Optimize Your Organization With Coaching

Today's workforce is a volatile workforce. With dynamic diversity, a changing business environment and implementation of ways to re-energize a stressed employee-base, it's time to optimize your workforce.

Organizations must use creativity to resolve current issues while remaining productive and profitable. The way to change employee behavior and improve performance is to develop and coach them.

The Current Job Market

Although some sectors, such as manufacturing and services, expect modest employment gains for 2010, workplace forecasters indicate that recruiting is still difficult, and new-hire compensation rates remain down. The market is still tough for job seekers.

Survivors Need Coaching

What is happening in the workforce today is similar to what happens when a mass layoff occurs in an organization. Workers who remain have "survivor's syndrome" --- they likely feel lucky to have a job, yet at the same time feel bad that others have lost theirs.

At the same time, the tight labor market means that the survivors are probably doing much more work than before the layoff, absorbing the work of others. They are expected to perform better in order to help meet rising demands as the organization strives to remain competitive.

In addition to feeling the need to perform well, many workers may start to feel trapped under the current stress. Burnout and apathy ensue. Productivity wanes.

To combat this situation, employers need to provide training and coaching to optimize what employees' skills and talents and help them become more successful and productive.

Train Them, Then Coach Them

Today's work environment requires employees to use their full spectrum of talents. One way to encourage this is to make sure that your organization is still investing in training. Maximizing training also depends on senior managers' skills in coaching the supervisors they oversee. In addition, other managers and supervisors need to be trained on the same coaching skills in order to transform their teams into successful, productive members of the organization.

Managers who are effectively involved in the growth and development of their employees spark changes in behavior. In a positive and productive environment they practice the following:

• Provide continuous support and coaching for the development of their employees
• Ensure positive experiences before, during and after each element of employee training
• Handle "coaching moments" effectively, so employees are motivated to learn and teach themselves new things

Vital Learning's Developing and Coaching Others program teaches managers, team leaders and supervisors the essential elements of coaching their employees. This program teaches them how to achieve the following:

• Increase every team member's skills and capabilities.
• Handle coaching moments effectively, so team members make learning decisions themselves.
• Maximize on-the-job behavior change that results from training and development.
• Develop a work environment that encourages growth and development.

When these things occur, employees feel empowered instead of oppressed; they feel transformed and energized through training and supported in their jobs through coaching. Your workforce becomes optimized.

When the job market changes, you'll want to ensure that you retain your best employees. Thus, coaching them through these tough times is essential. Let Vital Learning show you how.