is it worth coaching under-achievers?

yes, if they have the right stuff and you have the right skills.

by rick telberg
the finance executive

forget the strategic stuff, the visionary exercises, the long-term planning. what keeps most finance and accounting executives awake at night lies closer to home, in the here and now: the day-to-day management of their jobs and their departments. it’s no small task, considering the many roles finance managers are expected to play, the layers of new rules and regs, and the competitive demands of just keeping up. so it’s little wonder that all too many finance managers may overlook the human and personal aspects of the job. but accountants are people too. and they need as much hand-holding, mentoring, encouragement and coaching as anyone else.
that’s why, when it’s tougher than ever to get and keep good employees these days, coaching under-performing workers can be one of the best investments you can make.

sure you have to know when to cut your losses if you’ve hired a genuine clunker, but there’s a growing school of human-resources thought suggesting that under-performance by high-integrity people can be turned around by smart and effective managers. are you up to the task?

for starters, finance managers should look first at themselves before pointing the finger of blame at others who may be performing less than satisfactorily. while these staff members can sometimes be converted into top producers with a little coaching, managers are too often afraid to take that step. the reasons may be because they’re uncertain about their organization’s performance standards, fearful of alienating the employee altogether, or concerned that other managers, including the hr department, may not approve.

for finance executives, it may be critical to cut through those uncertainties and help the marginal staffer, as long as he or she has an attitude ready, willing and able to accept coaching. it is, at bottom, a two-way street.

coaching a staffer involves the same basic components as coaching a football halfback or baseball outfielder ? a system of feedback, direction and support designed to get individuals to recognize and accept their issues, resolve to fix problems, and then build the self-confidence that leads to future success. but business coaching includes an element that could cause elite sports head coaches to spit – negotiating coaching arrangements with the subject workers. can you imagine joe torre or bill parcells taking part in such an exercise?

that negotiation can entail telling the employee that he or she will be the subject of one-on-one attention and that it’s not punishment, but rather the employee’s opportunity to improve and prove his or her value. the negotiation could also set timelines for improvement ? perhaps tied to the organization’s worker review schedules ? and should let the employee offer his or her own proposed solution.

the coaching itself involves telling the employee specifically where the performance is lacking, offering advice and other resources that can help the situation, and giving consistent feedback on the employee’s efforts to improve.

the tricks to successful feedback include:
— giving it in private.
— delivering it with the intent to improve, not berate.
— making it timely.
— being specific.

for example, don’t merely tell an employee he or she was unknowledgeable about something. instead, spell out the consequences, such as the loss of a budgetary battle that could hurt the department, or an incorrect projection that could derail a major marketing push.

similarly, don’t just tell staffers they are “always late for meetings,” but identify the specific dates and times they were tardy. then ask them why, and work together to fix the issue. it could be as simple as starting a meeting a half hour later to allow a staffer to drop off a child at school.

still, many managers object that coaching is not their job and the time necessary takes away from other things they can be doing. but not coaching means potentially good workers don’t meet their potential and the organization suffers even more.

the idea of corporate coaching is nothing new, but is gaining more notice in the current scrap for talent while workforce numbers are dwindling. “the set-up-to-fail syndrome: how good managers cause great people to fail,” published by harvard business school press, makes an extended argument for coaching. the potential to cultivate under-performers into the lifeblood of organizations is being lost amid the currently trendy mindset to identify and cater to so-called top talent.

to be sure, the majority of under-performers are not diamonds in the rough. but uncovering just one or two gems may make the effort worth it.

[first published by the aicpa]

posted on february 1, 2006