They were creating a content module on coachingconversations for all the peoplemanagers of their organization. Due to my experience in both humanresources and coaching , they asked me to review the content.
My immediate reaction was- Please don’t do this! Your Managers can never have the time, patience and/or skills to do effective coaching with their reportees.
On their insistence, I reviewed their content, but throughout the process kept feeling the pain a Manager would go through with this concept.
Managers are by definition meant to Manage.
They are always under the pressure of targets (revenue, productivity, engagement, attrition etc.). They can never have the mind-set of coaching. And even if they do on one fine Saturday, by Monday they would be required to get back on action mode- give direction, delegate, manage team members.
Coaching is a holistic journey; mastering the art of coaching requires hours of practice, mentoring and learning. Just by providing nude questions to Managers & giving them a guide on when to use each question is like sending them to hardware shop to buy milk. Pointless.
The more these two roles are kept separate, the better it is for every one in the organization.