How to be a good coach
Coaching and Feedback
Please remember these are GUIDELINES ONLY, most companies is an at-will employers meaning employment is at-will and can be terminated by the employee or employer at any time, with or without cause and every situation is different. For any questions and/or uncertainties contact your Human Resources for support.
Progressive Coaching and Feedback is the process of using increasingly severe steps or measures when a crewmember fails to correct a problem after being given a reasonable opportunity to do so. The underlying principle of sound progressive Coaching and Feedback is to use the least severe action that you believe is necessary to correct the undesirable situation. Increase the severity of the action only if the condition is not corrected.
Giving Praise
Please also REMEMBER Giving and Receiving Praise is very important:
Why giving and receiving praise is so important:
1. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number one reason people leave their jobs is because they “do not feel appreciated.”
2. A study of over 1,700 employees conducted in 2012 by the American Psychological Association (APA) indicated that more than half of all employees intended to search for new jobs because they felt underappreciated and undervalued.
3. A worldwide study by Towers Watson concluded “the single highest determinant for engagement is whether or not employees feel that their manager is genuinely interested in their well-being”.
4. In a Gallup survey from a few years ago, they found that employees that receive regular recognition and praise:
• Increase their productivity
• Increase engagement among their colleagues
• Are more likely to stay at their company
• Receive higher satisfaction scores from customers
• Have better safety records and fewer accidents on the job
5. According to research by Deloitte, companies with recognition programs “highly effective at improving employee engagement have 31% lower voluntary turnover than their peers with ineffective recognition programs”.
6. In the research by Deloitte, 70% of employees reported they are recognized annually or not at all.
As a final piece of advice, remember to be very specific with your praise. Don’t just praise for the sake of praising because you think that’s what motivates employees.
It’s not the word “thank you” or “great job” that they care about, it’s the fact that when they do something great (and they secretly know they did), they’re reinforced with positivity from someone they respect.
Giving Praise (goes something like this):
Example:
Scenario: You notice one of your trainers (Kevin) is training a new team member (Katy) at the To Go station on packaging orders. You are doing your figure 8 and when you get back to the To Go station you notice and observe Katy packaging the order correctly just as you heard Kevin train her.
Praise: “Kevin nice job training Katy on the to-go orders I just observed her package an order and it was perfect. Thank you for doing such a great job training her” “Katie, great job on double-checking each item for accuracy, way to go picking that up so quickly!”
Some guidelines to consider when giving progressive Coaching/feedback are:
Thoroughly investigate the situation, which includes obtaining the team member's explanation or response prior to administering discipline/feedback.
Document the process and results of your investigation.
It is acceptable to repeat a step if you feel that it will correct the problem. This may be the case if some time has passed since it was last necessary to address the issue and the situation has only recently reappeared. Or perhaps, the crewmember misunderstood or you feel there is value in doing it again in a clearer fashion. If repeating the step works, the situation has been resolved without escalating it unnecessarily. However, be aware that a team member may be led to believe that nothing worse will happen if you continually repeat a step. If repeating a step does not resolve the problem, you can then move on to a higher step.
The goal is to modify the unacceptable behavior or improve the performance. The goal is not to punish the team member but to more strongly alert the team member of the need to correct the problem.
There is no rigid set of steps nor is there an inflexible rule that all steps must be followed before terminating a team member. The circumstances of each case and your judgment as to the least severe action that is necessary to correct the situation will help determine which step to use.
Early, less stringent, measures are skipped for serious offenses such as theft, fighting, drug or alcohol use or sale. Look in the Team Handbook under Standards of Conduct (which is common in the Employee Handbook). All steps are typically used for attendance or general work performance problems.
While usually unnecessary, it is acceptable to have a witness or note-taker present when meeting with the team member during the progressive coaching and feedback process. Your witness/note taker should never be a peer of the team member.
Human Resources is available for consultation at any step of the process, but it is especially important at the steps of suspension and termination.
Essential elements of each progressive coaching and feedback step
Disciplinary actions are often overturned completely or reduced to a lesser level when any of the essential elements of progressive coaching and feedback are missing.
The team member is explicitly informed of the unacceptable behavior or performance and is given specific work-related examples. It is not sufficient to assume that the team member knows what the problem is.
