This is the eighth installment in our 25 week series exploring the 25 competencies, or soft skills, that our assessments measure. Each week we’ll give you the definition of that competency, explain its value, and give you tips to help you develop it. This week: Employee Development and Coaching.
Employee Development and Coaching is facilitating, supporting, and contributing to the professional growth of others. It’s all about being able to connect with your employees and understand their goals and dreams and then to help them reach them.
Those skilled in Employee Development and Coaching know that most employees don’t stay at one company forever, but they’re glad to help their employees grow and develop while they’re working together. They put the person first and help them to reach their highest potential. Great coaches give caring and candid feedback that serves to help the employee improve, it is never given just to cut someone down.
Developing employees is a two way street. If you help them grow, they will help our company grow. Those skilled in Employee Development and Coaching can quickly and easily build rapport with their direct reports and find out what they want out of life. They take the time to get to know each employee on an individual level and uncover their strengths and weaknesses. They then use that knowledge to help the employee to polish their strengths and minimize their weaknesses.
If you’d like to improve your Employee Development and Coaching, a quick way to start is to help each of your employees create a set of goals. What do they want out of life? Out of work? Start by helping them determine big, long-term, someday goals. What is their ideal future? Then work backwards. What do they need to have accomplished in 5 years in order to reach that someday goal? How about 3 years? 1 year? This quarter? This month? By investing time in helping them create concrete goals for their future, you’ll not only be helping them live a more intentional life, but you’ll also be showing that you truly care about them as a person. That’s really all coaching is, caring enough about the person to help them become a better version of themselves.
If you would like to learn more ways to improve your Employee Development & Coaching Skills, download our Employee Development & Coaching Rx Suite here.
