Antecedents and Consequences of Coaching Behavior

Proponents of the learning organization acknowledge that leaders and managers must assume roles as coaches in organizations that aspire to become learning organizations. The concept of the manager as coach is becoming increasingly popular as a way to facilitate learning and improve employee performance. Yet, despite the research that has been done on coaching, studies generally focus on characteristics of good coaches, requisite coaching skills, and employees' perceptions of the improvement in managers' coaching skills following such training programs. This article describes some of the findings from a larger qualitative critical incident study. Specifically, the triggers for coaching and the outcomes of coaching interventions for the individual employee, manager, and organization are examined and reported here. This study identifies gaps and discrepancies, political, and developmental issues as the primary triggers for coaching. Additionally, this study suggests that managers' commitment to coaching has the potential to impact performance at the individual employee, manager, and organizational level.     

Manager Coaching Skills: What Makes a Good Coach?

The concept of “manager as coach” is increasingly popular in the management literature as a mechanism for improving employee involvement and performance. This paper summarizes a study we conducted to evaluate “coaching skills” among sales managers. The study used telephone interviews with managers' subordinates to collect data regarding managers' coaching effectiveness. During the interviews, subordinates rated their supervisors' coaching skills and provided a rationale for their rankings. This study analyzes the ratings and the comments, and outlines the behaviors associated with both high and low ratings of manager coaching skills.     

Manager Coaching Skills: Development and Application

The concept of “manager as coach” is increasingly popular in the management literature as a mechanism for improving employee involvement and performance. This paper summarizes a study to evaluate the effectiveness of a “coaching skills” program for sales managers. The program began with a five–day coaching skills course and was followed by on–the–job activities that called for application of the coaching skills covered in the course. The study used telephone interviews with managers' subordinates to collect data regarding managers' coaching effectiveness prior to the program. Follow–up interviews were conducted three months later. The interviews focused on the eight coaching behaviors identified by Schelling (1991). Quantitative analyses showed statistically significant increases on the follow–up ratings on five of the eight coaching behaviors. Further analysis revealed that subordinates who had not worked with their supervisors long tended to give lower ratings. Additionally, those managers with fewer subordinates often received higher scores on the eight coaching behaviors.     

Implications of job rotation literature for performance improvement practitioners

Job rotations have existed as a means of developing individual knowledge and skills since the industrial revolution, and in today's dynamic global workplace, they afford organizations an opportunity to manage changing psychological work contracts and employee desires for self‐managed careers. Through the systematic mining of psychology, business, management, and educational databases, this literature review provides a summary of job rotation practices, individual and organizational benefits, likely costs associated with job rotations, and implications for practitioners. Findings indicate that while employees seek learning and marketability over job security and stability, organizations strive to maintain continuity and internal growth and development of their workforce. Job rotations can appease both individuals and organizations through enhanced knowledge and skills, facilitation of greater job satisfaction, and identification of individual strengths for optimal organizational performance. However, these benefits come at a price to the individual and the organization in the form of increased work/life conflict, potentially higher training costs, and possible lower work unit morale. Conclusions are presented on the practical implications and recommendations for implementing job rotations and integrating the practice into performance improvement models.     

Guerilla Tactics for Employee Empowerment

Frontal assaults (e. g., training, team building, strategic planning) on organizational dysfunctions have been a staple of performance technology. A newly popular stratagem—-employee empowerment—-seeks to address dysfunctions by vesting more organizational power with the individual employee. This usually means that the manager and employee set specific and measurable mutual goals that require the manager to relinquish measurement processes and tools to the employee and then hold the employee accountable for quality, customer satisfaction, etc. However, managers may be loath to give up their traditional areas of control, while employees may be unaccustomed to assuming responsibilities of management. Therefore, around and between the more formal strategies for employee empowerment, the performance technologist needs to consider tactics beyond those of conventional organization development.     

