Chapter 14: Coaching for Performance

Coaching is an interactive process in which an individual benefits from improving, learning, or taking their performance to the next level (Payne, 2007). By receiving coaching, employees can learn how to overcome a problem, master a new skill, or maximize one’s potential through growth. Coaching occurs at all levels of an organization, and it is important to integrate it into the culture of the organization to achieve its business goals. Coaching programs have been proven to be effective in integrating skills learned in a classroom setting and applying them on the job by enhancing and improving performance in a wide range of areas, including interpersonal skills, communication skills, leadership skills, cognitive skills, and self-management skills. The process of coaching involves using opportunities in the work environment to build upon the strengths and potential of employees (Saks & Haccoun, 2018).

Key Takeaways

• Frequent structured and unstructured feedback is helpful for developing employee goals and keeping the employee motivated to achieve these goals.
• Coaching for performance is tied to employee behaviour, motivation, leadership and individual and organizational success.
• The GROW Model, open-ended questions and FeedForward are successful methods that can be applied in the workplace to address performance gaps and guide employees to improve.
• Coaching for performance drives an improvement plan. It steers away from blame and fault and shifts towards cause and plans for the future.

Authors: Navy Gill, Sydney Mayer