Performance Management Technologies for Organizational Coaching

Tiffany Poeppelman and Nikki Blacksmith

The Modern App

Performance Management Technologies for Organizational Coaching 

Tiffany Poeppelman, LinkedIn

Nikki Blacksmith, George Washington University 

In order for organizations to help improve their employees’ skills and behaviors, technologies are being developed to allow companies to observe employees, allow those employees to practice their skills in safe environments, and gather feedback on their performance. In addition, companies today using traditional training techniques continue to find that some performance management methods are not as effective alone, because the workforce needs more time to practice their skills prior to being able to apply them on the job. This has led to the increased use of coaching and technologies to improve performance.

Coaching in the 21^st-Century Workplace 

In today’s workforce, there is an increased use of coaching as a critical and effective learning tool. Not only is it leveraged to enhance performance but also to enhance engagement, employee well-being, and organizational change (Grant, 2007). As such, organizations are increasing the amount they invest in coaching programs for both executives and managers (Wright, 2005). In 2004, at least one in five managers were trained in coaching skills (The Work Foundation, 2004).

According to the International Coach Federation, coaching is defined as, “An interactive process to help individuals and organizations develop more rapidly and produce more satisfying results; improving other’s ability to set goals, take action, make better decisions and make full use of their natural strengths.” Although coaching is a broad concept for performance management, there are different types of coaching conversations happening within organizations. The first is often referred to as transactional coaching, which is when coaching happens on the go or in the moment when a problem arises. The second type is transformational coaching, which is when a coach helps identify career opportunities for employees (Chittenden, 2012). Core coaching skills and abilities outlined in most coaching certification programs include active listening, the ability to ask open-ended questions, and the ability to come up with a actions based on the area that needs improvement or support (Gregory & Levy, 2010).  

There are many limitations and barriers to effective coaching. First, coaching is often difficult in practice due to individual differences and leveraging the technique to guide improvements for each person's needs. For instance, an employee might highlight a challenge with their client and feel it’s really something out of their control when in reality it might be an internal area of improvement. This requires coaches to be open and intently listen to the real causes of a problem. In addition, there is often a perception that coaching is a large time commitment on the part of the coach and coachee, which means it may not be adopted as often as it should be. This alone can limit the true impact coaching can have if it is not used at the right time. Although these are challenges to adoption, there are also difficulties in coaching efforts that have started to be mitigated with the use of technology. For instance, it’s often hard for a manager to remember each conversation with all of their team members on a given day, which makes it hard to recall critical moments that a coach can leverage as good reflection questions. Due to these realities, companies are leveraging the use of technologies to provide assistance to managers and leaders who are coaching others. In addition, technologies used for coaching are changing the workplace in many ways including: 

●Allowing coaches to capture the moment so they can revisit the discussion

●Enable the best practices of listening, reflecting, and asking the right questions

●Create an opportunity for coaches to measure performance on clear constructs

●Determine the best methods to improve behaviors on the job

The goal of this article is to highlight the different types of performance management technologies used by coaches to improve coaching conversations and in turn improve performance. In addition, we will highlight gaps in the coaching and technology research. 

Technologies Improving Performance Management 

The use of technology to increase the quality and quantity of coaching has traditionally lagged behind other organizational technologies such as learning technologies for one main reason. The “myth that technology-based coaching is not possible—or wouldn't measure up—because an electronic tool cannot truly replicate the functions of a live coach” (Ahrend, Diamond, & Gillwebber, 2010).  

The Training Industry, Inc. (2014) conducted a research study that identified general tools and technology used for coaching. Participants included learning leaders and sales leaders within over 120 companies who identified the following technology they use to support coaching including: emails (77.9%), workshops (72.8%), roleplaying (71.9%), knowledge repository (59.3%), webinars and videos (48.2%), as well as others such as short e-learning pieces, virtual instructor-led reinforcement classes, simulations, and e-libraries. Those same respondents also indicated the tools that they do not currently use for their coaching strategy, including gamification (63.1%), blogs (55.8%), mobile learning (44.3%), wiki (43.2%), chat (42.6%), and social collaborative tools (41.1%). However, it is critical to understand further how and why these types of methods are not being adopted as they could support performance management approaches in future efforts within companies, because they are proving to be effective for learning and development practices.

