CHAPTER 10 Coaching and Performance Management 339

An Analysis and Extension of the Two Approaches. Kinlaw and Fournies

have much in common in their approaches to the coaching discussion. Both empha-
size the need to get employees to verbally accept responsibility for improving perfor-
mance and to involve them in developing the courses of action needed to solve the
problem. They differ most in terms of the assumptions made about employee will-
ingness to address performance problems. Kinlaw highlights the emotional aspect of
discussing performance problems with employees, and offers more guidance to
supervisors in how to deal with employees’ emotions and resistance. Fournies places
more emphasis on the rational, in that he maintains that an employee faced with
evidence of a performance problem and its consequences will generally be willing
to deal with it. He states that employee unwillingness must either be the result of a
supervisor doing an insufficient job of analyzing a performance (e.g., not dealing
with a specific behavior, dealing with an unimportant behavior, an employee’s
disbelief that the supervisor or organization will actually do anything about poor
performance) or the subordinate engaging in self-destructive behavior.78
We believe that both approaches offer constructive ways to discuss perfor-
mance problems and that a supervisor can benefit from adopting either approach,
or some combination of the two. One point that neither approach addresses is
the need for managers to develop individual coaching strategies for each
employee. In line with research on leader-member exchange, supervisors should
pursue different coaching strategies for different employees.79 Longenecker
argues for different strategies depending upon whether the employee’s issues are
more skill- and ability-related, or more motivational in nature.80 Consider, for
example, a situation where a supervisor has two employees with skill deficiencies.
One of them is highly motivated to improve, yet the other is not. Longenecker
recommends tailoring the coaching strategy and approach to each employee. If a
coaching analysis has been done (as discussed above), then the supervisor should
already have sufficient information to do this.
Another clarification we would make is to emphasize the importance of setting
specific goals for performance improvement.81 While this is implicit in each
approach (e.g., agreeing on what will be done and when), we believe that a super-
visor and subordinate must agree upon a clearly stated performance goal before

PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

generating alternative solutions to a problem. As mentioned in Chapter 2, research
convincingly shows that setting specific performance goals leads to performance
improvement. Establishing a performance goal can also provide a focus for the
later steps of the discussion, where discussion of alternatives, an action plan, and
follow-up are covered. Beverly Kaye has written about the use of a “developmen-
tal dialogue,” or individual development plan, and this is a practical means for
supervisors to put this recommendation into practice (and is also in line with the
idea of generating tailored coaching plans for each employee).82 Our synthesis of
the steps to an effective coaching discussion is presented in Table 10-2.

What if the Coaching Discussion Fails? There is no guarantee that the

coaching process will resolve all performance problems. Some employees are
unable or unwilling to improve performance, even after being given an oppor-
tunity to do so. If an employee is unable to improve, their supervisor should

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 340 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

TABLE 10-2
Steps for Supervisors 1. Identify the employee performance issue to be discussed
When Conducting a 2. Develop a coaching strategy that is tailored to the particular issues that need
Coaching Discussion to be addressed with a given employee
and Follow-Up 3. Present the employee performance issue to the employee; be specific,
factual, respectful, and supportive in presenting this
4. Seek the employee’s reaction and response to the supervisor’s presentation
of the performance issue
5. Seek out the employee’s agreement that a performance problem exists
6. Mutually discuss alternative solutions to the issue
7. Mutually agree on goals to set, actions to take, and the follow-up plan that
will be used to resolve the issue (possibly including an individual develop-
ment plan)
8. Follow up on this issue at the agreed-upon time and in the agreed-upon way
9. Recognize and reward employee improvements and achievements as they
occur

either transfer the employee to work he or she can perform effectively or termi-
nate the employee. If the employee is unwilling to improve performance, the
supervisor should discipline the employee according to the organization’s poli-
cies, which in many organizations includes steps of progressive discipline. If that
fails, it may be that the only option remaining is to pursue termination. One
potential advantage of the coaching process is that it provides the employee
with a fair opportunity to recognize performance that is poor and take steps to
improve it. If termination is the only choice left to a supervisor after coaching
fails, then the supervisor should have adequate documentation to justify the ter-
mination and withstand challenges by the employee of unfair treatment, and
should seek to do everything possible to preserve the employee’s dignity during
the termination process.83

MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE AND

ENCOURAGING SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE
Supervisors and managers should be interested not only in eliminating poor per-
formance, but also in ensuring that good performers remain effective or become
even better. This means they should reward effective performance and provide
employees who want to become superior performers with the necessary support
and opportunity.84 Motivational approaches, including goal setting, job redesign,
employee participation programs, and employee recognition programs, are ways
of increasing employees’ sense of ownership of their performance, thereby
encouraging them to remain successful.85
Coaching can also be an effective way to encourage and enhance effective
performance. Evered and Selman suggest that managers must create an environ-
ment that acknowledges employee contributions to the organization and

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 CHAPTER 10 Coaching and Performance Management 341

empowers them to move forward.86 Managerial supportiveness, availability, and

willingness to work with employees will create an environment where employ-
ees will demand coaching from their managers because they will be energized to
improve. This is important because if an employee does not have the desire to
improve, a coaching discussion will likely be perceived negatively, and the
employee will resist the manager’s efforts.
A manager-coach can provide employees with a unique perspective on
employee performance. Because it is difficult to observe oneself while perform-
ing a task, it is often difficult for employees to know exactly how they are doing
during performance. The manager-coach can observe the employee, describe
specifically what the employee is doing and how he or she is doing it, and then
make suggestions for improvement. For example, a sales manager can accompany
an employee on several sales calls to develop a complete description of the
employee’s approach to selling. The employee and sales manager can then
review the description and discuss ways the employee can overcome problems,
build on strengths, and try new approaches. This approach to coaching effective
employees is similar to Peters and Austin’s idea of “skill stretching”87 and is an
essential element of achieving expert-level performance.88 Xerox Corporation
includes coaching as an integral part of its sales training efforts. Its focus is on
providing managers the tools they need to coach, and on creating a partnership
between the salespeople and their managers to improve sales performance.89
Communication and partnership are vital to effective coaching.90 An
employee who does not invite coaching may resent the manager’s efforts and
feel threatened or insulted. Instead of seeing the manager’s actions as helpful, the
employee will feel the manager is trying to monitor and control him or her.
Another way to encourage continued effective performance through coaching
is to communicate and reinforce the organization’s values. Peters and Austin call
this aspect of coaching value shaping.91 Value shaping begins with the recruitment
and orientation of new employees and is continued through training and in the
manner with which the manager relates to employees every day. According to
Peters and Austin, a manager must reinforce organizational ethics and values
through recognition, storytelling, and work relationships, and never compromise

PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

in adherence to those values. Values can serve as guides for behavior that help
employees know what is expected and how to behave, even in novel situations.
Obviously, value shaping can only occur if the organization has a strong corporate
culture and a clear set of values to begin with.92

SKILLS NECESSARY FOR EFFECTIVE COACHING

A study by Gary McLean and colleagues identified four main types of managerial
coaching skills. They argue that managers as coaches need to be able to:
• Openly communicate with others (including subordinates and peers)
• Take a team-oriented, rather than individual, approach to tasks
• Value people over tasks
• Accept the ambiguous nature of the working environment93

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 342 PART 3 Human Resource Development Applications

