Chapter 10
The Coach as Corrector

Training employees for new procedures, teaching them new skills, and helping them map out a career path are positive roles for a manager/coach.

Correcting inadequate performance and unacceptable behavior in the workplace is more difficult. In this chapter, we discuss some principles that will help you take the sting out of the encounter and make it productive rather than punitive. A coach approach can be helpful in connecting with a worker who needs to improve.

Make It an Encounter, Not a Confrontation

Your attitude going into any correctional situation will largely determine your success or failure. Take a positive, goal-oriented approach (solution-focused). The goal, as always, is better employee performance.

First, focus on the behavior, not the person. Avoid talking about a person’s tendencies, characteristics, or traits. Focus on specific actions and outcomes and how they need to change.

For example, Jan has been arriving at work 10 to 30 minutes late three or four days a week for several weeks. She doesn’t have to punch a time clock, but employees are expected to keep regular hours. Your company frowns on workers taking comp time unless a supervisor approves it in advance.

Rather than send around a memo warning everyone to get to work on time, you decide to call Jan in for some coaching.

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No matter what your tone of voice, if you open the discussion with a statement like “You seem to have trouble getting to work on time,” it will sound like an accusation (because that’s what it is). Jan is apt to react defensively, with a denial, an excuse, or withdrawal. You’ll lecture. She’ll seethe. You won’t accomplish anything positive. The problem is that you focused on Jan, labeling her as chronically late.

Here’s how to start the conversation with the focus on the behavior rather than the person: “I’ve noticed that you’ve been getting to work a bit late.”

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Jan might still react defensively, but you have a better basis for discussion, especially if you make it clear that you’re looking for solutions: “Is there anything we can do about that?”

Second, focus on the specific, not the general. Avoid absolutes, like “always” and “never,” as in “You’re always late” or “You’re never on time.” When using these absolutes, you’ve made a sweeping generalization—which simply turns the truth into an exaggeration, a lie. Since it’s an exaggeration, it’s impossible to prove—and foolish to try.

You’ll back down from a generalization if you’re wise. But you might start quibbling about small points to make some sort of case. Even if you win the debate, you’ll lose ground in your relationship with Jan. You may succeed in getting her to arrive at work on time, but it may be a hollow victory.

Specific is better. Present your observation to Jan, giving her detailed information about the problem as you see it: “You’ve been getting to work anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes late three or four days a week.” If you start like that, you’ll be talking about specific behaviors rather than generalizations or character traits.

Now you can bring in a coach approach. Has Jan been punctual before now? If so, you might want to ask what is going on in her life to make this sudden change. You might have to step into your role as mentor to remind her of corporate policies regarding comp time and working hours, and point out that the meeting is not about punishing her but about finding solutions. Connect with her to find out her thoughts about how she can correct the behavior.

You’re a coach, not a cop. You’re seeking performance, not punishment or judgment. You need to do what works, not what feels good.

Positive Specific Action

Aim for change, not blame. Don’t simply tell an employee what not to do. Coach toward positive behaviors. What is the employee supposed to do? What might the impact of correct behavior be? How can the employee get there?

The way you describe the problem (character flaw, chronic condition, or specific behavior) is crucial. After you’ve defined the behavior, you want to talk about it as specifically as you can, following up with these two steps to create a positive specific action (PSA).

Step 1. Identify why the behavior needs changing. This might seem obvious to you. You assume employees know why they shouldn’t arrive late for work, for example. But assumptions seldom make for effective communication. In all but the most obvious situations, you need to be clear and specific as to why the behavior needs changing. Connect it to the big picture of the business and the employee’s role in the company. Ask the employee to describe it as well.

Aside from the fact that Jan’s lateness cheats the system and angers her coworkers—who are looking to you to be fair—how does it affect the quality of work (hers and others’)? The more specific you are here, the more likely it is that Jan will buy into your viewpoint and change her behavior.

Again, keep it positive—focus more on what results the solution would bring than on why the behavior is unacceptable.

Step 2. Ask a question that points toward a solution. Such a question can take many forms, depending on several factors—the problem, the situation, and your relationship with the employee. In some instances, you might simply shrug your shoulders or raise an eyebrow, waiting for the other person to step in with his or her own solutions.

