June 10, 2009

Letter from the Editor

Welcome to the second issue of Coaching for Talent Development and Employee Engagement, a newsletter devoted to – well – developing and engaging employees.

Like our inaugural issue, we’re sending this second issue to all current subscribers of The Key, Entelechy’s flagship newsletter that focuses on employee performance. If you subscribe to The Key and wish to continue receiving Coaching for Talent Development and Employee Engagement, you must subscribe to this newsletter by providing your name and email address at http://www.coachyouremployees.com/resources/newsletter.htm. 

Let’s talk about the economy for a second. It’s tough, maybe tougher than any other time in our personal work history (I’m not old enough to have participated in the Great Depression). However, we DO know that this will turn around. And while most of us are focused on surviving today, a few rare leaders are also looking towards the future – the aftermath of this economic storm.

The beauty of Entelechy’s coaching is that it’s a process that builds skills AND builds independence – setting employees up not just for increased performance (read: survivability in today’s climate) but also for long-term success by developing self-efficacy/belief in one’s own capabilities.

We all have moments in our lives that we can point to that have become defining events for who we are. My “moment” came when I did my student teaching in Bilbao, Spain. While going to Europe today isn’t a big deal, in 1979, a country boy from Minnesota considering living in Spain (not knowing Spanish) WAS a big deal! Every weekend I’d travel – usually by hitchhiking – throughout the Basque region meeting locals and – here’s the moment – getting to know myself and my capabilities. If I could survive in a country where I didn’t know the language well, I could do ANYTHING!

Entelechy’s coaching is a lot like that. Because coaching stretches people to hone meaningful skills, they are not only better equipped to survive in today’s challenging environment, but they develop an inner strength knowing that they can do more than they ever thought possible.

In this issue of Coaching for TD&EE we look at performance management, how many companies get it wrong, and what you can do to get it right. I hope you enjoy this issue; if you do, please subscribe and invite your colleagues and friends.

Terry

First, a Rant about the Annual Performance Appraisal

I’ve been managing employees for over 20 years now. I hire, fire, promote, and develop. And, like every other manager I know, I’ve ALWAYS hated the yearly performance appraisal. Why? Because:

• It’s time consuming for the manager.
  
  

• It’s an unrealistic summary of a person’s contributions.
  
  

• It’s a revelation of how little a manager knows about his/her employee (that’s from the employee’s perspective) and a revelation of how self-inflated the employee perceives his/her contributions (that’s from the manager’s perspective). 
  
  

• It’s usually accompanied by artificial parameters dictated by the company (i.e., so many “A players,” so many “B players,” etc.)
  
  

• It has very little to do with the employee’s job performance – especially FUTURE job performance.
  

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• Developmental goals established in the appraisal meeting usually have nothing to do with actual on-the-job behavior.
  
  

• Relationships between manager and employee become strained. 
  Managers (and employees) tend to form opinions and then use performance examples to justify their opinions.

A person close to me mentioned with not a little frustration that her company was instituting an annual performance appraisal process, moving away from informal reviews. She told me of the developmental goals she was asked to create. Because in her first attempt at goal-writing the goals were too broad (“not measurable”), she had to rewrite them to be more specific. Then she had to rewrite them again to be even more specific. While the requested specificity is noble, this employee ended up with goals that she admitted, “have little to do with what I really want to do; and I can do them, but they won’t help me on the job.” Compounding the problem, because she works on project teams with a multitude of “bosses,” the person giving her the review and discussing developmental goals didn’t even work with her!

We used to do annual performance appraisals at Entelechy and I tried to make them as useful as possible; I’d survey customers and other employees to provide insights and perspectives that would truly be of use to the employee. Yet, even with these and other enhancements, the appraisal didn’t seem like it improved performance or morale. Three years ago we stopped doing performance appraisals and focused more of our attention on day-to-day coaching.

And we’ve never looked back.

Without a yearly performance appraisal, it’s now impossible for me to store up ammunition – I mean feedback – for the annual review. Without a yearly performance appraisal, I’m forced to provide feedback – both positive and developmental – when it’s most meaningful: at the time of the performance. 