At a high-level, most of the technologies being used to support coaching today can be placed in categories based on the coaching process, which include (a) listening and observing a person perform a set of tasks (observing their performance), (b) discussing the realities of their situation (measuring the current performance and impact), and (3) determining a next step for solving the current gap or problem they might be facing (providing feedback and determining next steps to evaluate their success in addressing the issue). Below is a summary of the types of technologies being leveraged in the community to aid these areas of the coaching process.

Video and voice recordings.  With the cost of video production dropping, there are more tools being developed to support the recording, sharing, and capturing of critical calls or meetings in an organization. Ideally, most coaches will spend time observing the individual on the job, but given daily demands, it is often not an option or specific details can be lost over time as the ability to recall details within a client call or meeting can be a challenge for coaches and their team. Voice and video recordings are now serving as a great way to revisit the discussion and highlight aspects of behavior (good or needs improvement). Video are also being used in the performance improvement exercises as a way to illustrate scenarios within coaching exercises so that individuals can see good examples from their peers and practice recording themselves in a given situation. Two examples of these types of tools includes Allegoand RolePlayPRO, which have led to a structured and measurable way to track performance over time based on coaching sessions. 

Gareth Chick, founder and managing partner at Collaborative Equity, shared with us his views on technology usage in the coaching process. “The most powerful technology in my view is the use of mobile video to record calls when they are actually performing in their role—it’s not always possible of course to film a client meeting, although clients are often more open to this than we might think, but a key part of success as a coach is giving feedback on performance.” 

Tracking and assessing performance.Although role-play and video-based practicing methods are critical, without an objective assessment approach, managers will often be subjective in their assessments. To let individuals grow their skills, organizations have to be structured in their methodologies to ensure everyone is being rated against the same criteria. Hence, platforms are now making it easier for on-the-go assessment techniques with dashboards and reporting features. Knowledge Factor's amplifire learning applicationis an example of this type of technology. These tools not only provide a way to track performance over time but also provide scheduled reminders.

Social learning approaches.Other performance management technologies are leveraging the Bandura (1962) learning progression model, which includes observing, practicing/imitating, and repeating. Social learning experiences include gamification techniques, content sharing across various communities of practice, and providing content on demand. Great examples of these types of technologies are Commercial Tribe, Fuse, and SharperAx,which are focused on streamlining social and communication learning methods (e.g., methods of individuals sharing content and messages in real-time throughout the learning experience). Ultimately, these companies are not only developing coaching support tools and embedding Learning Management System-type elements, they are leveraging social networking and knowledge sharing across devices. This means they are developing tools that allow anyone to access learning and performance improvement-related information from their desk, mobile device, and internal applications. 

            Virtual coaching.Virtual coaching, which can include both automated avatars or someone coaching through video-conferencing capabilities, is also beginning to take off as a new area of emphasis. A survey conducted by E-coaching Associates found that among 300 U.S. and European respondents, 97.9% users felt that virtual coaching was clear and easy to understand and 85.3% of e-coaching content taught them something they didn’t already know. Electronic coaches are now being leveraged at lower costs and seeing the same benefits as a live coach. 

Research Findings                                                                                       

Identifying new means to improve performance has continued to grow in popularity over the years and received even more attention in the research community. Only within the past decade has the field begun to see more empirical research aiming to understand the impact, implications, and best methods of helping employees professionally growing through the use of technologies and coaching practices. 

