Tip for Coaching Employees

First, ask yourself...
Would you like to be a more effective coach for EACH and EVERY employee of yours?


Today, more and more companies are trying to build an "environment of learning" by attempting to coach employees, rather than simply manage them. For this to be effective, leaders must first understand that coaching everyone in the exact same way, with a broad brush, is not effective or acceptable. A successful coach/coachee relationship is completely reliant on the coach first knowing as much about the individual coachee as possible.

To successfully coach an employee (which will ultimately help them to learn and produce better results) there are many questions about the coachee you should be able to answer. A few of them are: What are THEIR strengths and weaknesses? How do THEY prefer feedback, and how often do they prefer it? What motivates THEM? What are THEIR personal and professional goals? Do THEY desire to be promoted? What skills would THEY like to learn and develop for themselves?

Knowing the answers to these questions will not only strengthen your relationship, but will set the foundation for you to lead/coach them as an individual. Doing so will also help you to align their goals to your goals and the goals of the organization- creating a strong level of synergy and commitment between all parties.