The Corner Office - Coaching Skills for Managers and Supervors
Submitted by webadmin on December 15, 2009 - 9:16pm
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The Corner Office:
Comments from Colleagues
H. Stewart LacyGuest Columnist
President
Improving Human Capital, LLC
www.improvinghumancapital.com
Partner in the
Superior Relationships: The Differentiator program
Superior Relationships: The Differentiator program
Coaching Skills for Managers and Supervisors
Why should you as a leader be interested in the coaching skills of your managers and supervisors?
First, their daily impact on the bottom line. They along with your people are the primary differentiator you have to profitability and maintaining a culture that will remain profitable.
Second, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) still swims about in Congress and no one is sure of the form it may take when passed. But according to an article in the March 4, 2009 edition of the Wall Street Journal, President Obama stated in a video-taped address to AFL-CIO leaders, "We will pass the Employee Free Choice Act."
However, not all democrats are in favor of the legislation. Even George McGovern has openly opposed the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. As early as August 8, 2008, McGovern wrote an editorial in the Opinion Section of the Wall Street Journal denouncing EFCA.
McGovern writes:
Why should you as a leader be interested in the coaching skills of your managers and supervisors?
First, their daily impact on the bottom line. They along with your people are the primary differentiator you have to profitability and maintaining a culture that will remain profitable.
Second, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) still swims about in Congress and no one is sure of the form it may take when passed. But according to an article in the March 4, 2009 edition of the Wall Street Journal, President Obama stated in a video-taped address to AFL-CIO leaders, "We will pass the Employee Free Choice Act."
However, not all democrats are in favor of the legislation. Even George McGovern has openly opposed the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. As early as August 8, 2008, McGovern wrote an editorial in the Opinion Section of the Wall Street Journal denouncing EFCA.
McGovern writes:
"Voting is an immense privilege. That is why I am concerned about a new development that could deny this freedom to many Americans. As a longtime friend of labor unions, I must raise my voice against pending legislation I see as a disturbing and undemocratic overreach not in the interest of either management or labor. The legislation is called the Employee Free Choice Act, and I am sad to say it runs counter to ideals that were once at the core of the labor movement. Instead of providing a voice for the unheard, EFCA risks silencing those who would speak.
"Under EFCA, workers could lose the freedom to express their will in private, the right to make a decision without anyone peering over their shoulder, free from fear of reprisal."
Read the full article at: http://tinyurl.com/6l7f3z
Another warning voice comes from business. Bernie Marcus, cofounder and former CEO of Home Depot, has stated that, "This bill is going to create France in the US."
It behooves us to listen carefully and educate ourselves as business leaders and some politicians warn us of potential unintended consequences and distorting effects of this pro-labor legislation.
As currently proposed, it seems the two biggest hurdles facing EFCA, are the "card check" system which would replace ballot elections and compulsory "first-contract" interest arbitration in place of free collective bargaining.
In their efforts to pass EFCA quickly in Congress, some organized labor groups and legislators are seeking alternatives which they feel could survive the much talked about 60-vote "cloture" petition to end a filibuster in the senate. Although not as obviously drastic as EFCA, each of these alternatives will be designed to come through the back door and get something which the unions have not been able to achieve through our existing laws and regulations.
Unless they want to hold out until the 2010 mid-year elections, supporters who want to press some form of EFCA this year may be willing to compromise in some of these areas:
1. Super-majority card check
2. Abbreviated campaign periods
3. Equal property access for union organizers
4. Accelerated bargaining
5. Dual purpose authorization cards
6. Expanded unfair labor practices
7. Minority representation
8. Enhanced employer penalties
2. Abbreviated campaign periods
3. Equal property access for union organizers
4. Accelerated bargaining
5. Dual purpose authorization cards
6. Expanded unfair labor practices
7. Minority representation
8. Enhanced employer penalties
All major employment and labor law firms are advising their clients to prepare now for the effects of EFCA, regardless of what form it takes.
The steps in preparation for success in fighting the effects of EFCA include implementing both legal and non-legal training for supervisors and managers. The legal do's and don'ts of how an organization's supervisors and managers conduct themselves is certainly a critical part of any management training program. However, the difference between success and failure will depend on the relationship of the employee with the supervisor or manager and the work culture in which that relationship exists. To focus on one without the other will be a costly mistake you can't afford to make.
In the next few months, your supervisors and managers will feel great pressure as they cope with relationship challenges facing them from EFCA legislation. You can prepare them for this increased pressure with Superior Relationships: The Differentiator course. The Differentiator course provides the benefits listed above and helps them know how they are performing right now as a leaders and coaches. The course then works to remove the gap between present performance and desired skill levels.
The coaching skills learned in The Differentiator course for your supervisors and managers are critical to maintaining relationships of trust and integrity -- the surest way to ward off the EFCA challenge.
In conjunction with this course, a major employment law firm has been retained to provide all legal training.
