Managerial Coaching
Introduction
John is staff member at our organization. John is a relatively new member in the organization. He has been in the organization for the two months. During the two months, it has been noted that John is having problem in completing the task that he has been assigned by his direct supervisor. John always postpones things until it becomes absolute that he has to do them. As results a lot of work has piled up at his desk. Recently, he has been having problem with direct supervisor because of his way of doing things. The performance problem that needs to be addressed is procrastination. Procrastination is the habit of putting off activities that are not compelling at the time causing them to pile up over time. It can also be characterized by delay in making decisions, acting and implementing decisions
“What is the Specific Problem”?
The specific problem in this case is procrastination. John always postpones what he is required to do until the last minutes (Brocato, 2003). This has become a serious problem as a lot of work has piled up at his desk. Recently, John has been engaged in some kind of conflict with the direct supervisor due lateness in submitted completed task. Due to the pile up, John may sometime forget to complete some of the task until it is too late or until he is reminded by his supervisor.
“Does the team member know that the problem exists”?
It appears as though John is not aware that the problem exists. When asked by his colleague why he is leaving without completing some of his task he always reply that he will better placed to complete the task the following day. I also asked the same question and he gave the excuse that he always works best under pressure. However, he has began to note that something is not right especially know that he getting into conflict the supervisor because of this habit.
“Does the team member know the performance expectation”?
The team member does not seem to have a clear performance expectation. New employees joining the organization are always served with a document that explains their term of employment. These include an explanation of the task that they are going to perform, their duties and responsibilities and reporting structure. However, John was hired at period when there was a lot of work in the organization. He did not receive adequate orientation of the organization and his job. Though he understands his tasks and responsibilities he might not be aware of the overall strategies of the organization. Thus he might lack knowledge of how his contribution where his contribution fits into the overall strategy of the organization. John did not get the time to discuss these expectations with his supervisor.
“Are there obstacles outside the team member’s control that are affecting his performance”?
There are various obstacles that are affecting John’s performance. One of these obstacles is complexity of work. As already stated, John did not receive adequate orientation after joining the organization despite the technical nature of his job. As results, his job appears complex to him. Often John put off task that he believes are complex or which give him problem. Another, obstacles that is affecting John is a lot of workload.
It is also mentioned that John, joined the organization at period when there was a lot of work and few personnel. As a new employee he is experience difficulties dealing with the excessive workload in the office. John is also suffering from work/conflict. John is a single parent. Therefore, apart from work responsibilities he has to take care of his 11 year old boy. Balancing between home and work responsibilities is proving to be a tough task. John might also be suffering from anxiety. It is normal for an individual to feel anxious when he goes into a new environment, introduced to new people and given new responsibilities.
“Do negative consequences follow good performance”?
An employee may be motivated to perform poor incases where good performance is accompanied by negative consequences (Anonymous, 2004). However, there is no evidence of good performance being accompanied with negative consequences in John’s case.
“Do positive consequences follow poor performance”?
An employee may also be motivated to perform poorly when poor performance is accompanied with positive outcomes (Anonymous, 2004). However, there is little proof that such a situation exists in John’s case.
Problem Analysis
This problem is worth solving. Procrastination is a serious problem as it can have advance impacts on both the organization and the employee. One these impacts is exerting a lot of workload and stress on the employee and other employees. John is under great deal of stress as a lot of work has piled on his desk. This effect is also spilling over to other employees as they are forced to put in extra effort in order to cover for John short coming. Procrastination also increases the risk of not having things done within the organization. John procrastination may results in delays in the processing of customers accounts. This may result in loss of sales and damaged reputation for the business. Addressing this problem will mitigate the impact of this habit.
Cause Analysis
The primary sources of this problem can be divided into two major categories. The first category is managerial causes. These are causes that originate from organization’s management. The management is a partly to blame for John’s procrastination. This is because the management failed to provide clear goals and expectations to John. Lack of clear expectation means little guidance for the employee. The management also failed to give John a proper orientation. As result John is overwhelmed by some of the tasks he is required to complete. Failure to control the workload exerted on employee is also a source of the problem. Due to the huge workload, employees are less motivated to work.
The second category of causes is individual causes. These are causes that originate from deficiency in knowledge, skills and certain trait by the individual (Brocato, 2003). One of the individual problems is lack of knowledge about the job. John often postpones task that he perceived as difficult. This is an indication that there is some deficiency in knowledge. Another, cause is anxiety. John appears to be anxious in his new environment (Rao, 2012). John is yet to get used to the new organization, new colleagues and new neighborhood as he is also new to the city (anonymous, 2004). John may also have a problem in self regulation. Though it is understandable that John may find it difficult to complete new task, John should have taken the initiative of consulting others whenever he experiences problem instead of putting of work.
Worth Analysis
In order to address John’s problem the organization will have to give John a proper organization and John orientation (Brocato, 2003). This will involve informing him of organization goals and expectations as well as guiding him on how to perform some of the task that makes up his job description. This is going to cost the organization in terms of financial resources required to organize the training program, time taken to implement the plan and the opportunity cost of investing time and money into this intervention plan.
However, the cost of not intervening is also high. When the habits persist the organization risk having most of customers account unprocessed leading to lost business and tarnished reputation for the business. The excessive workload created on John and other employees may also lead to work related stress and may become a cause of employee turnover. This will result in extra cost for the organization.
Action Plan
| Action | Start date | Due Date |
| Orientation | July 30, 2012 | August 3, 2012 |
| Training | August 6, 2012 | August 31, 2012 |
| Evaluation and Feedback | July 30, 2012 | August 31, 2012 |
The orientation program will involve taking John through the essential details of the organization and his job. This includes the mission and vision of the organization, the organizations goals and strategy (Berkeley, 2012). It will also involve a discussion of tasks, duties, responsibilities and expectations associated with his job. This will help John to understand his role in the organization. He will have a clear understanding of his responsibilities and what is expected of him.
The second action plan will involve training. John is relatively fresh in organization and is going to need training in order to develop skills and knowledge that is necessary for him to complete his tasks (Anonymous, 2006). Training will eliminate the pressure associated with having to perform difficult task. John will also be trained on other skills such as time management, communication, teamwork and work/life balance. Feedback action involves evaluating John progress during the intervention. This is a continuous process that will take place through out the course of the plan.
References
Anonymous (2004). “Outsourced learning makes its mark”. Development and Learning in Organizations. 18(4): 28-30.
Anonymous (2006). “For success with corporate coaching, begin with assessment”. HR Focus. 83(7): 8
Berkeley (2012). “Guide to Managing Human Resources”, “Chapter 5: New Employee Orientation”. July 29, 2012. http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/guide/orient.htm
Brocato, R. (2003). “Coaching for improvement”: “An essential role for team leaders and managers”. The Journal for Quality and Participation. 26 (1): 17-22
Rao, M.. (2012, May). “Myths and Truths about Soft Skills”. T + D. 66(5): 48-51.
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