Know the difference between 'training' and 'coaching' employees

Laurie Glover, Apr 24, 2014, 2:31pm EDT

Managers often use the terms “training” and “coaching” interchangeably. This leads to a lot of confusion for both managers and employees, and makes it difficult to evaluate the outcomes of each.

Both training and coaching have their place in every organization.

Understanding the main differences between training and coaching can help managers make sure they use the right tool for the right tasks. If they can do that, everyone benefits.

Training

Training is used for things like new-hire orientation, changes in processes, procedures, or technology, and new governmental regulations.

It trains something specific and can be a one-time event.

Key characteristics of training:

• Learning focused
• Provides new knowledge and skills
• Often takes place with groups
• Usually structured
• Used to get someone to do a specific task

To be successful with these initiatives, managers need to:

1. Know the basics. Train the audience using the following key phrases:

• Tell me
• Show me
• Let me
• Test me

2. Understand adult-learning theory

Adult learners are pressed for time and are goal oriented. They bring previous knowledge and experience and have a finite capacity for information. They have different motivational levels and learning styles.

3. Make it fun

Everyone likes to have some fun. It certainly breaks up the tedium of lectures.

4. Prepare, plan, practice

Because training is a structured activity, you need to spend more time preparing before the actual delivery to get it right.

Coaching

Coaching sometimes has a bad reputation because it’s so often used to deliver critical or constructive feedback. But it shouldn’t be.

It should be an on-going activity with each of your employees designed to keep everyone on track.

Key characteristics of coaching:

• Development focused
• Facilitates critical thinking and decision-making
• Usually takes place one-on-one
• Informal or unstructured
• Used to improve performance and behaviour

Here’s a good roadmap for successful coaching:

1. Do it Often

I’m a firm believer that offering five minutes coaching each week is better than 30 minutes once a month.

2. Ask Questions. Ask your employees the following questions:

• What are you proud of that you’ve accomplished in the last week?
• Where are you stuck?
• What can I do to help?
• What are your goals for the coming week?

Laurie Glover is an organizational development professional with extensive international experience in corporate training, academia, and sales and marketing management. Glover is CEO of QSTS, a consulting firm that helps organizations and individuals move from “good” to “great” by igniting organizational excellence. The firm specializes in workplace learning programs on leadership, management and supervisory skills and in programs for lawyers and accountants in building their practices.

Real Motivators For Sales Success

Daniel is a very successful sales professional. Last year his income was higher than he ever imagined that he would earn. However, Daniel hired me as a coach and joined my elite sales mastermind group because he dreaded going to work each day. It was not the process of selling that he dreaded... it was the fact that he was struggling to motivate himself. You might wonder how someone making a great income could be unmotivated regarding his job.

Research on motivation began with the pioneering work of Dr. Abraham Maslow, who determined that people are motivated according to a hierarchy of needs, and money happens to lie near the bottom of that hierarchy. Consequently, once someone makes a good income, the higher order needs become paramount in driving that person’s passion. Earning more money does not satisfy a deficit in higher order needs, such as a feeling of belonging and a sense of accomplishment.

In Daniel’s situation, he didn’t trust his sales manager, believed he didn’t genuinely care about him, played favorites, and rarely gave him verbal recognition of his success. As a result, Daniel didn’t see a future with the company, regardless of his sales success.

Another pioneer in the research regarding job-related motivation was Frederick Herzberg, with his two-factor model. Herzberg’s research showed that salary or commission rarely motivates people. Not having enough money will make them dissatisfied with their jobs, but earning more than they need is nice, but that alone will not motivate them or enrich their jobs.

So, what motivates a sales professional? It’s an age-old question, of course. Money has always been considered the big carrot for sales people. However, as both Maslow’s and Herzberg’s research showed, financial compensation is an important determinant of job satisfaction only when a person doesn’t have enough for her/his needs.

An executive vice president of sales of a major insurance carrier describes it this way: Salespersons in general have more needs than simply getting a paycheck. That is part of the reward, certainly, but once you have a fair compensation plan in place, then the real work of employee motivation begins.

To create satisfaction, a sales manager needs to provide job enrich­ment by addressing what motivates his team to do their jobs, then finding out how to make it better and more satisfying for each of them.

My own research into job stress showed there are marked individual differences in the way working people are motivated. However, we can generalize from the vast number of motivational studies conducted with thousands of sales professionals in hundreds of working situations. Survey data shows that beyond a good income, most sales professionals need to feel a sense of trust, for both their colleagues and managers, a real sense of achievement, and recognition of their hard work.

