Coaching and Counseling Skills Training Can Change Employee Behavior

No matter how well you screen potential employees during the interview process, you will still undoubtedly run into employees who have a poor attitude or who fail to do their jobs. An effective coaching and counseling skills training can provide your supervisors and managers the tools to either turn problem employees around or to safely and legally turn them out!

Whatever the reason for their poor job performance or attitude, you will be happy to know that there are strategies you can implement to turn their performance & attitude around. To make this possible, it is essential for your supervisors to undergo coaching and counseling skills training that includes learning more about how we can make the employee more accountable and responsible for their behaviors. After all, the more your employees understand that there are clear and enforced consequences for not performing or meeting expectations, the more likely you will be to see the employee change what they are doing…which is ultimately what we want from them.

By having your supervisors participate in coaching and counseling skills training, your managers will learn specific ‘how to’s” &  performance management strategies they can apply immediately back at work. These strategies can can be used to turn unsatisfactory performance around.

By learning a variety of coaching & counseling and other performance management techniques, such as linking individual goals to strategic goals, providing positive and negative feedback, using evaluations to develop employees and confidently using your disciplinary process to address problem employees – your managers will be able to…

• Improve employee performance, productivity & morale
• Increase the confidence and consistency of management in applying coaching & counseling tools
• Reduce workplace conflict
• Foster increased cooperation & collaboration between employees and management
• Improve overall management – employee communication
• Prevent emotionally charged situations from developing into arguments – or worse
• Develop plans for handling employees who are failing to meet performance requirements
• Determine when it is safe to formally discipline employees who have a negative attitude or are failing to meet performance minimums
• Learn how to safely document when an employee is exhibiting a bad attitude or is failing to meet performance standards
• Create a motivational work climate
• Recognize warning signs during the interview process to avoid problems down the road

In short, an effective coaching and counseling skills training program will help you develop strategies that span from the hiring process to employee termination (when necessary).

By taking proactive steps to prevent problems from developing and implementing a clear, strategic plan after problems do develop, you will have a better chance of getting problem employees back on track. For those employees who simply will not improve their attitudes, or who continue to fail to do their jobs, the documentation generated through a performance management system will ensure your company is protected if  or when termination becomes the necessary last step.