What's been a pleasant surprise in the last two years is that the coaching industry and the coaching movement has gone from this concept of, "It would be nice to coach if we had time," to organizations stating, "We must coach our employees." This has been, needless to say, refreshing.

This still begs the question- how do we motivate our managers to coach?

This article is not about how to coach, but how to continue to push our managers up that hill, since time is not an ally when so many managers today wear so many hats.

Here's some easy steps to follow when working with managers:

1. First, we have to train managers on multiple supplemental coaching strategies that do not take their in-person time. These can include techniques such as 30-second coaching, leaving a thank-you note on a manager's desk praising a job well done, and making a quick comment in the hall.
2. Second, we have to always remember what's in it for them, such as less turnover and easier recruiting success due to employees finding candidates. Managers have so many business imperatives that sometimes we have to help them connect those imperatives to the value and the output of successful coaching.
3. Third, we are currently designing, for lack of better description, a signage strategy in our progress coaching training program. The progress coaching training system is going to equip every one of our clients with specific signage that positions them to coach. The signage will be something that can be placed around the company as well as given directly to each and every manger who's coaching.
4. Fourth, we have to measure. Managers live by metrics, whether it's shipping and receiving managers, to sales mangers, to customer service managers. There are always metrics that hold them accountable, but those metrics need to have performance requirements. For example, a shipping and receiving manager has to have employees who manage their time and work expediently, whereas a customer service manager is measured on their friendliness in client experience. If we teach managers how to map coaching to the performance requirements of what they're already measured by, we will be much better off. The key to motivating managers to coach is to always remember a simple concept, what's in it for them?

Interested in learning more about how to build up your coaching program? Check out our 100% educational webinar, "7 Strategies to Becoming A Great Coach"