Informal math coaching by instant messaging: Two case studies of how university students coach K-12 students

The aim of this study is to describe and explore how instant messaging (IM) can be used to support informal math coaching. We have studied two projects where university students use IM to coach K-12 students in mathematics. The coaches were interviewed with a focus on how informal coaching works by examining coaching challenges, how coaching can be organized, whether coaching should be anonymous or personal, which tools can be used and how informal math coaching supports learning. Research shows that generating and answering questions are important in the process of understanding and learning, which means that both the students and the coaches can learn math through this type of project. The coaches perceive informal math coaching as complementing online math forums. For students to learn effectively, the coaches need to be able to interpret the students' competence level in order to coach on a level that is within their development zone. It seems particularly challenging to coach at the right level when using IM and, therefore, it is important to establish a personal relationship with the students.     

Toward the development and validation of a career coach competency model

The career coaching profession is a dynamic field that has grown over the last decade. However, there exists a limitation to this field's development, as there is no universally accepted definition or empirically based competencies. There were three phases to the study. In the first phase, a conceptual model was developed that highlights four unique and distinct domains of the career coach. The model illuminates the triadic relationship between the client, the organization, and the coach. The second phase established a definition for career coaching, and the third phase involved using both the definition and conceptual model to create a list of skills and abilities, which was used to design a survey that was administered to 424 career coaches internationally. Through the use of factor analysis, an eight‐factor competency model emerged. Finally, it is hoped that these findings will lead to a vigorous academic and professional debate for the development of a universal, empirically based career coaching competency model.     

Performance Management Applied at the Performer Level

According to Kissler (1991), performance management begins by determining why it should take place at all. He believes that performance management helps organizations sustain or improve performance, promote greater consistency in performance evaluation, and provide high‐quality feedback. Performance management helps organizations link evaluations to employee development and to a merit‐based compensation plan. Moreover, it forms a basis for coaching and mentoring, permits individual input during the evaluation process, and allows for a blend of qualitative and quantitative evaluations. Performance management is a process that helps manage employee expectations of job demands and factors that reveal how well the job is done.     

Overview of Transfer of Training: From Learning to Performance

This article explores the background, current state, and emerging trends in transfer of training. Transfer of training can be denned as, ensuring full application of new skills and knowledge to the workplace. Typically, past training efforts have focused on ensuring learning by trainees, and not on supporting the transfer of that learning to performance on the job. Today's organizations recognize effective workforce performance as a strategic asset in the global competitive economy but face problems in attaining high performance. Experience of successful organizations shows that key stakeholders (managers, trainers, trainees, and others) must be closely involved in all phases of the design, development, and implementation of training and other performance improvement efforts, to achieve and maintain effective workforce performance. However, both managers and human performance professionals frequently overlook the need to gain stakeholder involvement to support full transfer of new skills to the job. A successful program in a government agency, and recommendations for transfer strategies for technology-based learning, illustrate the collaboration of stakeholders which is necessary to achieve high levels of transfer of skills to the workplace.     

The Influence of Coaching on Employee Performance: Results From Two International Quantitative Studies

Coaching has been identified as a key managerial behavior that organizations must promote to develop employees and achieve higher levels of performance. Despite this agreement and an increasing interest in coaching, there is still a paucity of studies exploring the impact of coaching on individual performance. This article presents an empirical investigation from two international field studies, one using business‐to‐business salespersons working in Latin America and the other one using business‐to‐consumer frontline employees from a service organization in Canada. Building on leader‐member exchange theory, we propose that coaching increases individual performance beyond the potential impact of sales experience and tenure. We find that coaching can explain between 2.9% and 6.2% of the variance in performance when controlling for tenure and experience. This article makes several scientific and managerial contributions, and also opens new avenues for research.     

Implementation of Bug-in-Ear Coaching by Community-Based Professional Development Providers

Research Findings: Bug-in-ear coaching implemented under highly controlled situations has a promising research base. Yet few researchers have examined its effects when implemented within less controlled environments using authentic professional development conditions. The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation and effects of bug-in-ear coaching when staff from a community organization served as community coaches for early childhood educators. We found that community coaches implemented bug-in-ear methods, but additional supports may be necessary to increase the intensity and quality of feedback provided. Effects of the intervention were observed for 1 of the 6 targeted outcomes for educators. However, effects did not translate to children’s communication outcomes. Practice or Policy: Bug-in-ear coaching is 1 method of providing early childhood educators with performance-based feedback. One benefit is that while community coaches observe educators live, they provide feedback that educators can immediately use to improve practice. However, bug-in-ear coaching poses challenges with respect to reviewing goals and reflecting on one’s performance. Community coaches and educators should systematically plan for reflection so that educators can create new implementation goals to improve their practice. Changing educator practice is a complex endeavor, but bug-in-ear coaching is a promising tool for doing so in a supportive manner.     