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What might most effectively open up a discussion of possible solutions? Who should be responsible for suggesting solutions? You may choose to put the burden

on the employee (“What can you do to improve?”),

on both of you (“How can we work together to improve this?”), or

on the process (“What happens next?”).

In many cases, the process approach yields the best results. Don’t discount the other approaches though—showing your support and empowering the employee with responsibility can also be effective. In fact, you may co-create a hybrid approach that uses elements of all three.

Asking questions that focus on the solution will lead you and the employee to some sort of action plan. For instance, you ask Jan what’s going on in her life and find out that her children, who go to a year-round school, have been on their break at home for the past three weeks, and because they aren’t on a regular schedule and make demands of her, she finds it difficult to leave on time each morning. From this, you know that when her kids are in school, Jan will likely be more punctual, but on a semi-regular basis, she may have difficulty arriving at her assigned time for a few weeks.

You use a process approach and ask Jan what should be done next. She tosses out a few options and asks about schedule shifting. She proposes coming in an hour later than usual and staying an hour later than usual, just for those weeks when her kids aren’t in school. This leads to your needing to check with HR and other managers to find out if it’s acceptable (your responsibility). Together, you also come up with a backup plan in case that doesn’t work: Jan will work some extra hours to earn comp time during her regular weeks, and then let you and her colleagues know that she’ll be in an hour later in some weeks (preapproval of comp time; her responsibility).

Awareness of the PSA will force you to think before you coach, and that will make you a better coach.

Define Consequences Clearly

You need to be clear about what’s at stake. The trickiest part of any attempt to change someone’s behavior comes when you confront the “or else?” question. Whether or not the employee asks, you need to be very clear about the consequences. As a manager, you have to enforce the consequences from time to time. You may not like it, but that’s the price of authority.

First, be specific. Vague mumblings to “shape up or ship out” or warnings that “we could have a bigger problem” accomplish nothing—except making you look ineffectual. High-sounding language about “dire repercussions and sanctions” is no better—just more pompous. State potential consequences specifically.

Second, avoid a threatening tone. Your goal is to change the behavior, not punish the employee. Make sure your tone as well as your words convey your focus on this goal. Soften your expression, keep a warm note in your voice, and relax your body language.

Finally, never invoke a consequence that won’t happen. We all learned a long time ago to disregard phony warnings and other empty threats.

You should have specific procedures in place for dealing with inadequate performance and unacceptable workplace behavior. Your company may have guidelines on this to some extent (i.e., written reprimands, docking pay, etc.), but you also may be responsible for creating your own system of correcting behavior.

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Company procedures outline sequential steps, typically moving from verbal warning through written reprimand to a letter in the personnel file. Further problems may result in suspension, demotion, and, ultimately, termination.

You need to know the organization’s procedures and your authority within them—that’s your role as a manager. Failure to follow the procedures is unfair and, in some cases, illegal.

So don’t say it unless you’re prepared to back it up. If you don’t follow through, your words won’t have much influence the next time or with other employees.

Build on the Possible

Is it really a behavior problem? You may be assuming that the employee won’t. Consider the possibility that she or he can’t—but doesn’t want you to know it.

Take me, for example, coach. No matter how many times you tell me, no matter how often you show me, and no matter how much you threaten punishment if I fail, or promise rewards if I succeed, I’m not going to be able to dunk a basketball (except in my dreams, of course). I’m a little too short and don’t have a great vertical leap.

Can’t you let me do something else, instead? I’m a good point guard because I can see who’s free to make a basket, I’m great at stealing the ball from the opponent, and I can nail deadly accurate passes to my teammates.

Start with what an employee can do and work toward what she or he isn’t doing yet. Begin formal and informal performance evaluations with strengths, not weaknesses. Whenever possible, emphasize those strengths by allowing employees to do more of what they do well, leading them by steps into increasingly difficult and more complex tasks. Then build on those strengths to help the worker succeed in new areas.

Sometimes folks work better in teams, even as each performs a solo task. If you partner a struggling worker with a confident, capable one, you may help the first worker improve performance. You also help the capable worker grow his or her skills as a mentor and teacher. Everyone wins.