Managers and trainers can use the scales and items from this study to evaluate
and develop particular coaching skills among supervisors and managers. A study
by Andrea Ellinger and colleagues highlights ineffective managerial coaching beha-
viors, such as being an ineffective communicator, too directive, withholding
information, or undermining an employee.94 In our remaining discussion, we
focus on two broad skill areas needed to be an effective coach, namely commu-
nication and interpersonal skills. Communication skills are essential for effective
coaching.95 Unless a manager has the ability both to listen to employees and get
them to understand what effective performance is and how to achieve it, coach-
ing will not succeed.
Fournies takes a behavioral approach to this, and argues that the only way a
manager knows whether an employee understands what has been said is if the
employee restates it.96 The process of getting employees to state what a problem
performance is, why it is a problem, and what they are going to do to remedy the
problem, and then having the manager express his or her agreement with what the
employee has said, is called thought transmission.
In addition to active listening, managers need to be specific and descriptive in
communicating with employees.97 This can increase the chance that an employee
will understand what is expected and will offer less resistance to coaching. If a
coach is descriptive rather than evaluative, the employee will realize that the
coach is trying to help him or her, rather than place blame.
Managers and supervisors often need to be trained in the communication
skills necessary for effective coaching.98 One approach to this, microskills
communication training, has proven effective in developing face-to-face
communication skills by managers.99 It isolates the specific verbal and non-
verbal skills that make up effective communication, and then trains partici-
pants in each skill.100 The skills developed in communication training that
are relevant to coaching include basic attending skills (e.g., maintaining eye
contact), feedback, paraphrasing, reflection of feeling, open and closed ques-
tioning, and focusing. A list of these skills and the components of each is
shown in Table 10-3.
In addition to communication skills, interpersonal skills are also important to
effective coaching. These interpersonal skills include:
1. Indicating respect
2. Immediacy (i.e., focusing on the present; dealing with problems as they
occur)
3. Objectivity (i.e., emphasizing factual information over subjective opinion)
4. Planning
5. Affirming (i.e., commenting on the employee’s successes and positive
prospects for improvement)
6. Consistency of behavior
7. Building trust
8. Demonstrating integrity101

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 CHAPTER 10 Coaching and Performance Management 343

TABLE 10-3
1. Basic attending skills: to help involve the employee in the discussion; Six Skills for Effective
these include:
Face-to-Face
a. A slight, but comfortable, forward lean of the upper body and trunk
Communication
b. Maintaining eye contact
c. Speaking in a warm but natural voice
d. Using sufficient encouragers (e.g., head nods, saying yes, and uh-huh)
e. Staying on the topic
2. Feedback:
a. Providing clear and concrete data
b. Using a nonjudgmental attitude
c. Using timely, present-tense statements (e.g., “Max, I just made some sug-
gestions for how you can present your ideas more clearly. But you don’t seem
interested. How can I help you improve your presentations?” as opposed to,
“Your last four presentations were disasters. I won’t tolerate another one.”)
d. Providing feedback that deals with correctable items over which the
employee has some control

3. Paraphrasing: a concise restatement, in your own words, of what the

employee has just said; paraphrasing helps clarify an issue, lets the
employee know you understand what has been said, and encourages him
or her to continue; paraphrases should be nonjudgmental and matter-of-fact
4. Reflection of feeling: reinforces the employee for expressing feelings and
encourages open communication; identifying and recognizing an employ-
ee’s feelings can help the supervisor establish a closer rapport; reflections
of feeling have a structure:
a. Employee’s name or pronoun
b. Stem (e.g., “It sounds as if you feel …”)
c. Label for the emotion
d. Final stem to check whether you understood employee correctly
(e.g., “Am I right?”)
e. An example: “Maria, you seem very nervous about working in front of
others. Would you like to talk about that?”

PART 3 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

5. Open and closed questions: to support your purpose.
a. Open questions (e.g., those beginning with How, Would, Could, or Why)
encourage employees to talk and share their ideas (e.g., “Why do you
think that is?”)
b. Closed questions (e.g., those beginning with Did, Is, Are, or How many)
invite a response of a few words, which can be used to clarify, identify
specific points, and speed the discussion (e.g., “Did you close the sale?”)
6. Focusing: helps identify potential areas of organizational difficulty (person,
problem, context, other, and self) and ways to deal with each

SOURCES: Kikoski, J. F., & Litterer, J. A. (1983). Effective communication in the performance appraisal interview.
Public Personnel Management Journal, 12, 33–42; Kikoski, J. F. (1999). Effective communication in the
performance appraisal interview: Face-to-face communication for public managers in the culturally diverse
workplace. Public Personnel Management, 28(2), 301–322; McMahon, G. (2007, June). Unlocking potential.
Training Journal, 52–55; Gordon, M. E., & Stewart, L. P. (2009). Conversing about performance: Discursive
resources for the appraisal interview. Management Communication Quarterly, 22, 473–501.

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.