知识经济条件下图书馆人力资源的开发与管理

本在对知识经济的大环境和大背景进行描述后，认为人力资源才是知识经济社会发展的原动力，深层开发和科学管理人才资源可以为图书馆带来创造新的发展机遇，并从员工、管理、组织形式和管理模式等几个方面对知识经济下的人力资源开发与管理进行初步的探讨，得出了员工成为学习人，管理领导角色转变为育才型以及组织走向学习型组织的结论，着重强调了核心价值观的整合对知识经济下人力资源开发与管理的重要性。     

Career Development: The Linkage Between Training And Organizational Development

Improved organizational efficiency can only be accomplished if the employees within an organization have developed the skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes to perform at the highest possible levels. To a limited degree this can be accomplished via training, but employees develop the fundamental skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes related only to their current job. As a result, the organization is only indirectly impacted. This refers to the micro perspective of improved organizational efficiency. Organizational efficiency can also be accomplished through organizational development, but the individual employee is often overlooked during this process. Without employee commitment to improve efficiency, it will be short-lived. This approach refers to the macro perspective of improved organizational efficiency. Both the micro and macro perspectives of improved organizational efficiency have their weaknesses. Thus, a combination of the two processes is necessary. Career development is that combination. Career development is a process which enables employees to develop beyond the fundamental skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes required for their present job assignments. It is a process which is focused on improving organizational efficiency while relying on the development of the individual employee. Performance improvement practitioners can provide learning activities which improve employees' skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes by viewing improved organizational efficiency from an individual (micro) perspective while remaining dedicated to the overall enhancement of the organization (macro). However, many performance improvement practitioners fail to see the connection between training and overall organizational development. These terms are often used interchangeably which leads to the increased confusion and misapplication of each process. It is necessary, therefore, to arrive at an acceptable definition in order to communicate effectively the intent as well as the similarities and differences of the processes. This will enable performance improvement practitioners to better understand the commonalities of each process. It is this understanding that serves as the basis of this article and the forthcoming recommendations.     

What Happens During Language and Literacy Coaching? Coaches’ Reports of Their Interactions With Educators

Research Findings: This study investigated coaches’ interactions with educators in the context of a large-scale, state-implemented literacy professional development (PD). We examined log data and open-comment reports to understand what coaches found salient about their interactions with educators as well as how those reports aligned with the initial design of the PD. Coaches reported spending a large proportion of their interactions with educators completing administrative tasks. Our findings also indicate that coaches disproportionally targeted instructional content from the PD while also adding unrelated instructional content to their coaching. Although coaches reported focusing on relationship building, they reported using less efficacious coaching strategies (e.g., observation and discussion) more frequently than coaching strategies demonstrated to be more efficacious (e.g., modeling and coteaching). Practice or Policy: Our findings suggest an explanation for the mixed evidence around coaching, as coaches in the study seemed to move beyond the specifications of the PD in their coaching interactions. This work has implications for the design of PD for both improving coach training and allowing some flexibility to meet educators’ learning needs that may be secondary to the content of the PD. Findings also support the need for more nuanced mechanisms for investing in coaching and coaching outcomes.     

面向职业技能发展的EPSS开发研究

EPSS是为了提高工作绩效利用计算机技术开发的一种电子绩效支持系统,这种系统具有信息集成性、工作情境性、学习自主性、知识共享性等特点。职工利用它既可以实现在工作中学习,又可以实现在学习中工作的职业教育功能。在EPSS逐渐成为促进职业技能发展,提高企业组织或个人绩效的干预措施之后,EPSS的开发成为实现职业教育功能和绩效支持的关键。乔尼(Nguyen)和沃尔(Woll)创建了一种EPSS开发模型,该模型从绩效角度和学习角度提出开发EPSS要经过绩效分析、EPSS分析、EPSS设计、EPSS开发、EPSS的实施与评价等几个阶段。乔尼和沃尔创建的EPSS开发模型将职工培训、工作绩效以及技术支持有效地融合于整个开发过程中,对设计、开发EPSS的实践者提供了一个简洁、便于操作的参考模型。     

