KeyCompetencies for Coaching Effectiveness

This week, we continue our focus on the HOT TOPICS 2011 from our reader survey earlier this year. This week’s topic is Coaching.

What is Coaching and what competencies are involved?
Coaching other people is an increasingly critical skill and one that can make the major difference in an individual’s ability to empower people successfully. Coaching effectiveness generally relates to coaching ability in the seven competencies listed below:

• Empathizing ability
• Listening skills
• Capacity to confront and challenge
• Problem solving ability
• Feedback giving skills
• Capacity to empower
• Mentoring skills

Coaching Effectiveness Profile
One way to assess your coaching skills and abilities is to undertake a competency assessment like the ReadytoManage Coaching Effectiveness Profile. The Coaching Effectiveness Profile provides a comprehensive process for assessing an individual’s capacity to coach others by measuring the respondent’s coaching ability in the seven competencies above.

How Does it Work?

By rating various behaviors that underlie coaching competence (1-5 scale), individuals can quickly determine their relative strength in each competency. The participant receives a personalized report of his or her results including a histogram that quickly shows where efforts to improve should be concentrated in the future. Detailed interpretative notes are included for each competency, including improvement actions for low scorers.

What Behaviors are Measured per Competency?
There are 12 behaviors evaluated in each of the seven competencies (or 6 if the short version is selected; same price). Individuals appreciate the use of behaviors in better understanding how competency is built, rather than being rated poor, or low in a particular performance area. Instead, he or she simply has demonstrated or not demonstrated (with gradations in-between) a particular behavior.

Here is an example of some of the behaviors from each of the seven competencies:

Empathesizing Ability

Makes themselves fully available and accessible for people to talk with them

Can be fully trusted to keep a secret

Listening Skills
Listens to understand rather than to reply
Creates a positive climate for people to be candid with them

Capacity to Confront and Challenge
Challenges people to take on difficult or challenging tasks
Encourages people to solicit feedback on themselves from their peers

Problem Solving Ability
Points out that there are inevitably new and different ways to tackle problems
Helps people to understand the facts and data before finding a solution

Feedback Giving Skills

Provides concrete and specific examples to help people understand
Offers people new insights or ideas into old problems or issues

Capacity to Empower

Encourages people to look for new learning opportunities
Avoids specifying exactly HOW something should be tackled or done

Mentoring Skills

Encourages people to set improvement targets and assists individuals to reach them
Looks for ways to match individuals to people who can mentor, help and support them

Coaching is a key skills whether you are a manager, or not! Certainly we in Human Resources and Training & Development need to be excellent coaches and role models to our clients and the workforce we support. Get in better touch with your coaching skills today!

Available Formats

This competency-based assessment is available in a self-report format, a 180 degree format (self + manager) or a 360 degree format (self, manager + up to 10 other raters), allowing the individual to deeply explore where he or she may already be strong as a coach and where more work needs to be done to increase effectiveness.

Buy the self-report format now for half price ($9.95) and take it whenever you like.
One of the four assessments on sale this month (March 2011) in the RTM store is the Coaching Effectiveness Profile (self only is $9.95 instead of $19.95) using coupon code: FebFeature.

Click here for a free sample report. Then you can see exactly what you will get for the $9.95 investment!