Although there are many basic forms of technologies (e.g., emails, workshops, role-playing) used today for coaching programs, there is little to no research on whether these investments are improving the impact of coaching programs. Other support methods that are identified as not being used often (e.g., mobile learning, gamification, short form e-learning, and social platforms) also lack research that shows an impact on coaching programs. In addition, performance improvement technologies are increasingly leveraging social media, simulations, games, and massively open online courses, but we still need to better understand whether effectiveness varies across implementation approaches (Noe, Clarke, & Klein, 2014).           

Coaching practices and other learning methods have drastically evolved with advancements in performance management technologies that can be used at work or on the go and in support of social learning, which states one needs to observe and repeat a task in order to reinforce the content (Bandura, 1962). In addition, we’ve seen studies show the impact of supervisors who support their teams regularly on a one-on-one level, which is critical for both learning and transfer of training (Noe et al., 2014). 

Future Research

Coaching can be challenging and rewarding, which is why organizations are looking for technological solutions to improve coaching methods and approaches to structuring the coaching environment. Coaching technologies can also help structure the performance management process. Research continues to show coaching is an extremely effective approach at improving the skills of employees. However, we still have a long way to go. Below is a list of some key research questions that need to be addressed in order to improve our understanding of the intersection between coaching and techology.

●Are virtual coaches as effective as live coaches? 

●How do employees react to performance monitoring technologies when they are used for the purposes of coaching?

●Does technology allow coaches to be more effective at measuring performance and structuring the coaching conversation?

●Does the technology help the employee improve their performance by seeing real-time feedback results in a system? Does the support of a live coach increase ability to improve performance?

Conclusion

According to the ICF 2012 Global Coaching Study, approximately 47,500 professional coaches worldwide are in business (estimated annual revenue close to $2 billion), which was significantly more than the reported 2,100 professional coaches in 1999 (ICF, 2012). With the growth of coaching certifications worldwide, the growth of internal programs for executives and management across organizations, and data indicating the effectiveness of the coaching process, we will likely continue to see more substantial investments being made in the coming years.  As Gareth Chick describes, “In a management role, we have to coach our people to perform to the very best of their ability in their core skills and usually towards a specific goal [or career path]. The components of coaching are knowing when to coach, when to teach, when to give feedback, when to direct, when to advise. A great coach will move seamlessly between these different components, even in the course of one conversation.”

There is no doubt that I-O psychologists have work to do to understand the implications of these tools on the coaching process. It is critical to determine the best ways to enable our workforce to ensure they are able to develop skills that will empower them and improve performance. The changes in technology are transforming our expectations for managers, their roles, and their teams’ performance.

Are you leveraging other types of coaching technologies not listed? If so, we’d like to hear from you! Tweet at us (@themodernapp) or email us at themodernapp@gmail.com.

References: 

Ahrend, G., Diamond, F., & Gillwebber, P. (2010). Virtual coaching: Using technology to boost 

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Bandura, A. (1962). Social learning through imitation. InNebraska Symposium on Motivation, ed. MR Jones, pp. 211–74. Lincoln: Univ. Neb. Press

Chittenden, C. (2012). Transaction or transformation?Retrieved from 

http://www.talkingabout.com.au/TransactionOrTransformation

Grant, A. M. (2007). Enhancing coaching skills and emotional intelligence through training. 

Industrial and Commercial Training, 39(5), 257-266. 

Gregory, B. & Levy, P. E. (2010). Employee coaching relationships: enhancing construct clarity 

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ICF (2012). ICF 2012 Global Coaching Study. Retrieved from

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Noe, R. A., Clarke, A. D. M., & Klein, H. J. (2014). Learning in the twenty-first century 

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Taylor, K. (2014). Chart-topping tools for supporting sales coaching. The Training Industry, Inc. 

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The Work Foundation. (2004). Managing best practice: No. 111 coaching and mentoring. London, UK: Author.

Wright, J. (2005), ‘‘Workplace coaching: what’s it all about?’’ Work: Journal of Prevention, 

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