Explain acceptable behavior or performance standards and give the team members reasonable time to comply. This may be a longer time frame if a skill needs to be learned or a shorter time frame if it is a behavior to be changed.
The team member is informed of the consequences of failing to comply. This is not a threat, rather it gives the team member reasonable expectations of the consequences if change does not occur.
These three essential elements need to be present at each step of progressive coaching and feedback and are discussed prior to taking disciplinary action.
Typical progressive coaching and feedback steps
Accountability/Counseling
Accountability is usually the initial step.
Conduct the whole counseling session in a "low-key" manner. Be friendly, yet firm.
This discussion should be done in private. Tell the team member the purpose of the discussion. Identify the problem.
Try not to be mechanical or read from a piece of paper. Have documentation available to serve as a basis for the discussion.
Seek input from the team member about the cause of the problem.
Where possible jointly identify a solution to the problem; otherwise, identify your desired solution.
Clarify the team member's understanding of your expectations concerning the situation.
Let the crewmember know that possible disciplinary action may follow if the problem is not corrected.
Try to get a commitment from the team member to resolve the problem.
Schedule follow-up with the team member. Provide feedback. Let the team member know how he/she is progressing on solving the problem.
Notes:
Counseling sessions are used to bring a problem to the attention of the team member before it becomes so serious that it has to become part of a written warning and placed in the team member's file.
The purpose of this discussion is to alleviate any misunderstandings and clarify the direction for necessary and successful correction. Most "discipline/feedback" problems are solved at this stage.
If some progress is seen, this counseling step can be repeated to allow the team member a full opportunity to correct the problem.
Depending on the circumstances this may be just a brief note in the Daily Shift Log with a brief statement confirming the subject matter discussed and the agreed-upon course of action to correct the problem noted on the Accountability form to the team member.
Example: Suzy was late today by 20 mins. This is her first week in training.
Write up her accountability before talking privately. Present the paper at the end of the conversation as to signal the end of the discussion. You pull Suzy into the office and you say,
1. Hi Suzy, you are doing a great job so far this week. I’ve noticed how attentive you are with the guests and you are already getting amazing positive feedback. So, thank you for that first of all. I really think you are an exciting new addition to our team. Our team really likes you a lot. Everyone is saying positive things about your job performance. I really want to see you thrive here and enjoy working here. That said, I wanted to go over one of our policies that I really want you to address. At (state your company name) we are about learning and growing step by step and day by day. Today I was concerned that you were late. I really want you to make a good impression on our team and as a group, we are quite punctual people. When one team member is even just a little late it can delay someone’s lunch break and possibly jeopardize our service standard. We know you want to succeed here and we just wanted to give you a friendly reminder of our time and attendance policy. You aren’t in trouble at all right now. This is a conversation between us agreeing to follow our standards. So let’s go through this quickly and let me know at the end if you have any questions. I also noticed you were on time for your other shifts so I got concerned when you weren’t here by your start time. Was this tardiness just a one-time or extremely rare circumstance? I would really like to hear your side of the story.
2. Suzy responds,” I apologize. I missed my bus. It won’t happen again and I will call if it does.”
“Suzy, I‘m really happy we had this talk. I think you are a special addition to our team. Keep up the good work and the great communication.
Scenario 2 is now Suzy responds by saying, “You know, it’s just really hard for me to get here by 8 am on Sundays.”
Now it is time to discuss her schedule going forward. It’s time to have an honest talk.
Written warning
Initiate this step by repeating the process used in the Accountability, i.e., talk before preparing any written action.
After this discussion, prepare the written warning. Build in information, responses, and commitments made in the discussion.
The written warning will have three parts:
A statement about the past, reviewing the team member's history with respect to the problem.
A statement about the present, describing the who, what, when, etc. of the current situation, including the team member's explanation.
A statement of the future, describing your expectations and the consequences of continued failure.
The warning is addressed to the team member.
This step may be repeated with stronger consequence statements. Examples range from a statement that failure to correct this situation "may lead to further disciplinary action" to a statement that "this is a final warning and failure to correct the problem will lead to discharge."
Example: John is wearing a nose ring that does not comply with our dress code. Two weeks ago another manager did an accountability with John about this same issue. John signed a document saying he would not wear that nose ring to work. But he did today. Ask John to talk with you privately. Have the documentation ready but face down. John is well-liked by the team and guests and seems to be hitting all other standards in our Step of Service guide.
