Workplace coaching is the process of equipping employees with the knowledge, tools, and opportunities necessary to be effective. It involves a professional helping relationship that focuses on the needs of employees and the objectives of an organization. The overall goal of workplace coaching is to provide employees with the space, time, and tools necessary to grow and develop in specific areas. When done right, workplace coaching benefits your employees and your company.
Workplace coaching involves a leader addressing performance objectives and helping to unleash the potential of a direct subordinate. According to Harvard Business Review, coaching provides an opportunity to act as a sounding board, facilitate transitions and address behaviors that derail. Instead of traditional performance management systems, coaching allows leaders to immediately communicate changes or actions that employees must take to improve the performance of the individual, team, and organization. Ultimately, a workplace coach is responsible for training and mentoring an employee to be the best version of themselves on the job.
At Unboxed Training & Technology, we have developed a coaching platform that streamlines the coaching process. Now, the best coaches communicate in a way that encourages people to remain open to coaching and willing to take action based on feedback, whether face-to-face or through a screen. The coaching process for each company or person may be slightly different, but it's useful to have an outline, especially if you're new to the world of coaching. Once identified, the employee develops an action plan and the coach is responsible for helping to determine if it is a SMART action plan.
Explore this collection of training templates and select which of these customizable forms you'd like to use in your next employee training session. The employee is likely to be receptive to coaching if the environment is supportive and if the coach is prepared. Once the coach and employee agree that the action plans are actually SMART, document the training session, commit to the action plans, and monitor the employee's progress. Job coaching, employee coaching or business coaching is continuous two-way feedback between employee and coach with the intention of working on areas of improvement and reinforcing strengths to maintain employee performance progress.
Employee orientation forms, easy to use and customized to company needs, will be great tools for employees and trainers to document and monitor employee progress. Workplace coaching usually involves a series of one-on-one conversations between the coach and the coachee. Inexperienced coaches, or managers training for the first time, may not have the skills to do so effectively.