Creating a Culture of Trust. Sales professionals need to trust that their supervisors want them to succeed, not just to hit quotas and the monetary rewards that come with that. They need to believe that their supervisors genuinely care about them. As a sales manager, it is critical to take the time to show a genuine interest in the families and lives of your sales people.

Creating a Culture of Achievement. Setting individual and team sales benchmarks is fine, however, it is even more motivating to show your sales force how their performance has enhanced the image and success of the company. They need to feel as if they are important ingredients their company’s success. They need to buy into the their products or services play in the lives of the end user. All of this ties into Maslow’s need for a sense of belonging and feeling like an important a part of a successful group or team.

Creating a Culture of Recognition. Sales professionals often feed off of recognition. This means that managers need to be personally recognizing them frequently. A common misconception by some sales managers is the belief their paycheck shows them how well they are doing, so I don’t need to pat them on the back. This notion is absolutely wrong. Everyone loves a pat on the back.

There are other forms of recognition that are just as important. The annual sales conference, where companies bring their sales force together, not only to interact with each other in a forum setting, but also to do peer recognition. Some companies backed off on this event when the economy went south. It’s important to continue these meetings and recognition events.

The other way to feel recognized is to belong to an exclusive group... such as the high producer’s group that is invited to attend seminars with powerful speakers at lavish locations, at company expense. This feeling of being a member of this elite club is the ultimate in personal recognition.

Sales Performance = Sales Skill + Knowledge + Motivation Minus Distractions

This simple formula tells it all.

The more the distractions, the less the sales performance, regardless of skill, knowledge and motivation.

And, the number one distraction is negative thoughts and beliefs about feeling unfulfilled in terms of trust, belonging, a sense of achievement or recognition.

Sales managers can certainly eliminate these distrac­tions from their sales professionals by consistently providing these powerful motivators to them.

Frequently ask them for feedback to get a pulse on how they are feeling and what you could be providing that is currently missing for them.

You will be rewarded greatly with a highly motivated team!

After working with me and the other members of my mas­termind group, Daniel learned how to ask for the recogni­tion he was missing and his manager became more sensi­tive to Daniel’s needs being under-served. Soon Daniel’s mo­tivation skyrocketed, resulting in record sales performance!

Dr. Jack Singer is a professional I/O and Sport Psychologist, speaker, coach and trainer for sales professionals. He has been speaking for and training Fortune 1000 companies, HR associations, sales staffs and elite athletes for more than 34 years. Dr. Jack is the author of Dynamic Health, The Teacher’s Ultimate Stress Mastery Guide, The Financial Advisor’s Ultimate Stress Mastery Guide, and several series of self-help audio programs, directed at raising self-confidence for sales success.

Visit www.developthemindsetofachampion.com

LinkedIn Dr. Jack Singer

For many of our grandparents and parents, retirement was a well-earned rest from years of hard work. But nowadays, the desire to remain active and engaged, as well as financial pressures, are encouraging many employees to keep working well beyond traditional retirement age.

In fact, studies show that 80 percent of Baby Boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—want to continue to work. And since Generation X is half the size of that of the Baby Boomers, not only are people working till later in life; the number of those working past retirement will also continue to grow relative to younger generations.

For employers, this development has two significant consequences:

• They must learn to adapt their workplaces to accommodate (existing) mature workers.
• They need to consider the value of Baby Boomer workers as new hires.

Let’s take a closer look at each.

Adapting the workplace to accommodate mature employees

Companies looking to harness the strengths of mature employees should consider the following points:

• Flexible work options. Data from the 2014 Kelly Global Workforce Index™ (2014 KGWI™) reveals that 58% of Baby Boomers value flexible work arrangements and 49% consider a good work-life balance a deciding factor in job satisfaction. And while the younger generations focus on having an appropriate amount of personal time, many Baby Boomers focus on remaining professionally active, albeit not always full-time. Interestingly, a study by The Sloan Center on Aging and Work at Boston College found that flexible work options may support health and longevity due to higher job satisfaction and better work-life balance. So whether it’s transitioning into full retirement gradually, working part-time or making use of flex work and telecommute options, employers should consider offering work arrangements beyond the traditional 40-hour onsite workweek.
• Development. Many senior employees want to continue to learn new skills and acquire more knowledge—not only to remain employable, but also for their personal development. According to the 2014 KGWI™, 56% of Baby Boomers stated that opportunities to learn were an important aspect of choosing one job over another. For employers, it’s important to note that offering continued education and on-the-job training can help these employees remain relevant and employable. In addition, implementing mentoring programs in which mature employees partner with younger workers to master the most recent technological developments can be beneficial to employees and employers alike.

