The Problem With Most Contact Center Coaching

Transcript

Hi guys, this is Blair from BravaTrak, helping contact centres to lift agent performance by 11% in 7 months, guaranteed.

I've been thinking about coaching, and your why most contact centre teams don't actually achieve their full potential. Of course, coaching is a much used term, but what does it really mean?

Well, the definition that resonates with me is this; "Bringing out the best in people to maximise their performance". So let's consider a couple of common approaches to coaching, and determine the extent to which they achieve that desired outcome; "Bringing out the best in people, to maximise the performance".

Let's start with the findings of research published in the Harvard Business Review. That research found that most managers think they're coaching, when in fact they're actually just telling their employees what to do.

Now, if the only coaching you received from your manager was them telling you what to do, would that inspire you to deliver your best work and maximise your performance?

I seriously doubt it.

So the most common approach to coaching used by managers doesn't achieve the desired outcome.

Now, when I ask team members about the coaching they've received, they'll generally talk about the One-on-One meetings they have with the manager. These are the time a person's overall performance is reviewed, and the opportunities for improvements are discussed.

And because One-on-Ones generally happen once a month, the manager will briefly mention things done well, but inevitably needs to focus on the performance weaknesses that must be addressed.

Seems entirely reasonable. Except, the Corporate Leadership Council found that an emphasis on performance weaknesses in a formal review actually decreases performance by up to 27%. Astonishingly it seems that being told that aspects of your performance aren't up to scratch, and you need to do something about it, isn't highly motivational.

Which means that the coaching approach commonly used in One-on-One meetings doesn't achieve the desired outcome of bringing out the best in people and maximising the performance.

Unfortunately, the current coaching approaches simply don't work well enough. They don't achieve what managers want - to motivate their people for high performance.

Well, that's my take. What do you think?