Coaching and Mentoring

A. Background

consultana have now operated within the interim sector, for over 15 years. During this time, a common theme of why their services have been required has been performance issues. These have either been at an individual or team level. The terms of reference for the assignments invariably have required a significant turnaround in operational/factory performance.

During the execution of the various assignments they have undertaken, common themes keep emerging:

Factories continue to be run without any daily/weekly disciplines to drive performance and accountability.
Significant variability exists in how individual or team performance is dealt with by Organisations.

Typical examples of both themes are :

Disciplines lacking

No structured daily/weekly disciplines in place to drive performance in real time
No cascaded measures in place
No short interval controls
Line managers unaware of expectation and therefore:
Shift teams unaware of expectations
No trending of information : are we getting better?
Little evidence of what good truly looks like

Variability in team/individual performance

No objective setting process
Even if objectives are set , there is no regular review process in place
Poor individual performance is tolerated
Individuals blissfully unaware there is a perceived performance issue
Performance reaches a head typically through a costly exit of the individual

B. Coaching/mentoring process

Martin Thompson has undertaken formal training in Coaching and gained an accredited qualification to support his extensive Operations Management experience. To this end and in addition to the Interim provision, consuItana offer a structured coaching and mentoring service for Operations based Managers who are experiencing challenges in fulfilling the requirements of their roles.

How does this work?

Client identifies an individual/s who are failing to fulfil the requirement of their role.
consultana will arrange a site visit to discuss these failings with HR, the Line Manager and the individual concerned. At this meeting consultana will also explore whether the fundamentals of structured working are in place within the operation.
A second site visit is arranged to shadow the individual for a day so consultana can observe how the individual interacts and manages his/her day/team. During this shadowing exercise consultana will also see how the day is mapped out and how the impact of its structure delivers team performance.
A follow up meeting is arranged for consultana to feedback the shadowing findings to HR and the individuals Line Manager. Performance shortfalls are agreed and a go/no decision reached on whether coaching / mentoring should proceed. This decision will be influenced by the level of structure observed during the shadowing exercise. If insufficient structure exists then the coaching process would be of little benefit. Focus should therefore shift to an intervention around installing the daily , weekly disciplines to drive performance.
If sufficient structure is in place and agreement is reached, a process of weekly , hourly coaching calls are arranged to address the agreed shortfalls.
Calls are delivered over a period of 3 months.
Following each call actions are captured and a summary issued to HR, the Line Manager and the individual being coached.
At the end of the coaching calls a Site visit is arranged to review progress/process.

C. Typical examples of shortfalls in performance

Lack of understanding of the basic disciplines required to drive performance.
Repeat failings in metrics that are not addressed through basic root cause analysis.
Lack of engagement with team members.
Team members are unaware of Manager’s expectations.
Inability to ‘spin’ all the plates : focussing on a disproportionate time in one area whilst failings occur in other metrics.
Insufficient rigour in holding team members to account.
Lack of presence to drive performance.
No understanding of value adding activities.
Inability to delegate/trust team.
Collaboration/teamwork with other functions if lacking.

D. Costs (typical)

Site visit one
Shadowing visit
Site visit three
Coaching calls : x12
Fourth site visit

Total cost : £2850

It should be noted that these are indicative costs and will be confirmed based on the needs of the individual client.

E. Benefits to this approach

Costs are optimised due to the way the programme utilises coaching calls as opposed to on site mentoring.
As an improvement in performance is met the outlay will be recovered several times over due to the negative financial impact of poor performance:

Customer service : poor line / process performance.
Overtime costs due to the plan being delivered over an extended period.
Potential severance and recruitment fees if an individual is exited from the business.