THE ACHILLES-HEEL OF COACHING

Often, the most crucial step in the coaching process is overlooked. It 's getting an employee to agree that there is a need for him or her to improve work behavior or performance. Without such agreement, there's little hope of achieving any permanent change. So, how do you do that ? Phillips says it is through a dialogue with the employee-not a chewi ng out, a taking to task, or threatening him or her. Even when those t actics work, they can create bigger problems than the poor work perfor mance. such approaches may get employees to change: their behavior (at least for a while), but they typically make workers passive-aggressiv e. They will do what they are asked and no more. A coaching session sh ould occur only after the employee understands clearly what is: expect ed and has received feedback at least once that his or her work perfor mance isn't meeting expectations. Coaching involves such elements as a two-way dialogue, a series of independent steps or objectives, specif ic coaching skills, and mutual satisfaction. The aim should be to crea te mutual trust, get agreement on the performance problem, explore sol utions, get a commitment from the employee, and handle his or her excu ses. The article discusses employees' typical responses to being told there's a problem and how to overcome them. Phillips tells how to avoi d asking ''pseudo'' questions that may appear manipulative to employee s: though they should be made aware of any negative consequences.