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Coaching in a Bargaining Unit
Environment—
An Interview
Matt M.
Starcevich, Ph.D.*
(For individual usage only,
not to be used in team building or organizational training programs or
presentations of any type without permission.)
I had the opportunity to discuss this topic with
George Benskey whose entire career has been involved with supervising,
managing and leading maintenance and construction union employee crews
for a major telecommunication company. This has included crews of ten
people up to over fifteen hundred. Over the years, he has experienced
every aspect of union-management relationships as well as been a strong
participant, advocate and contributor for our Coaching Workshop.
| Matt: |
During our workshop the question often is asked how
do I coach a bargaining unit employee. |
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| George: |
It goes beyond the actual coaching discussion.
I strongly believe the union leadership needs to be included in the
process from the very beginning. We asked them to participate in
the Coaching Workshops to make sure there was nothing “hidden or
secretive” in the skills and concepts we were building in our
managers and supervisors. This openness resulted in the union
leadership being less combative and more cooperative once they
understood the tools and that management was using these to try and
help the employee as a partner. Fear of the unknown was removed
from the equation. As an aside, the workshop helped them in their
coaching relationships with their members. |
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| Matt: |
Are you saying that you affirmed that the
supervisors had a responsibility to be a coach. |
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| George: |
That plus we continued to make a strong
distinction between coaching and discipline. Coaching is what you
do with your team every day to help employees achieve their full
potential or reinforce the good job they are doing by acknowledging
specific behaviors. Disciple is what happens when all attempts at
coaching have failed because the employee chooses not to become a
partner even though they posses the ability to do the job.
The union representative does not have to be
involved in coaching meetings where we were partnering with the
employee to help them solve their problems. If the employee is not
responsive to the coaching process and we moved into the discipline
process, they were invited to attend these meetings. |
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| Matt: |
What advice or guidance did you give your
supervisors after they had the necessary coaching training? |
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| George: |
Coaching isn’t a one time event, it’s something
you do every day and it usually involves multiple conversations or
meetings. The 3 key things to remember, our three P’s were:
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Process (Stick to the process,
period! Identify and address a specific behavior, not the person.)
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Preparation (Be prepared, do
your homework before the coaching discussions.)
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Persistence (Change is often
not a quick fix or overnight outcome.) |
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| Matt: |
What were the results? |
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| George: |
Our disciplinary cases went way down since we were
solving problems not just reacting or treating symptoms and, it
freed up the union leadership to focus on the long term health of
the management-employee relationships versus day to day performance
issues. |
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| Matt: |
Because of your position you were able to implement
this strategy throughout your organization. What advice would you
give to the first line supervisor who can’t involve the top union
leadership and must operate within the limits of an existing
contract? |
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| George: |
I believe that an individual supervisor can choose
to implement these lessons at their level, if that just be working
with only one union representative. Don’t make coaching a secret,
show them the process and tools; encourage an open discussion to
clarify how you are trying to help the employees get where they need
to be. Emphasize that coaching is a positive, collaborative
approach; it’s about partnering to reach a common goal. Separate
coaching from discipline meetings and be clear when each is to
occur. |
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| Matt: |
Regardless of union status, some employees are going
to resist any attempts to be coached, then what? |
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| George: |
An important mindset is that the supervisor will
move into the disciplinary process only when all their attempts at
coaching have been resisted and are exhausted. At that point their
role changes from coach to “record keeper”. |
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| Matt: |
Any thoughts on how you move from coaching to
discipline? |
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| George: |
With the union present, I will have a “reality
check” meeting with the employee and clearly state that they have a
choice to make—we have reached a point where all attempts at
coaching have failed because you have chosen not to partner with
me. In other words, I’m not prepared to invest any more time or
effort that you’re not willing to match so the choice is yours;
either you work with me or you leave me no choice but to become the
record keeper and start the necessary documentation.
A second part that I have found very productive
is to not let the employee make that decision on the spot but
recommend they think about it, discuss what they need to with their
union representative and meet with me the following day with their
decision. |
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| Matt: |
If I break down the “reality check” discussion you
are basically saying either you’re with me or not, you either want
to be coached or not. |
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| George: |
That’s reality! The good news is that this wake up
call is all some people need to realize the seriousness of both
their decision and my commitment either to help them through
coaching or move into the disciplinary process. This meeting is
consistent with my basic philosophy, nothing hidden, nothing
secretive. |
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| Matt: |
Thanks for your time and tested thoughts. |
* Matt Starcevich is the
founder of the Center for Coaching & Mentoring, Inc. He has written
The Coach: Creating Partnerships for a Competitive Edge,
designed and facilitated workshops on the Coaching Process with
thousands of leaders and employees.
#end |