Without an annual review, I’m forced to give feedback that’s performance-related. If the employee’s initiative resulted in a project success, or the employee’s lack of availability is causing work slow-down, I’m forced to be specific about my feedback, which centered on real work.

Without an annual review, developmental goals are more realistic. “Based on what we learned in the last project, perhaps on the next project you should focus on ….” “Based on the last meeting you ran, perhaps you may want to continue … but try ….”

Without an annual review, you’re forced to coach more.

Let’s do everyone a favor and kill the annual review as a developmental tool. It isn’t.

Self-Assessment in Coaching: A Theoretical View

I attended a webinar recently that discussed sales coaching. The 60-minute webinar spent 55 minutes discussing rather banal elements of coaching – its importance, frequency of coaching, types or coaching, etc. Very little time was spent on the nuts and bolts of coaching – leaving this attendee with a vague feeling of emptiness.

So that I don’t leave YOU with a vague feeling of emptiness, let me jump to the heart of Entelechy’s coaching model – what makes our model so effective for both the employee/coachee and the manager/coach. Self-assessment is the key.

Many years ago as I was pursuing a doctorate in Human Resource Education at Boston University, I had the opportunity to work with Chris Argyris and his double-loop learning model. In short, single-loop learning is like a thermostat – when the temperature is too hot or too cold, the thermostat signals the furnace or air conditioner to kick in and “correct the problem." In human terms, single-loop learning is adjusting our behavior due to feedback. Someone gives you feedback saying, “You interrupt too much” and you stop interrupting. 

Double-loop learning happens when you make systemic changes to prevent the problem from happening again; you identify and address the governing variables that caused the action in the first place. For our thermostat example, we may discover that drafty windows are causing the thermostat to turn on the furnace too frequently; we replace the windows (the governing variable). In the interruption example, I may examine WHY I interrupt – perhaps it’s because I’m uncomfortable with silence or because I don’t appreciate others’ ideas.

Self-assessment causes coachees to not only examine the consequences of their actions, but also WHY they may have done those actions in the first place – that’s double-loop learning and exactly what we want employees to do!

To put it in practical terms, when the coachee looks to the coach for feedback and guidance (and approval and insight and perspective and ….), the coachee becomes dependent on the coach. Not only does this dependence stunt the coachee’s growth, it requires more time from the coach.

Self–assessment often requires double-loop learning. In the examples below, notice how single-loop learning is focused on the action whereas double-loop learning requires examination of the underlying causes of the action.

Example #1

Example #2



Now for many of you, this idea of double-loop learning through self-assessment isn’t a new thing. However, it doesn’t exist in most coaching models today. In most coaching models, emphasis is placed on how to give feedback and not on how to foster self-assessment. As a result, the action of coaching becomes time-consuming and the relationship between coach and coachee becomes strained.

In upcoming issues we’ll discuss HOW to help the coachee self-assess.

Coaching for TD&EE: Three Solution Packages

Entelechy’s new coaching website (www.coachyouremployees.com) features our Coaching Solution Packages, three versions of Entelechy’s comprehensive coaching program designed to meet your specific organization’s needs:

Gold Solution (Cultural Change) — designed for the company looking to realize the benefits of implementing a coaching culture throughout the organization.

Silver Solution (Competency Development) — designed for the company looking to develop coaching as a management competency throughout the organization.

Bronze Solution (Skill Enhancement) — designed for the company looking to initiate coaching into the managerial skillset.

We created three versions of the Coaching for Talent Development and Employee Engagement solution because our clients asked for them. Some clients simply want to enhance the skills of their managers and supervisors (the Bronze Solution) whereas other clients wish to make coaching a key cultural element (Gold Solution). Still other clients wanted something in the middle.

You can review case studies of other organizations that have initiated coaching programs to learn of their challenges and how they used coaching – and Entelechy – to address them. 

We’ll continue adding features and tools that will help you, the manager and supervisor (and those who support them), develop and engage your employees.

Now is the time to equip your front-line managers with the tools they need to succeed – and help your organization survive today’s economic challenges. Contact Entelechy at 603-424-1237 or info@unlockit.com for more information on Coaching for Talent Development and Employee Engagement and give your managers the tools they need to pull your organization through today’s tumultuous times.