In today’s tough distribution industry environment, manufacturers, manufacturers’ representatives, and distributors can’t afford anything less than outstanding performance.

Are the managers in your organization doing a good job coaching your people? Most managers could use some coaching themselves, especially those companies that don’t have effective performance measures in place to evaluate and reward employees. Managers at those companies often base evaluations on quick snapshots of what they casually observe during the day.

To keep your team member’s productivity at the highest level you need to implement a formal coaching program in your organization.

Formal coaching is a performance management partnership between every manager and their associates. It develops and monitors mutually agreed-upon monthly goals and expectations that are directly linked to the achievement of overall company, department, and individual key performance measurements.

Successful business coaching is a mutual goal setting collaborative process. You listen actively to each other in reviewing results that achieved or exceeded performance expectations. Ask questions, share views, and negotiate solutions upon reviewing results that did not achieve performance expectations.

To achieve the best results, utilize the following monthly coaching report format:

MONTHLY COACHING REPORT

The manager completes the coaching report and provides a copy for the associate. He/she schedules follow-up coaching session with date & time. Then the manager checks on progress weekly, gathering feedback on what’s going well and what’s not going well. He/she reinforces positive progress and develops action plans for goals not going well.

When you get right down to it, coaching is the bulk of a manager’s job. Performance management means providing constant, thoughtful feedback and factual data on individual performance.

If your managers and associates set mutually agreed-upon performance goals and execute formal constructive coaching sessions, your employees will consistently attain or exceed their performance targets. Manufacturers, manufacturers’ representatives, and distributors who continually focus on performance management will maximize their profitability through our current uncertain economy and beyond.

FCG has trained hundreds of managers for manufacturers, reps, and distributors and would welcome any counsel you require in implementing your formal coaching program.