Managers often play a lot of roles for their employees. There’s the obvious task delegation, accountability and performance aspects of being a manager, but many employees also want to delve deeper and get even more guidance and career support from their managers. While employees crave more from their managers, the truth is that managers simply don’t have the time or the ability to be truly objective when guiding someone through their career. Hiring a coach can give an employee the outlet to discuss meatier topics, provide outsider perspective, and allow them to be vulnerable without the power balance of sharing those things with a manager.
Below you will find a few examples of employees that could really benefit from hiring an outside coach, as well as a simple script for recommending that your employee go outside the company and hire a coach.
4 types of employees who would benefit from coaching
Employees that regularly require your permission before they act even when they should be able to make autonomous decisions. You’ll often hear these folks say “I want to make sure I’m getting it right or that I don’t step on your toes.”
What they can work with a coach on: Confidence, decision making, and identifying impactful contributions
Employees that are begging for more direction in their careers. You’ll often hear these folks say “I wish I could spend all my time with you to learn what I should be doing to keep getting promotions.”
What they can work with a coach on: Unlocking ambition, goal setting, and exploring their potential in their career
Employees that used to have a lot of passion and now are showing up differently. You’ll often hear these folks be a bit more sassy with you and their colleagues or their body language will change IE: they are closed off, or you see more eye rolls during meetings, etc.
What they can work with a coach on: Burnout recovery, setting boundaries for themselves, and finding a firmer understanding of their values as an employee
Employees that have applied for several promotions and are becoming frustrated that they have not moved into a new role. You’ll often hear these folks say “I just don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.”
What they can work with a coach on: Unlocking ambition, confidence building, and self evaluation and direction.
How you can recommend a coach
Suggesting an employee spend their own money to hire a coach might feel a little weird, that said keep in mind that the choice is entirely up to your employee. By suggesting coaching to your employee you are simply providing them with information about another resource they can use in their career. If they do hire a coach, they’ll be getting extra support that will have them showing up as a stronger, more confident employee regularly.
Script:
I’ve noticed that we’ve been spending a lot of time talking about X recently. We can absolutely keep talking about that together, but I also wanted to recommend that you consider hiring a coach to dive even deeper on this topic with you and they can provide you the additional career support I know you are craving. The decision is totally up to you and would be something you schedule and pay for on your own, but I wanted to mention it as an option since I know you take your career and growth seriously. If you decide you want to give working with a coach a try, I’d be happy to connect you with an awesome career coach I know.