Coaching individuals for performance improvement
The highest motivation level for an employee is when they are optimally aroused. To restore an employee’s motivation, the manager or a professional coach needs to engage with the employee to identify the stressors for that individual and what triggers them in the first place. Such self-awareness is important so that the employee, as a result of the coaching, is able to behave differently next time in relation to the stressor.
It is just as important to identify the positive triggers that motivate people as they continue to perform well. These are the powerful forces that keep individuals striving to do more and be more. Identifying these triggers and being able to manage them maturely makes all the difference to how an employee operates in the workgroup and the degree to which they attain and maintain peak performance.
Goal setting
Goal setting is a powerful way to motivate employees by focusing on goal achievement. People in general and employees in particular, like to know the end-point – what they need to achieve. When they know the end-point, they can manage their time and resources to achieve the desired outcomes. When they can determine a goal for themselves, employees will take extra care and attention to reach that goal. The goal may be anything from completing a specific task, to making a presentation to the next manager’s meeting, or enrolling in a business course. The coach works with the employee to identify not just the goal, but the best means of intrinsically motivating them as well, so that the goal is achieved in a timely manner. Remember that the goal should be SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. Then the coach works with the employee to put in place a plan of action to accomplish it.
Setting goals is a process that allows people to specify and then work towards, their own objectives whether these be personal, career or work-related. Goals provide a sense of direction and purpose, and a focus to work toward. Goal-setting involves identifying where the client is now and where they want to be in the future as a defined end-point that can be measured and the changes recorded.
There are four key components to achieving goals:
Choice: Allow the client as much choice as possible in relation to actions that are relevant to achieving the goal.
Effort: Goals stimulate effort. Hence, if an employee typically produces 4 widgets an hour and has the goal of producing 6, they will work more intensely to reach the goal.
Persistence: Determination counts more than intelligence when there is a desired goal to be achieved.
Mental processing: Goals promote the use of different cognitive strategies which lead to changes in the client’s behaviour.
To ensure success, seemingly huge goals should be ‘chunked-down’ into smaller, bite-size, achievable pieces which the client can work on within a specific timeframe. Nominating a timeline injects urgency into resolving the situation. So ‘chunking down’ and having a timeline are important aspects of the goal-setting activity.
There are 7 steps to goal setting:
1. Specify the nature of the task/s to be accomplished – What is the goal?
2. Specify how performance is to be measured – How will you know when you get there? Some baseline data may be required.
3. Specify the standard or target to be achieved – How much of an improvement do you need? Specify exactly the targeted end point.
4. Specify the time span involved – How long have you got to complete the task?
5. If there are multiple goals, rate each goal in terms of its importance and urgency. Then post them on an Urgent / Important matrix.
6. A good idea is to allocate timelines to the ‘chunks’ of activity. Consider doing the ‘low hanging fruit’ actions first i.e. achieving the little goals that can easily be ‘ticked off’ as accomplished.
7. Determine the coordination requirements. Who do you need to consult with / inform / involve in this process. From where do you get the necessary resources?
Action Planning
An action plan identifies the personal and business goals to be achieved, the strategies that can be implemented to reach these goals, and the specific actions that need to be taken. It includes the timeframe, roles and responsibilities, performance indicators and alternative methods that can be implemented to reach the objectives.
Action planning is a simple way to collect all of the information necessary to make the best decision about work and life issues. The steps in action planning include:
- Step 1: Identifying the goals.
- Step 2: Choosing appropriate actions to achieve the goals.
- Step 3: Assigning timelines and priorities.
- Step 4: Making it happen, whilst remaining positive and optimistic.
This modified excerpt is taken from the book “Positive Psychology Coaching” by Dr Susanne Knowles which is available from www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com. Book Reviews and a Book Trainer are available on www.susanne.knowles.com.