The value of hiring a Baby Boomer workforce

Due to the relative increase in mature employees, the job market is going to see an increase in these candidates. That’s why it’s essential for employers to understand how not only retaining existing senior employees, but also recruiting a Baby Boomer workforce can add significant value to their organizations:

• Baby Boomer employees are in general very loyal and committed to their employers. Whereas Gen X and Y first and foremost are committed to their work, Baby Boomers share a strong commitment to their employers and are less likely than younger generations to leave for another job.
• Baby Boomers possess a wealth of experience and knowledge. Whether it’s decades of hands-on experience or well-honed leadership skills, mature employees often have solid backgrounds and extensive expertise that employers aren’t always ready to let go of. This is why the Society for Human Resource Management highlights the value of mentorship programs that allow experienced staff to advise and guide younger workers. These types of programs can help keep knowledge within an organization while simultaneously teaching younger workers valuable skills.
• Baby Boomer employees can become contingent workers. Consider this: according to the 2014 KGWI™, 33% of Baby Boomers consider themselves to be specialists in their fields. Instead of employing mature talent full-time, employers can hire them as consultants and bring them in as needed. This allows senior employees to take their retirement packages while still accepting (temporary) consultation positions that allow them to use their expertise when and where they like.

Mature employees are a potent, large and growing talent pool. Employers who recognize their value and know how to accommodate them in the workplace are laying the groundwork to stay connected to a vibrant, productive workforce for years to come. 

Sources: http://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/OlderWorkers.htm; http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/the-workplace/accommodating-older-workers-needs-for-flexible-work-options#.U7maZRaG4so; http://workplaceflexibility.bc.edu/need/need_employees; http://www.communityinclusion.org/article.php?article_id=231&type=topic&id=18 2014 Kelly Global Workforce Index™

The 3 R’s- Rules, Respect and Responsibility

It all comes down to choices, risk management and consequences, doesn’t it.  That is not a question by the way, it’s a statement. I have pondered the thought that perhaps I have reached ‘that’ stage in life where I wonder what on earth our world is coming to.  Then I realise that perhaps I am not alone after all, in that I care about our young ones and the ways of the world in which they are growing up.  Are the ‘new’ ways better or worse than in my day, your day – the old days……..  Or is it that they are merely different

Education to at least year 12 and at best through to tertiary level is a given.  This invariably means our children are students and almost by default ‘dependents’ (yes, there are exceptions) for far longer than ever before, and yet ‘adult privileges’ are expected.  Adult privileges? That would include provision of a mobile phone, laptop computer and internet access – and liberties which once were not enjoyed whilst still living under mum and dad’s roof because there were rules.  Minors’ ‘Rights’ is another potential can of worms- and I don’t mean the digging for gold miners, however I choose not to enter into that area of controversy. 

So why do so many seem to have an issue around Rules.  Not just young ones, there are some pretty crotchety oldies as well who believe rules are there for ‘others’ (aka Sheep!)  to abide by and not them.  Are Rules merely an annoyance –there to be tested then broken- or do they warrant being adhered to?  I admit that I tend to abide by Rules, Laws and especially “Do Not…. “signs as I presume that they are in place for a reason.  A sign stating “shallow water – do not dive” is a darn good indicator that diving in would be unsafe.  No Smoking signs are not just about protecting your own wellbeing or, depending on whose side you are on, restricting your rights.  Those signs are also displayed to reinforce the right that others in the same vicinity have to minimised allergens and lower health risks.   Exceeding the speed limit or running a red light are irresponsible actions,  if not downright dangerous, not only to you but to others who share the road with you.

On one hand there are those who argue for more government regulations to ‘fix things’.  Whilst on the other, there are howls of Nanny State and that our lives are over regulated.   Is it realistic to expect ‘others’ to fix our lives?  Written Rules (laws) as well as the unwritten (don’t swim on a full stomach!) are in place for a reason – risk management.

