When To Coach Employees
We need to let people to make their own mistakes so they can learn from them. We can train them and advise them, which will help some of the time, but actual experience is often the best teacher. A good manager, therefore, will hang back and resist the impulse to jump in every time an employee encounters difficulty. A good manager will always monitor what their employees are doing, (See Management 101 for more on "monitoring") but will not intervene to coach their employees except in the following circumstances.- Their current behavior poses a threat to themselves or someone else
When an employee is doing something that could cause harm to themselves or someone else, you have to step in. This is one instance where you can't let someone "learn from their mistakes". You need to provide coaching. Rather than tell them the solution, suggest a couple of alternatives and let the employee figure out which is best. Make sure they understand why the behavior they were planning is inappropriate. - There are ethical or legal ramifications of their actions
You can't allow employees to do things that are illegal and you shouldn't allow them to do anything unethical. Whether their planned behavior is illegal/unethical because of intent or ignorance, you can't allow it. As with dangerous behaviors, provide alternatives, let them decide, and explain why the planned behavior was a poor choice. - They are hurting their team membership
You need your employees to work together as a team. If one member of the team is doing something that will cause the others to exclude him or her from the team, you have to step in. If an employee always takes credit for the teams' work, you need to coach them. If an employee in a close area, like cubicles, always yells into the phone and disturbs those around him, you have to step in and help him find a different behavior. - They are repeating failed behaviors
When employees have repeatedly tried to solve a problem, and their solution isn't going to work, you need to step in. Often we try something and it fails. We try it again to make sure we did it the way we meant to and it still fails. If they keep trying, they aren't learning and you need to coach them. - The impact on the company financials is severe
Almost any mistake is going to cost the company money, either directly or in lost profits. You can't step in every time an employee might make a mistake just to save money. Consider it an investment in the employee's learning and development. However, if their planned action would have a significant negative effect on the company financially, you have to step in. You have a responsibility to the company to protect its fiscal assets that is as great as the responsibility to develop its human assets. Provide the employee with alternative behaviors, let them figure out the appropriate choice, and explain why you had to step in.
Managing this issue
Knowing when to let an employee make a mistake they can learn from and when you need to step in and coach them is a balancing act. You have to balance their opportunity to learn and grow against the harm they could do to themselves, their team, and the company. The more confident you are in your own abilities, the more you will be able to let your employees make their own choices. Remember, you role in coaching employees is to help them find the right behavior, not just tell them what to do.-----------------
The first part of this article deals with When Not To Coach Employees
