Coaching an employee can be a perilous task, given the employee’s jobs are at stake. There are various ways the employees can show resistance to the idea of being coached. Many times the employee feels obligated to be with a coach simply because the c-suite has asked to do so. “Resistance to coaching takes many forms,” says Amy Jen Su, managing partner of Isis Associates. The resistance can be observed with their behavior, continuous rescheduling, disinterested answers, etc. but their reasons for the same may vary. A study on The effects of coaching in employees and organizational performance concluded, “Our results confirm that coaching has an influence on both individual performance and organizational performance indicators.”
As much as it would be easy to turn a blind eye towards these employees, a coach’s job is to analyze the situation and get to the crux of the resistance and help the employee achieve their goals. This process can be tricky, which is why patience is a virtue to handle these situations.
Here are a few reasons why an executive might resist coaching:
- Arrogance: Given the high rank of the employee, overconfidence can be a natural reason for resistance.
- Lack of care: There current position can make them feel right about their leadership style, which might not be the case.
- Lack of confidence: For some executives admitting they need help isn’t comfortable. Lack of confidence can be a confusing state to be in for an employee at a high level of the company.
- Lack of trust: Questioning their manager or boss’s intention can be a reason for employee’s resistance. The conclusion they jump on is they are being fired.
It is better to have a detailed conversation with the employees to understand the reasons for them to block coaching. A coach should be compassionate towards them while listening to their story. Remember the purpose here is to help the company by supporting the executive. Once you have figured out the reason, there are some practical steps one can take to dilute the situation and help the employee and the company:
- Demonstrate trust: A coach can demonstrate trust primarily by keeping all the information confidential and have complete transparency. The employee needs to feel secure sharing all the information. Further, acknowledging the executive’s strengths and encourage them to build on them.
- Set clear goals: It is prevalent for coaches to hear an employee say. “I’m not clear about the objective here.” or “I have no idea about the outcome my manager expects from this.” This barrier can be broken by setting clear goals. It is crucial for the CEO and executive who is being coached to know what are the ultimate goals expected from the coaching project.
- Honest feedback: Most times, an organization hires an executive coach to give unrelenting reviews to the employees. The CEOs aim to avoid conflict and keep harmony in the firm. The problem occurs when the employee doesn’t understand that coaching is for their benefit. Moreover, there are consequences to not changing. The biggest one being, the employee might lose their job.
- Recognize success: Coaching is a job of persistence. In the process, one needs to recognize the progress and acknowledge it, with occasional step backs. The coach should focus on the improvements and not give up with rare setbacks.
According to Coaching: A Global study, 57% of the organizations use coaching more than they used it in the past.
https://www.opm.gov/WIKI/uploads/docs/Wiki/OPM/training/i4cp-coaching.pdf
The effectiveness of coaching depends on the manager’s relationship with an employee, which might take time and work to build. However, if someone is resisting coaching, it is advisable for the coach to not give up on them and strategize after analyzing the employee and using the best possible way to get to them. Further, a coach should be careful to bridge the gap between the employee and bosses effectively. If one thinks it would be best to pause the process and resume after some time off for the company’s interest, do so. Executive coaching can be of great help if both parties are willing to change and grow the company together, but only if an efficient coach is driving the process.