You may choose to test the boundaries of these rules and then choose to ignore them.  However that being your choice means you and no one else must also bear the consequences of your actions if things go pear shaped.  If you choose not to swim between the flags on a surf beach- you may be caught in a rip and drown.  Choose to drive in excess of the speed limit – you will likely get a hefty fine.   These are called consequences for your choices.  Just be aware that those choices and those consequences can impact upon others- that the consequences of your decisions or lack thereof are not always about just you. Beware the ‘damn you Jack, I’m all right’ mentality.  That “drag them down they’re too big for their boots/ who do they think they are - tall poppy” syndrome.

Perhaps then it all comes down to respect- for yourself as well as for those around you.  Respect and care for our neighbours as opposed to sparring.  Respect and care for the welfare of those among us incapable of adequately caring for themselves – the very young and the old or those who may be physically or mentally ill.  Become aware of the impact that your choices and the ensuing consequences have upon others around you.  It is known as the ripple effect – like a small stone thrown into a still pond - those ripples spread widely.

Radical responsibility changes everything. It means you own your thoughts, impulses, feelings and actions.  You are accountable for the consequences they bring and the impact they have on others.  It’s a privilege and an honour not a burden to take ownership of your actions. It creates freedom and control. It gives meaning to life.  Self-reliance is the source of personal power. We create ourselves, shape our identity and determine the course of our lives by what we are willing to take responsibility for.

Want to change your life and stop the excuses, starting today?

 Say three simple words:
I am responsible.

Radical responsibility changes everything.

It means you own your thoughts, impulses, feelings and actions.

You are accountable for the consequences they bring and the impact they have on others.

It’s a privilege and an honour not a burden to take ownership of your actions.

It creates freedom and control.

It gives meaning to life.

Self-reliance is the source of personal power.

We create ourselves, shape our identity and determine the course of our lives

 by what we are willing to take responsibility for.

Want to change your life and solve your problems, starting today?

Say these simple words:
I am 100% responsible for all my actions - and all my inactions.

“Industry Experience Required” Is a Mindset We Need to Get Out Of

“Industry experience required. Industry experience preferred.”

When I see these type of requirements listed in a job ad, they cause my eyes to glaze over.

I have had friends call and ask, “do you think I should apply if it says this?” My response is that clicking submit only takes a few seconds.

But maybe, there is a SMART recruiter out there who will ignore that ridiculous screening requirement and will instead look for talented people from other industries.

A sign that you just don’t get the “talent thing”

In searching for talent, we all have our own view on how to evaluate. What I may see you may not see, and vice versa. And, I believe in the concept of leaving no stone unturned in the constant search for talented people.

However, when we put restrictions on who we are interested in, or will only look at someone who is or has been in a certain industry, we are showing just how we really do not get the talent thing.

Every time you allow your company to throw up that talent filter, you are saying that you are not innovative and that you simply do not want new ideas.

What data have you used to make the assumption that if you were in a certain industry you would be successful in this job? Can you prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the only people who will be successful in this role are people coming from there? If you have that metric and it works for you, so be it.

However, smart companies today should look for transferable skills and not get too concerned about the industry experience. That is so Recruiting 1.0.

Innovation comes from a new mindset

My background is publishing, media and the entertainment business. Today, my industry is military aircraft maintenance.

Now, tell me the connection between these industries. In the end, it is still HR and my skills are transferable. In fact, my successes in the U.S. were easily rolled over to the new culture.

My views on HR are probably 180 degrees different from the HR professional here in this country (Saudi Arabia). However, this company was smart enough to look outside of their industry for someone to lead the HR function, whether it was me or someone else.

This past week I came across an article at MAD [MediaPost Agency Daily], titled Agencies Need to Tap a Broader Talent Pool which was written by Will Campbell, CEO of Quantasy. His article spoke about the “seismic shift” the agency world has gone through. He went on to describe how successful firms are rethinking their approach to talent by “reimagining their positions.”

Using their non-conventional staffing model, Quantasy went outside of the industry and hired successful people who had NO previous ad agency experience — an award-winning music executive, a web entrepreneur, a screenwriter, and even a blogger, to work on their many projects.

If you are involved in HR, or for that matter are just interested in how to take your company to the “next level,” this article is a must read.

Changing the narrative of your personal brand

Talent is scarce today and it will continue getting scarcer. Just by opening up your talent requirements to various skills sets, and not just specific industry experience, expands an organization’s talent capabilities.

In a lot of cases, hiring managers are the hard liners when it comes to this outdated concept. They feel that the only ones that can do their business is someone who has already been in their business.

I worked for a lot of years in publishing, where editors had the strategic roles within. That may still be the case for some that are holding on, but the new big thing is to look past industry experience for digital professionals where ever they may be.

