforce leads to increased performance of an organisation. As stated by Hernes & Hughes, (2004, p.134) reviewing the success of the coaching process is the last element of the coaching framework. There are several factors that influence the success or failure of coaching. One of the major factors is individual approach and attitude towards coaching. From a coachee perspective, a coachee should take the process positively. This requires developing a positive attitude and having clear knowledge that the coachee is the greatest beneficiary of the process the other hand. The coach should also have and develop a positive attitude to the process, in that the process should be seen as more of a learning experience not just for the coachee but to the coach as well. Most importantly, there are various other factors influence the success of the process. However, it is the parties involved who influence the desired outcome. Conclusion Coaching has been used in many organisations over the years to increase the skills and knowledge of the employees in certain areas. This is because, employees need to undergo sequential learning with an intention of developing the skills and knowledge amidst changing patterns in business operations. At a time when technological advances have greatly affected the activities of major organisation, employees required constant update on the use of new technology in the workplace. Additionally, the new management techniques and any other factors that affect the organisation including policy changes within the organisation should also be passed to the workers. The negative aspersion that comes along with the term ‘coaching’ means that coaching is seen as more of developing the skills and knowledge of an individual who lacks the basic skills. While this misinterpretation has greatly hindered the effectiveness of coaching in employee development, it can only be assumed that the current changes in organisational behaviour and the management practices will influence the coaching process positively. Coaches and the coaches play an important role within the organisation. A closer working relationship between the two stakeholders often influences organisational success. However, it is how well an organisation develops its employees’ development strategy that has the greatest impact on the organisation. In addition, there are various other forms of employee development at the firm’s disposal. An organisation should therefore seek to establish the best applicable strategy to develop the skills and knowledge of its employees based on the specific needs of the employees. References Hernez-Broome, G & Hughes, RL 2004, ‘Leadership development: Past, present, and future’, Human Resource Planning, vol. 27, no. 1, 24. Mowday, RT, Porter, LW & Steers, RM 2013, Employee—organization linkages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover, Academic Press, Minnesota. Noe, RA 2002, Employee training and development, MA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, Boston. Tannenbaum, SI, & Yukl, G 2002, ‘Training and development in work organizations’, Annual review of psychology, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 399-441. Read More