"I am infuriated that he would say something so rude a customer. I have no choice but to let him go now." These are the words one of my clients recently spoke to me in complete frustration. His face was deep red. His foot rapped against the floor in complete frustration.
As I breathed in deeply, I realized I already knew the answer to my next question. "Have you spoken with him about this?"
"Well, there just hasn't been the right time yet. Besides, he had some issues from the beginning. I want to build a business not serve as an adult babysitter. I will simply give him fewer hours. If I'm lucky, he will find a job somewhere else."
I have met with more small business owners with employee problems than I care to admit. It seems that most small business owners do not have the training they need to properly manage and guide their employees. Since they are also notoriously short on time, it makes sense that they have so many frustrations dealing with employees. Once we get into the issues, I often find that small business owners have not discussed their concerns with their employees before complaining to me. Once I approach the idea of coaching employees, so many business owners are confused. They think coaching is what they do when an employee needs reprimanded. They are clueless about coaching their employees so reprimands are not needed. It is not surprising that most of these small business owners have never been little league coaches, either.
Here are seven Little League coaching tips that can be applied to employee management.
1. Every employee should know what their job is, what is expected of them while at work, and why their role in the company is important. It is the job of the small business owner to make sure every employee knows their worth and understands their role within the company clearly.
2. Break down the job description of every role for your employees. Explain how things work in your company. Make no assumptions about what they should understand on their own.
3. The same way you must physically demonstrate to a Little League player, you must demonstrate tasks for new employees. While doing your demonstration, point out less obvious elements of the job.
4. At this point, stand back and watch employees demonstrate what they have learned.
5. Incorrect actions should be corrected immediately and in a respectful fashion. When you see an employee make a mistake, right away repeat your demonstration of the task and tell them how they can improve their performance on the task. Your job is to respectfully coach them into doing it correctly. You must also be fast to tell employees they did a good job when you see tasks being performed correctly.
6. Express in an open way that you are confident that the employee has the ability to succeed while showing empathy if they struggle getting it correct. This is often hard for employers to do, but it will help if you can think back to a time when we struggled to master something.
7. Coaching is an ongoing procedure. You cannot deliver one coaching session and expect your employee to sink or swim without your support. Let them know that they can come to you with questions and to ask for feedback. Hold the employee accountable for learning the tasks of their job, but deliver ongoing coaching to help them reach their goals within the company.
Coaches are observant, motivating, supportive, and patient. You must be the exact same way if you want your employees to master tasks and live up to your expectations. With proper coaching and corrective actions, it is amazing what even a problem employee can do for your business.
As I breathed in deeply, I realized I already knew the answer to my next question. "Have you spoken with him about this?"
"Well, there just hasn't been the right time yet. Besides, he had some issues from the beginning. I want to build a business not serve as an adult babysitter. I will simply give him fewer hours. If I'm lucky, he will find a job somewhere else."
I have met with more small business owners with employee problems than I care to admit. It seems that most small business owners do not have the training they need to properly manage and guide their employees. Since they are also notoriously short on time, it makes sense that they have so many frustrations dealing with employees. Once we get into the issues, I often find that small business owners have not discussed their concerns with their employees before complaining to me. Once I approach the idea of coaching employees, so many business owners are confused. They think coaching is what they do when an employee needs reprimanded. They are clueless about coaching their employees so reprimands are not needed. It is not surprising that most of these small business owners have never been little league coaches, either.
Here are seven Little League coaching tips that can be applied to employee management.
1. Every employee should know what their job is, what is expected of them while at work, and why their role in the company is important. It is the job of the small business owner to make sure every employee knows their worth and understands their role within the company clearly.
2. Break down the job description of every role for your employees. Explain how things work in your company. Make no assumptions about what they should understand on their own.
3. The same way you must physically demonstrate to a Little League player, you must demonstrate tasks for new employees. While doing your demonstration, point out less obvious elements of the job.
4. At this point, stand back and watch employees demonstrate what they have learned.
5. Incorrect actions should be corrected immediately and in a respectful fashion. When you see an employee make a mistake, right away repeat your demonstration of the task and tell them how they can improve their performance on the task. Your job is to respectfully coach them into doing it correctly. You must also be fast to tell employees they did a good job when you see tasks being performed correctly.
6. Express in an open way that you are confident that the employee has the ability to succeed while showing empathy if they struggle getting it correct. This is often hard for employers to do, but it will help if you can think back to a time when we struggled to master something.
7. Coaching is an ongoing procedure. You cannot deliver one coaching session and expect your employee to sink or swim without your support. Let them know that they can come to you with questions and to ask for feedback. Hold the employee accountable for learning the tasks of their job, but deliver ongoing coaching to help them reach their goals within the company.
Coaches are observant, motivating, supportive, and patient. You must be the exact same way if you want your employees to master tasks and live up to your expectations. With proper coaching and corrective actions, it is amazing what even a problem employee can do for your business.
About the Author:
Some investigation conducted with the help of leanfrog.wordpress.com and leanfroghuntsville.blogspot.com. You can find out more about LEAN by contacting Lean Frog of Huntsville Alabama.
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