As a matter of fact, I often tell my former publishing colleagues to change the narrative of their personal brand from “publishing experience” and instead express a varied background with digital leading the charge and publishing coming up in the rear.

In our role of being innovative HR practitioners, this same concept can be applied to us in our own development. Are we only reading HR bloggers and HR websites? If so, you are caught up in a loop like the old vinyl records that keep skipping and repeating the same songs over and over again.

Going beyond our own sphere

Stretch your development by reading about other professions. I found this article about Quantasy because I’m a big fan of marketing and advertising periodicals, their blogs, etc. My reading list also includes articles from Psychology Today, CFO, CEO.com, CMO.com and Advertising Age, to name just a few.

I want to stay abreast of all the thinking within the organization, not just my own profession. I want to know what all the others are doing to deal with disruption in their respective professions.

Our thinking has to go beyond our own sphere. We can’t allow our organization to get stuck in the one-industy corral.

If we want to be the captain of our organization’s human capital, we to need to move beyond a locked-in mindset. We can’t afford to focus just on our own industry, whether it is hiring or our own self-development. Read about it from a different vantage point and you just may learn something and gain some new ideas.

Hire from a different vantage point and the sunrise of innovation just may come up over your horizon.

Ron Thomas is a Chief Human Resource & Administrative Officer currently based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He formerly was Director, Talent and Human Resources Solutions at Buck Consultants (a Xerox Company) and is certified by the Human Capital Institute as a Master Human Capital Strategist (MHCS) and Strategic Workforce Planner (SWP). He's also worked in senior HR roles with Martha Stewart Living and IBM. Ron serves on the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, McKinsey Quarterly Executive Online Panel, and HCI's Expert Advisory Council on Talent Management Strategy. He also serves as a Faculty Partner and Executive Facilitator at the Human Capital Institute. He has received the Outstanding Leadership Award for Global HR Excellence by the World Human Resource Development Congress in Mumbai

What Top Companies Know: The 5 Basic Rules of Happy Employees

by Derek Irvine on Jan 11, 2013, 6:55 AM  

My timing seems to be a bit off.

Yesterday, I wrote about 4 Ways to a Happier and More Engaged Workforce, and then Fast Company  comes out with an article on just that – Secrets of America’s Happiest Companies.

Looking at organizations including Pfizer, NASA, Philips, and Adecco and further drawing on research from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Globoforce, the article boils down these “5 rules of happy employees”:

1. Happy employees don’t stay in one role for too long. Movement and the perception of improvement create satisfaction. Status quo, on the other hand, creates burnout.
2. There is a strong correlation between happiness and meaning; having a meaningful impact on the world around you is actually a better predictor of happiness than many other things you think will make you happy.
3. A workplace is far likelier to be a happy place when policies are in place to ensure that people regularly get acknowledgement and praise for a job well done.
4. Recognize that employees are people first, workers second, and create policies that focus on their well-being as individuals.
5. Emphasize work/life integration, not necessarily “balance.”

Need that in even simpler terms? If you want to create a company culture and workplace in which employees want to engage because they’re happier for doing so:

1. Offer challenges;
2. Spotlight the deeper meaning in the work;
3. Recognize people;
4. Remember employees are human, not robots;
5. Make space for employees’ lives.

These individual steps are fairly simple. It may even be easy to implement them with specific managers or in specific groups. But changing the culture of an organization such that all employees, at every level, are on board – well, that’s a bit of different challenge.

You certainly won’t solve that challenge with yet another local initiative or program owned by HR. You must create a culture that is owned by every employee. And the most solid culture to build that can feed all of these elements is a true culture of recognition.

What would you add to the list of rules for happy employees?

You can find more from Derek Irvine on his Recognize This! blog.

Derek Irvine is Vice President, Client Strategy & Consulting Service at Globoforce, a global provider of strategic employee recognition and reward programs. In his role as a thought leader for employee recognition at Globoforce, Derek helps clients set a higher ambition for global, strategic employee recognition, leading consultative workshops and strategy setting meetings with such organizations as Avnet, Celestica, Dow Chemical, Intuit, KPMG, Logica, P&G, Symantec, and Thompson Reuters. Contact him at irvine@globoforce.com.

Recently published on LinkedIn what the question: What would you do if you found out that a colleague is a workplace bully? What if that colleague were also a friend?

I would be interested to receive feedback on this issue- and the handling of bullying especially in the arena of small business.