The foundation of 1-on-1 Management™ philosophy is people development; hire talented employees with good character, work hard to develop their capabilities, and empower them to maximize their potential. There is, of course, a lot that goes into those three simple steps and it does not happen overnight – the great manager must invest a lot of time into his/her employees.

It doesn’t really matter what type of employee you manager – operations, administrative, sales – one of the keys to people development is good coaching. I was reminded of that in an article from the Selling Power sales management newsletter:

World-class managers do two things you should emulate in 2009, says Andrew Plunkett, a director with SPI. First, they make one-on-one coaching a priority. And second, they spend most of their coaching time on their middle performers because it’s those reps who can most impact your results. In short, world-class managers manage performance instead of non-performance. The difference is crucial because when you identify and coach the right people, it can impact your turnover by as much as 9 percent and increase the number of sales that occur in one to three months by 15 percent, according to SPI.

So why aren’t more managers using this powerful tool? According to Nathan Jamail, president of Jamail Development Group and author of The Sales Leader’s Playbook (Scooter, 2008), there are two big reasons sales managers don’t coach as often as they should – or even at all.

Reason #1: “I talk to my employees every day. I don’t need to schedule one-on-ones.” This is the most common reason managers cite for not coaching. It’s often followed by, “I have an open door policy so my employees can come see me any time they need me.”

Reason #2: “I’m busy! I don’t have time to coach people one-on-one.” The fact is, you’ll be less busy if you coach individually because performance will improve and turnover will drop. Coaching can help you get control of all those little fires you spend your days putting out.

The bottom line: Make coaching a priority in 2009… “Coaching is a process – not a one-shot deal,” concludes Jamail. “Successful coaching sessions with employees take time to develop. Be patient. The risk of trying something new is definitely worth the potential profit.”

Interesting… It doesn’t seem to matter if you are managing sales performance or any of several different types of on-the-job performance, 1-on-1 Meetings™ are extremely effective for engaging and coaching employees. The problem is that most managers don’t know where to start when it comes to coaching. The natural inclination is to view coaching as correction, which, of course, it often is, but coaching is much more than simply correcting failure. Coaching also involves training, helping an individual to see their potential, helping him/her to develop confidence in themselves, and providing opportunities to grow and develop. However, the key to all of this is to develop a relationship of trust with the individual you are coaching. Without trust, coaching is more akin to conflict.

In 2009, make time for coaching….and make time to develop a culture of trust that will allow you to coach effectively.