Introduction
In many companies it is accepted to consider that employees’ development is an exclusive prerogative of HR departments. Such approach with all its external rationality has a number of lacks. With the absence of understanding and support from other departments, the efforts of HR department in general can appear ineffectual. One of the solutions of the designated above problems is the introduction in the company of the system of coaching. Coaching can be defined as the “process of equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to develop themselves and become more effective.”(Bartlett, 2007, p. 91)
Such process allows overcoming the rupture arising between training and the use of obtained skills in real work. The introduction of the system of coaching reduces many risks related with undesirable behaviour of the personnel to the minimum. Coaching allows strengthening of the unity of the team, motivating employees to increase the efficiency of the professional work, and managing changes in the organization. Coaching is systematic. A strict sequence of stages and a system of approaches and the techniques are used. This paper examines the models of coaching assessment through its application to the proposed case study of Joe R.
Areas of Strength and Growth
In order to assess the areas of Strength of Joe R., the model of “The Domain of Competence” will be used. The domain of competence which main idea is that “in order to accomplish anything of substance, we must be minimally competent in each of the three domain depicted in the pyramid.”(Flaherty, 2005, p. 83) The pyramid depicts three domains, i.e. self management domain, the relationship with others domain, and the facts and events domain.
The self management domain is concerned with competency in being able to observe one self. In that matter, Joe’s skills can be listed as follows:
- Self Consistency – can be seen through his 16 year career.
- Self knowledge –can be seen through his abilities to think systematically.
The qualities of Joe can be summarized as follows:
- Daring – willingness to take on new challenges.
- Vision – producing outcomes in timely manner.
The relationships with others domain is concerned with the ability to develop long term relationships. In that matter, Joe’s skills can be listed as follows:
- Speaking- inspiring the team to produce the outcomes.
- Setting standards –making assignments and managing the work of the team.
The qualities of Joe can seem to be concerned with reliability.
The facts and events domain refers to the capacity to “understand mechanisms, processes, statistics, systems, and models.” (Flaherty, 2005, p. 86) In that matter, Joe’s skills can be listed as follows:
- Analyzing- relating scheduled task to predicted outcomes.
- Predicting – mostly short term outcomes through timing the production of the team
- Simplifying –The usage of visual representations and reports.
The qualities of Joe can be seen mostly through persistence and creativity.
Analyzing the pyramid the strengths can be outlined in the self management domain, while the areas for growth can be seen through the other two domains. In that sense, the areas for growth in relating with others is outlined through stepping from the world of openness, appreciation, and emotion in the relationship with his team to speak with the language of other domains, which in this case are the domains of self management and facts and events. Thus, relationship with others should grow through developing the skills associated with this domain.
Concerns
Flaherty‘s “Five Elements Model is best suited for observing the areas of concern of Joe R. The main element for the present case is the element of immediate concern, which is the pressing problems, and their current effect, potential effect, or both. The current concern of Joe is the re-organization of the company he has been working for.
This re-organization implied the collaboration with other teams, a process that stripped Joe from the full control in interaction within the work environment. The current effect of this concern is the uncooperativeness of the new colleagues where he lost some of his control in decision making. The potential effect is connected with Joe’s background, where Joe is afraid that the involvement in the new structure will affect his relation with his family.
Another element that should be considered is the mood of Joe where it can be described in this case as filled with frustration, resentment, and skepticism.
Action plan
The action plan will consists from conducting a series of interviews in order to discuss and develop the areas which were outlined in the assessment. “The one-on-one interview is a powerful and important coaching skill, because it sets the scene for most of the coaching that will follow.” (Peltier, 2001, p. 9) The type conversation that should be held over several sessions will be concerned on the areas of competence.
The conversation should bring Joe from the area of unconscious incompetence to the area of conscious competence. In the first sessions Joe would realize the areas of competence that are related to his areas of concern. After the realization of the problem Joe should be asked to observe the existent situations from a different way. Interviews as an aspect of coaching will outline the areas of conscious and unconscious competence pointing to the need to proceed to the next level of development.
An objective and informative guidance will help Joe to look differently on the aspects of concerns. In such way, the conversations will be directed toward the optimization of Joe’s work, rather than teaching him something new. The latter conversation will be directed assertive behavior. The first step is to help Joe realize that he has unrealistic rules, and the degree to which they are unrealistic. Secondly, the consequences of these rules should be examined in order to turn them into flexible ones. (Nelson-Jones, 2007, p. 165)
Conclusion
Through implementing the action plan, it can be seen that despite the set stages of coaching the stages are rather flexible and individual for each person. In coaching Joe, an analysis of the existent problems was conducted, in order to solve pressing issues. In other case, it might require implementing different approach. A distinctive feature of coaching is that the client manages his development considering his own goals, developing skills and qualities to solve his existent problems.
References
Bartlett, J. E. (2007). Advances in coaching practices: A humanistic approach to coach and client roles. Journal of Business Research, 60(1), 91-93.
Flaherty, J. (2005). Coaching: evoking excellence in others (2nd ed.). Amsterdam; Boston: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Nelson-Jones, R. (2007). Life coaching skills: how to develop skilled clients. London; Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
Peltier, B. (2001). The psychology of executive coaching: theory and application. New York: Brunner-Routledge.