Career Development; The Linkage Between Training and Organizational Development Originally published in 1989, PIQ 2.1

Improved organizational efficiency can only be accomplished if the employees within an organization have developed the skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes to perform at the highest possible levels. To a limited degree this can be accomplished via training, but employees develop the fundamental skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes related only to their current job. As a result, the organization is only indirectly impacted. This refers to the micro perspective of improved organizational efficiency. Organizational efficiency can also be accomplished through organizational development, but the individual employee is often overlooked during this process. Without employee commitment to improve efficiency, it will be short-lived. This approach refers to the macro perspective of improved organizational efficiency. Both the micro and macro perspectives of improved organizational efficiency have their weaknesses. Thus, a combination of the two processes is necessary. Career development is that combination. Career development is a process which enables employees to develop beyond the fundamental skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes required for their present job assignments. It is a process which is focused on improving organizational efficiency while relying on the development of the individual employee. Performance improvement practitioners can provide learning activities which improve employees' skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes by viewing improved organizational efficiency from, an individual (micro) perspective while remaining dedicated to the overall enhancement of the organization (macro). However, many performance improvement practitioners fail to see the connection between training and overall organizational development. These terms are often used interchangeably which leads to the increased confusion and misapplication of each process. It is necessary, therefore, to arrive at an acceptable definition in order to communicate effectively the intent as well as the similarities and differences of the processes. This will enable performance improvement practitioners to better understand the commonalities of each process. It is this understanding that serves as the basis of this article and the forthcoming recommendations.     

Coach Education and Continuing Professional Development: Experience and Learning to Coach

Research over the last decade has demonstrated that it is experience and the observation of other coaches that remain the primary sources of knowledge for coaches. Despite this, coach education and continuing professional development fail to draw effectively on this experience. Using the work of Pierre Bourdieu, this paper attempts to understand how the “art of coaching” can be characterized as structured improvisation and how experience is crucial to structuring coaching practice. An examination of current coach education and assessment demonstrates that coaching practice viewed as a composite of knowledge has not specifically addressed the pervasive influence of experience on coaching practice. Drawing on experiences from the educational field, we examine how coach education and continuing professional development can utilize mentoring and critical reflection to situate learning in the practical experience of coaching.     

The Coaching of Teachers: Results of Five Training Studies

In this study, the results of five training studies evaluating the effects of a coaching program for use in Dutch primary and secondary schools are described. The coaches involved in these studies were: (1) school counsellors, (2) school principals, (3) mentors of beginning teachers, (4) mentors of teachers-in-training and (5) secondary school teachers. Coaching is a form of in-class support to provide (novice) teachers with feedback on their functioning and thereby stimulate the self-reflection and self-analysis needed to improve instructional effectiveness. Based on the pre- and post-training ratings of coaching conferences, a significant treatment effect was found for the coaching skills concerned with the development of autonomy (empowerment), feedback and business-like attitude. The pre- and post-training ratings from the coached teachers themselves showed a significant treatment effect for the coaching skills concerned with the planning of observational data collection. In addition, the teachers coached by trained coaches valued the coaching skills demonstrated significantly more than those teachers coached by untrained coaches. Inspection of the interactions for the adjusted post-test scores revealed different training effects for the five studies.     

The Influence of Learning Styles on Knowledge Acquisition in Public Sector Management

This research note outlines a project designed to investigate the role of training institutions in providing effective training and development programmes for managers. The investigation is being carried out in the light of recent criticisms levelled against the nature of formal learning environments prevalent in most institutional settings. The traditional role of trainers and developers as the providers of knowledge and skills for the development of competent managers runs contrary to recent findings, which suggest that managers learn more effectively in informal settings, rather than the formal settings evident in many development programmes. The idea that explicitly extracted competencies are the target every manager should aim for to improve their effectiveness is also challenged because competencies alone are no longer regarded as a sufficient criterion for success. Recent research has attached greater importance to the need to help managers see knowledge as a social phenomenon, and one factor that might distinguish successful managers from others is tacit knowledge. A major focus of this study is to explore the possibility that the level and content of tacit knowledge acquired by managers may be influenced by their individual learning styles, and the degree to which their dominant styles are matched with the context of their work environment.