5
Summary ............................................................................................................
Counseling is the least favorite of the three approaches in the
StaffCoach™ Model and is the one most easily identified with
achieving results. Done well it is a win-win situation for you and
your associates.
Your people want to win and they want to be on a winning
team. When you step up to below-average or poor performance
and deal with it immediately, you strengthen the team and assist
the associate. There are a lot of reasons why managers avoid
counseling. Having guidelines and steps to follow will minimize
the frustration and fear of addressing negative behaviors.
Confrontation signals a negative approach yet differs from
criticism in its emphasis. The goal of any counseling session is
support and recognition. The associate is important to you, so
much so that you will take the time to assist him in his ability to
improve. An important aspect of counseling is that, although you
are counseling to help, correct and improve, the associate owns the
problem and is responsible for addressing the issues.
Counseling is more promoter than police officer, more healer
than henchman, more director than dictator. You aren’t trying to
push everyone into the same behaviors and the same molds. You
counsel to help people see where they fit and what they must do to
fit. You maintain their best interests by taking care of the
organization’s objectives and needs. Molding and shaping are all
about increasing your people’s abilities to stretch. As they develop
flexibility, they will better cope with the exponential changes that
are bombarding them in this new workplace.
The values of the StaffCoach™ are the values of the
counselor. Your emphasis is your people.
The Counselor Role: Confrontation and CorrectionA counselor doesn’t
push “square”
team members into
“round”
organizational
holes.