How to train managers to be better coaches
Here’s why great managers matter to an organisation. By Lee Xieli.
“If you are lucky enough to get a great boss, you will do anything for that boss,” says Rebecca Ray, senior vice president of global talent management and development for MasterCard’s global human resources.
An inspired employee would put in extra time, give that last bit of energy, be a great team player and be excited about work every day. “It almost doesn’t seem like work,” says Ray, and that is why MasterCard wants to help its managers understand how important it is that they are great managers. “For most of us, our daily work lives are tremendously impacted by the boss that you have because people join companies, [but] they leave managers,” she adds.
To help managers learn how they can help their employees feel the same passion and reach their potential at work, MasterCard uses a four-step GROW model. What were the Goals you had, what were the Results, what are the Options in terms of closing any gaps to reach the actual goals, what Will we do going forward? These questions would help managers to stay “very clearly focused” on the best ways in coaching and interacting with the employee, explains Ray.
Let’s say it’s a conversation about performance management. The manager would ask the individual how he or she felt they were doing and chances are the employee will talk about the objectives they have accomplished or might have missed. The manager would then ask about the results and follow up with asking the employee suggest ways he or she can help them close this gap. The conversation would end with the manager asking what goals the employee would like to commit to next.
“It is as simple as that. At the end of the day, most people would respond when somebody seems to take a genuine interest in that person,” says Ray. “The training helps them to be prepared for a variety of situations.”
But coaching should always be an ongoing process for the manager in the workplace. Yet it’s easier said than done, says Benson Sim, L&D director for Bunge Asia. Not only is it difficult to go back to coaching people once you are in a more strategic-focused role, it is a “struggle” to supervise a team and still fulfil the job responsibilities. The only solution for managers, if they want to be a good leader, is “constantly revisiting those fundamental skills” on a day-to-day basis, says Sim.
Whenever someone does something terrific, that’s the time to reinforce that, says Ray, and not wait till a formal midpoint or yearend review. “If you were my manager, I want to hear from you that day,” she says, “Not six months later when I see it noted down on a piece of paper that you want to remember to tell me what a great job I did because people don’t remember as clearly.”
By the same token, tell the employee if he or she hadn’t performed up to expectation when the situation occurs. Give them a chance to improve before the formal performance review which could potentially demoralise them. There are some managers who could manage people effortlessly, says Ray, because they have been at it for a while or they had learned from a great manager. There are, of course, some who needs a training structure to guide them along. Which is precisely why it’s challenging to be a manager. “They are not just responsible for their own skills, they are responsible for the skills of other people below them as well,” says Sim. “That’s why we pay a premium for good managers.”
There are altogether two core management development programmes for managers in MasterCard, says Ray, and they are:
Management foundation programme
This is a year-long programme for brand new managers in MasterCard. Participants would take a 360-degree survey in the beginning to obtain feedback on how people perceive them as managers and leaders before the start of the programme. The managers would meet once quarterly, learning a variety of fundamentals – how to hire, how to coach, how to motivate, how to compensate, how to have difficult conversations about performance – that a manager should know. At the end of the programme, the managers would have another 360-degree survey to check on their progress and the ways in which they have moved forward as leaders.
Management excellence programme
This is also a year-long programme for managers who are a couple of years into their managerial career. It is similar to the foundation programme in structure, except it covers advanced managerial topics – leading virtual teams, advanced skills on leadership, strategic project management. These managers would also be given a chance to tackle a business problem which is championed by one of MasterCard’s most senior leaders.
