Coaching others - a question of style?
Richard Comber looks at the direct style that lawyers adopt when managing their staff, and advises that coaching employees makes better business sense
Earlier this year, management consultancy Roffey Park published its Management Agenda Survey that included data on why respondees were looking to change jobs.
The top two reasons were lack of appreciation (59%) and poor management (58%).
Therefore, management style may have more to do with demotivation and staff turnover than we sometimes are prepared to acknowledge.
Our experiences, as professional trainers, are that management style is no less a problem in the legal profession.
Consistently in development programmes, lawyers complain that life would be easier if employees would just do what is asked of them.
Law contains some of the sharpest minds.
It also encourages a sharp approach to managing people.
Without being aware, many solicitors carry their professional attitude into their conversations with employees.
This appears in two ways.
Firstly, the legal environment encourages solicitors to be forthright with their views and to be assertive when challenging or responding.
Many employees are from outside of the legal profession.
They have not been trained to accept that argument and counter argument is the norm and that a 'robust exchange of views' is part of the usual course of the working day.
Secondly, many solicitors tend to use a highly direct style.
This is unsurprising as good legal work is characterised by persuasive facts and clear recommendations.
Clients often look to a solicitor for clear guidance or rulings on what is or is not permissible.
Carried over into people management, the message employees receive is 'do exactly as I say and everything will be just fine'.
This may appear acceptable, but consistent messages like this have an impact.
Too much instruction has the psychological effect of removing them from ownership and responsibility for their action.
The paradox is that managers want staff to do as instructed but to retain a level of self-responsibility.
David Maister, in his book True Professionalism, supports this by pointing out a need for balance by giving both direction and coaching.
He says that employees 'will not accept your guidance and critique unless you are supportive and nurturing.
On the other hand, you need to be continually demanding, nagging me to stretch for my next achievement.
One of these skills without the other is ineffective.' The message is to make a conscious move towards a coaching style.
An illustrative example was the solicitor frustrated with his assistant's spelling and accuracy of information.
He was overcome with frustration - 'He's good, but I have told him hundreds of times about the importance of detail.
I feel I have to double-check all his work.'
It came out that the approach of correcting mistakes and instructing the assistant as to specifically what was wrong meant the responsibility for accuracy increasingly became the job of the solicitor.
When this was pointed out, the solicitor shifted his approach.
'I went back and challenged my assistant about my feelings and asked him what he could do to remove the problem.
Instead of telling him what he should do, I asked him what actions he could take to avoid these errors - and then I sat back and listened to his suggestions offering encouragement where I felt it was especially due.
He left me with his head high having committed to the responsibility of owning the quality.'
Moving the balance towards a coaching style has three likely benefits:
- Retention.
Motivation has a direct impact on staff retention.
Frederick Herzberg, one of the original thinkers on motivation in organisations, concluded that provided the financial reward was at a perceived adequate level, stronger motivators were the perceptions of being valued and having contributions recognised.
If coaching contributes towards retention, also consider the cost of poor retention.
Average UK turnover figures are approximately 20% per year so you will probably need to replace one in five of your staff.
Recruiting costs vary from 1,000 to 6,000 for advertising and/or recruitment agency fees.
Add your time away from the client work.
Also add the time spent by the new appointee and others in bringing them up to speed - thought by some to be the equivalent of six to nine months of the employee's salary.
Whatever your end costs, then the opportunity to reduce them will be big enough for you to value giving coaching time to your people.
- Performance management.
Employees who genuinely lack the ability or the desire to own responsibility are happy to delegate upwards.
The key to handling poor performance is giving responsibility through clear standards and objectives.
By asking for a solution you signal to the person what is expected of them.
Consistent underperformance then becomes apparent to everyone and it allows an easier move into a conversation about their suitability for the role.
- Cost-effectiveness.
Conventional training is still seen by many as a course held away from the office, with all the difficulties in carrying the lessons learnt back into the workplace.
Coaching in comparison is a live here-and-now exercise using real situations.
Most people acknowledge that they have learnt more from their on-the-job work experiences.
The Legal Education and Training Group estimates that the average training per head costs 947 per year - why increase these costs further by ignoring a development opportunity that is easily available?
Restoring the balance demands three things of the practitioner.
- Self-awareness.
Being aware of the style used when dealing with staff.
Managers are challenged to note how often they prescribe a solution to their staff, especially at times when the person should already know the answer.
- Patience.
Putting some time aside to discuss issues with the employee.
The first step is patiently to point out the problem, ask for a solution and, most importantly, wait for an answer.
- Technique.
Practice is required to build up confidence.
Through the blizzard of modern techniques and models, the core skills remain the same.
Ask open questions that encourage involvement.
Some questions may be suggesting a line of approach but most will be encouraging the individual to decide how they can handle a particular action or situation.
The value of moving from directive and towards coaching management should not be underestimated.
When the Hay Group recently conducted a survey of 170 human resources professionals from around the globe, 70% said coaching was more effective than training courses as a means of changing behaviour and improving performance.
Many solicitors may not be professional coaches, but all the signs are there that a coaching style is of direct business benefit.
Richard Comber is director of management trainers Maximum Performance
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