Developing and engaging employees is the key to productivity, motivation, and satisfaction. How engaged are the employees in your company? And how meaningful and effective are your performance conversations? Performance coaching is essential for successful employee development.
Employees want definitive career plans, goals and objectives, regular feedback, and to be part of the bigger plan. Today, companies are finding that traditional performance appraisal programs don’t necessarily meet all these needs, and once-a-year meetings aren’t enough to provide frequent and consistent communication.
Continuous improvement (CI) might be the solution to ensuring employee engagement within your organization. CI-focused performance coaching consists of three parts: an individual development plan, a performance development document, and consistent management–employee feedback sessions.
Here’s what to know about the three key parts of an effective performance coaching program and how to implement them for your team’s greatest chances of success.
An Individual Development Plan
The individual development plan (IDP) is an individualized career plan prepared by each employee in collaboration with his or her supervisor to define and identify the steps necessary for the employee’s advancement toward clearly defined career goals.
The concept of CI has become a paradigm that companies and organizations are adopting to meet the needs of the market, their clients, and improved processes and quality. As such, using the concept of CI (plan, do, check, act) when creating an IDP in performance coaching ensures the goals are discussed, created, monitored, and adjusted as necessary.
Based on our experience working with many A/E firms, employees want consistent, meaningful communication with management. In fact, many studies and reports show employees are more engaged, more productive, and more loyal when their responsibilities and their value to the company are communicated to them.
The IDP focuses on successful goal accomplishment rather than an after-the-fact evaluation of right or wrong. It’s effective because it doesn’t impose an annual-event burden on either the employee or the manager but rather involves regular 15- to 20-minute follow-up meetings to discuss performance.
A Performance Development Document
Once the supervisor and employee have developed a basic career plan, they will then develop a performance development document (PDD). The PDD is the basis for the evaluation process in performance coaching. Each employee works with the supervisor to establish a set of business-related goals for the evaluation period.
These goals should be based specifically on the employee’s career interests (established in each employee’s respective IDP) and his or her desired role in the firm in implementing the group’s strategic objectives.
Developing an IDP can be a useful way for employers to demonstrate their investment in their employees’ futures with the company while simultaneously increasing employee loyalty by showing employees how they can grow within the organization.
Management–Employee Feedback Sessions
Meetings, or feedback sessions, between management and its employees are essential in performance coaching and should be formally or informally held on a quarterly basis.
Ideally, these are real-time follow-up meetings informally conducted around milestone achievements, setbacks, behavior suggestions, progress reports, relational conversations, or goal modifications.
Progress meetings aim to monitor, assess, and adjust continuingly in the conversation between the manager and employee. As the process continues, the supervisor should function as a coach and mentor to the employee by providing guidance, resource support, and encouragement.
The end objective is to help employees reach their goals. A CI-focused performance coaching program leads to a more focused workforce with improved retention and increased productivity.
Performance Coaching for Team Success
A CI program, when implemented with willing and trained managers, is showing remarkable engagement and retention results among the firms with whom we work.
Performance coaching provides both the employee and the manager with a sustainable method of communicating effectively. When all three parts are applied congruently, teams can achieve personal and professional fulfillment, while employee bonds are strengthened and motivation is increased.
Contact us to develop a successful performance coaching program for your organization.