“John, I noticed that another manager had a talk with you about our dress code two weeks ago. I notice you have the ring in today. Can you tell me if there is a certain reason you are wearing it to work? I also noticed you haven’t been wearing it for a few weeks. I’ve assumed you stopped wearing it because you reviewed the dress code policy but then the ring reappeared today. Help me understand what’s going on. “
At this point, let the team member speak. Listen. “Given we’ve already reviewed the dress code policy, I think we will need to document again that we are having this discussion. This time please adhere to our dress code policy and please be honest with me if it is something you can’t comply with. It’s important that we are all on the same page with this policy. I know how important you are at (company name) and our team. We all want to see you succeed. Following our dress code is one of our more basic policies that everyone follows, even the GM. At (company name) we function as a team. Just as a sports team needs its jerseys and colors to express their team, we use our dress code.”
John, at this point, says, “Well, I’ve seen Suzy wearing a nose ring and no one said anything to her about that! I’m being singled out.”
Remind John, that this is actually a company-wide policy, “So it sounds like I need to have this same conversation with possibly other employees. We certainly want to be fair. It’s much easier that way. I will check in with Suzy but our conversation today is about the accountability we did with you on this subject of dress code. I will need you to sign this document that we have addressed the company dress code for a second time.”
John responds, “I’m sorry. I’ll just take it out. I had just noticed Suzy getting away with it so I thought I could.”
or John responds, “ This is a dumb policy. I’m not taking it out.” The manager on duty should respond, “Given this is one of our basic handbook policies I think I would like to schedule a time for you to meet with the GM. I would like him/her to hear your opinion.”
Suspension without pay or pending investigation
Contact the Director of Restaurant Operation and Human Resources
When suspension without pay is used, see the sequence described under the Counseling section. Again, the situation is discussed with the team member. The team member's explanation is obtained and, then, a decision is made about the appropriate disciplinary step.
The length of the suspension is not as critical as the step of suspension. One to three days emphasizes the seriousness of the situation.
State the reason for the suspension to the team member at the start of the suspension so that the reasons for not working are clearly understood.
Contact the DRO and Human Resources
Example: A long-term employee approaches you that one of the male cooks, Oscar, has grabbed her physically in a sexual way 3 times over the last 6 months. The female employee, Suzy, has been keeping this a secret for 2 months but she claims it just happened this morning in the walk-in where there are no cameras. She is in tears in your office. After you deal with the immediate emotional stress of Suzy go and speak with Oscar once Suzy feels safe. In a private space start the conversation like this, “Oscar, it has come to our attention that a team member has been allegedly harassed physically by you. We are going to need to investigate this matter. I would prefer that you clock out for the day. We will start the investigation as soon as possible. I will contact HR and they will be contacting you. After our investigation, we will make a decision about your employment status with (company name). Physical and or sexual harassment are against the law in California and not just in our employee handbook. This is a serious complaint and we have to investigate further. It will take 1 to 3 days to interview all parties and complete the investigation. Obviously, we want to hear your side of the story as well. Our HR office will be in touch with you within the next two days.”
Termination
Contact the DRO and Human Resources. Only the General Manager and/or DRO may terminate a team member with the authorization of the Director of Human Resources. During the termination, a manager-level witness must be present.
See Termination Decision Tree.
This is the last step of any progressive coaching and feedback process and is used when earlier steps have not produced the needed results.
Example: You witness a cashier, Julie, take a $50 bill out of the register and stuff it in her back pocket. You contacted the DRO for camera footage and it is clear that what you saw was correct. A theft has occurred. Bring Julie into the office immediately. “Julie, I witnessed you take a $50 bill out of the register and put it in your back pocket. I double-checked on the cameras to make sure and I made sure that I saw you take company money. At this point, I am convinced and can show you the footage if you like. You will be terminated. I am contacting HR, the GM, and the DRO. We will have your final check waiting for you tomorrow after 2 pm. If you have any company property like an apron can you please bring it with you tomorrow when you sign for your final paycheck. It’s unfortunate that this happened and I hope you’re future gets brighter than this lowpoint.
You can practice giving feedback by role-playing these real work scenarios with your HR or a fellow manager.