You may recognize the benefits of natural cross-training here. Employees who work as partners or in teams tend to know more about what the other teammates are doing. That makes it easier if you need to shift responsibilities when somebody is absent or if job demands suddenly change.

Remember: One size does not fit all, and a single formula for measuring productivity can’t adequately measure every worker’s performance. Your goal must be to bring each employee to his or her peak level of performance (or as close to it as possible)—not to an arbitrary performance standard for all employees (not to mention standards for other areas of behavior).

Even if compensation is based on an absolute scale—as when an employee is paid per project completed or unit sold—you must evaluate each person by an individual and subjective scale. Treating all employees fairly and acknowledging what’s possible for them to achieve doesn’t mean treating them all the same.

Look to the Future

You want results, not excuses. What counts is what the employee does next.

Be clear about how past performance or behavior has failed to meet expectations. But once you’ve done this, move on to specific goals and a future framework. Let the past go. Don’t hold grudges (in your head or in the employee’s personnel folder). Give employees the chance to make it right and get beyond the problem.

A good coach is always future-focused. You can bring this viewpoint to the employee. Learn from the past—what worked, what didn’t—and then turn toward creating a positive future. Sometimes this takes practice, especially when you’re trying to define what you want in a positive way.

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Once you’ve described the behavior that needs changing, be sure to focus on what you do want to happen in the future. It’s easy to say, “Well, we don’t want this office gossip to continue!” In those cases, you (and the employee) are still focused on what you don’t want. Remember to turn it around to what you do want in the future. “If we have less office gossip, we are creating a peaceful, supportive environment for everyone to work in.” This offers a positive image to work toward.

Performance Killers

Here are some correction methods that will guarantee failure in any attempts to correct poor performance or unacceptable behavior in employees. For discussion purposes, we group these methods under three general headings: false judgment, false solution, and avoidance.

False Judgment

Diagnosing

Psychoanalyzing

Labeling/stereotyping

Nonspecific praising/supporting

There’s a big difference between judging the behavior or performance of a worker and judging the worker as a person.

Avoid diagnosing (“Your problem is that you have a bad attitude”) and psychoanalyzing (“You’ve got a problem accepting a male authority figure because your father died when you were 11”). You don’t have the necessary training or enough information to make such characterizations. They’ll just get in your way as you try to deal with an employee. And many will take offense when you make such a statement. You have essentially dismissed their viewpoint by slapping a label on them.

You would never consider applying a racial, ethnic, or gender stereotype to a worker. (Unfortunately, we’re all only too familiar with prejudices.) But watch out for more subtle stereotypes (the way “those people” think or behave). Any conclusion based on a categorical generalization, such as age, educational background, clothing, or anything else, erodes your ability to manage and coach.

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Even such positive reinforcement as praise or a compliment can make you a less effective coach if it’s based on generalizations. The statement “You’ve got an MBA, so you must really know your stuff” is just as likely to be inaccurate as “You’re doing well for a woman.” Be careful that your praise doesn’t convey a feeling of surprise, as if you had lower expectations for an employee: “Wow! Great job tightening that bolt!” might be taken as meaning “You’ve got a scraggly beard and long hair and an earring, so I was wondering what kind of work we could get out of you.” Sometimes it is just a subtle matter of not praising excessively.

False Solution

Cracker barrel philosophy

Morality tales

Unsolicited advice

“To thine own self be true,” Polonius advises Laertes in Hamlet. “And it follows as the night the day, you must be true to all men.”

Sage advice from a wise elder? Then why did audiences at the old Globe Theatre snicker when they heard those words?

Folks in Shakespeare’s day called such windy pontifications “copy book wisdom,” because school children copied the phrases to practice penmanship. The advice is good—it’s just tired and not all that helpful.

Even if your words of wisdom came from your parents rather than Shakespeare, workers may not want or need to hear them.

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That’s true whether you’re quoting Shakespeare, telling the tale of the ant and the grasshopper, or sharing an experience from your past. Don’t assume that employees will be interested in your story or find it helpful. Platitudes like “slow and steady wins the race” are worn out and tired. Think about your sage words, your tales of wisdom, and the lessons you’ve learned along life’s path. If you truly believe that something will help employees develop, share it. If not, save it for a more appropriate occasion.

