Career Coaching as a Tool for Communication at Work

Career coaching is an ideal means to improve communication at work. Coaching is usually a positive and emotionally safe way of interacting. As a result it facilitates openness and exploration.

Why consider career coaching as a tool?

coaching style of managing employees builds strong relationships. When you create a comfortable atmosphere, employees open up more easily. The focus of coaching is personal growth. Therefore employees will sense that you are interested in their development.

Career coaching enables you to check in with an employee. Deadlines and work pressures may prevent you from having more personal communication at work. It is easy to be caught up in the daily details of getting the work done. So make time to have regular coaching sessions around each employee’s career. In these sessions you can find out how the employee feels about their work and prospects to advance or learn more.

Career coaching is about conversing in an atmosphere of positive engagement. Unless of course there are performance issues that need to be resolved. Employees want to feel safe before they discuss their careers or development areas. So it is important to set a welcoming and uplifting tone. This will make it easier for both parties to be open and honest.

Coaching entails listening carefully. Employees have a need to be heard and understood. So when you listen you show that your focus is on the employee. You intentionally avoid enforcing your point of view.

A great listener reads between the lines. They notice what is left unsaid. This is very important in communication at work. When we are caught up in the busy-ness of our day to day activities we easily miss the chance to invest in building strong relationships. Taking time to hear someone out can change this. Notice what your employee’s tone of voice or non-verbal behaviour says. Are they stressed, upset? What do you observe that can hamper communication at work? Listening will greatly improve communication at work.

Career coaching assists you to gather information.  Through coaching you probe and ask questions. Of course you need to do this in a gentle, caring way. Employees do not want to feel they are being interrogated. Instead you can enquire how they approach their work or what they feel they are doing well, etc. Constructive questioning helps them to think more critically about their performance, personal growth areas, etc.

Coaching enables you to give an employee feedback. Employees thrive on positive feedback. An employee at an agency had been putting in extra effort at work for a length of time.  His manager noticed his concerted efforts. The manager felt that promotion was due because the employee was functioning at the next level of his career and doing more than was expected of him. It meant so much to the employee to be recognised without having to ask for a promotion.

Often we fall into the trap of not saying anything when an employee is performing well. Yet when there are issues we then communicate with them. It is disheartening when an employee is left in a void with little feedback on how their senior feels they are doing.

Career coaching is an ideal tool for connecting with your employees at a more personal level. Because the focus is on growth and development the nature of the conversation is more amicable. This is different to performance reviews that are often tension filled.

Consider career coaching if you would like to enhance relationships and communication with your employees.

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Posted in Business Owner, Communication.