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That brings us to the final performance killer in this section: unsolicited advice.

If you find yourself starting a sentence with “This is really none of my business,” your next words should not be “but if you ask me …” Try saying, “so I’ll keep my mouth shut” instead. Then do it. If that employee is curious, she’ll ask. (Be careful to avoid intimidating her into asking.)

Avoidance

Diversion

The old bob and weave

Later

False assurance

Refusing to deal with an issue may buy you a little time, but it also may make the situation worse. The longer you allow poor performance or unacceptable behavior to continue, the more reinforced and established that behavior becomes. Your silence sends employees the message that you approve of the behavior or at least accept it.

The employees who are guilty of the poor performance or unacceptable behavior then feel free to continue, and others might let their performance slide or worry less about their behavior. Your problem just grows. You may be seen as a weak manager for avoiding tackling the issue head on.

Don’t keep changing the subject. Diversion and avoidance are not solutions. Deal with it.

Another classic avoidance technique is “the old bob and weave.” We invite you to watch a performance by experts (a veteran TV reporter trying to pin down an equally veteran politician).

As we join the program already in progress, the reporter wants to confirm rumors (based on “usually reliable” but unnamed sources, of course) that the politician has racially harassed a campaign worker. Knowing that any reply on the subject will hurt him, the politician attempts to divert by seeming to take the high ground.

Reporter (looking concerned and serious): Sir, how would you respond to the disturbing reports regarding your racial harassment during the recent campaign?

Politician (smiling broadly and nodding): I appreciate your question. But you know, the real issue facing the American people (turning a sincere gaze to the camera) is the lack of adequate health care protection for over 40 percent of working Americans today. Now, the bill I have just placed before Congress …

This dance can go on forever. The reporter talks about racial slurs and insults, and the politician talks about his push for appropriations.

The next avoidance technique on the list is “later,” as in “never, if I’m lucky.” Managers often slip out from under a problem by thinking, like Scarlett O’Hara in the classic tale Gone With the Wind, “Tomorrow’s another day.”

You really should talk to Geoff about his poor performance, but you dread the task. You have a lot of “real” work to do, after all, and surely another day won’t hurt.

But another day will hurt. Tomorrow turns into today, and you’re even less willing and able to face the difficult confrontation. Time may heal all wounds, but it doesn’t solve most performance and behavior problems in the workplace. They won’t usually be “gone with the wind.”

False assurance can be as harmful as any other form of avoidance. “Nothing to worry about,” you tell the worker grandly. “This will work itself out.” The worker leaves feeling better—or not, depending on how much trust you’ve earned—while the problem continues to grow.

Don’t let any of these performance killers get in your way. They’re all evasions of your responsibility to confront poor performance.

Workers are responsible for the consequences of their actions. But as a supervisor, you’re responsible (and accountable) for managing their performance. Even if they’re at fault, you must take responsibility for improving the situation.

As manager, you must be coach, problem solver, trainer, teacher, mentor, and corrector. Prepare for all these roles, and approach each with a positive, goal-oriented attitude. No matter what hat you wear, or how many you wear at one time, your ultimate goal must always be the same: helping workers achieve peak performance.

No matter how firm your resolve to accept this responsibility and tackle problems head on, some basic characteristics of the human beings you work with might get in your way as you attempt to become an effective coach. We discuss those potential pitfalls—and solutions to them—in the next chapter.

The Coach’s Checklist for Chapter 10

When you’re correcting employees, remember to make it an encounter, not a confrontation.

Avoid accusing the employee; examine the specific behaviors and try to understand them and their causes together.

Use positive specific action (PSA) to help employees improve behavior. This includes defining the behavior and why it needs to change, asking questions that lead to a solution, and then agreeing on that solution.

If change doesn’t happen, let the employee know the specific consequences.

Make sure the employees have the capabilities to do what’s asked. Don’t assume they do without checking on that.

Once you’ve dealt with the problem, let the past go and look to the future—that’s better for the coach and the employee.

Performance killers include making false judgments, providing false solutions, and avoiding the problem.