management coaching: the bridge to successful customer ... skiba, joseph m… · web viewa third...

9th Global Conference on Business & Economics ISBN : 978-0-9742114-2-7

MANAGEMENT COACHING: THE BRIDGE TO SUCCESSFUL

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS

Michaeline Skiba, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey, USA

Joseph Mosca, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey, USA

ABSTRACT

The globalization of various types of professional work, advances in computer

technology, and the increased demand for workers in technical occupations are among the

phenomena that have motivated both business leaders and academicians to examine what must

be done to sustain America’s long-term economic competitiveness. To this end, it is imperative

to develop and utilize appropriate learning methods among current and future generations.

This paper is a brief examination of the learning methods and experiences that enhance

performance levels in professional occupations. It emphasizes the ways in which business

professionals – especially young professionals who work in team-based work organizations –

learn at work. In addition, it focuses on a specific type of learning experience that transcends

formal educational settings to be a salient feature of successful customer-centered relationships.

BACKGROUND

For more than half a century, the economy of the United States has been the world’s

largest (United States Department of Commerce, 2007) and has received widespread recognition

October 16-17, 2009Cambridge University, UK

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in global scientific and technological innovation and development (National Academy of

Sciences, 2007). However, as a large segment of well educated and primarily white Americans

retire from the workplace (U.S. Department of Labor, 2006), many members of its demographic

replacements will not have completed a college degree and may not sustain the country’s

economic competitiveness (Seymonds, 2005).

Rapid technological and scientific advancements in all sectors of the global economy

have led globalization researchers to conclude that the United States needs more and younger

creative problem solvers and innovative thinkers (Friedman, 2005; National Science Board,

2006). In 2002 and 2003 alone, among 197,092 H-1B visa petitions, 64,980 were from India,

18,841 were from the People’s Republic of China, 11,760 were from Canada, 9,295 were from

the Philippines, and 7,171 were from the United Kingdom (Office of Immigration Statistics,

2004). According to William Gates, Microsoft’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, many of

these people are highly educated and highly skilled in computer programming, engineering,

architecture, medicine, and biotechnology (Gates, 2007). Regardless of whether visa limits are

increased, it appears clear that America’s business environments must cultivate methods for

sustaining long-term and sustainable economic competitiveness.

To determine what can be done to encourage more American born young professionals to

fill job vacancies in professional occupations, this paper reviews the purpose of contemporary

learning efforts and their impact on the current and prospective workforces within selected

business settings.


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RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL LITERATURE

Overview of Experiential Learning

Experiential learning activities that integrate academic studies with work experiences

allow learners to make decisions that are real rather than conceptual, and provide opportunities to

actively apply theory to practice. In addition, experiential learning activities enable learners to

explore various career options and work with both academic and professional mentors. These

activities include cooperative education placements, internships, job shadowing, and classroom-

based hands-on laboratory activities (McCarthy and McCarthy, 2004).

In a study of work-based experiences of college students, Lewis (2004) found that two-

thirds of the sample reported that they learned better through hands-on experiences and real

world application versus solely classroom and textbook work. Molseed, Alsup and Voyles

(2003) concluded that while job specific skills are necessary, additional skills that must be

developed include personal responsibility, decision-making, collaboration, commitment, and an

understanding of potential career choices – all of which are refined during students’ work

experience.

Dewey, one of the first proponents of active experimentation in learning, warned

educators that merely “doing” an activity was not enough for learning to occur (Dewey, 1938).

More than half a century ago, Knowles wrote that “…there are two kinds of adult education,

formal and informal. The first adopts the methods long established in our going educational

institutions. The second creates its methods. There are times when what he [the adult] most

needs is not and could not be found in any formal course of instruction” (Knowles 1950, p. 5).


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According to Raelin (2000) and more recently McCarthy and McCarthy (2006),

experiential learning that utilizes techniques such as the case approach (combining a simulated

experience with conceptual knowledge) falls short of what is needed to bridge theory with

practice.

The “cooperative” or “co-op” approach as described by Trach and Harney (1998) is

intended to enhance learning through the integration of classroom study with planned and

supervised learning outside the classroom. In this manner, academic theory is tested in practice

and students are given the opportunity to engage in more reflective career choice analysis.

Similarly, internship programs that are well-defined and supervised allow employers to build a

larger pool of entry level candidates, and students/employees to become better prepared, more

productive, and actively apply classroom knowledge on the job. In addition to several other

advantages, “extra hands and the opportunity to try out a future staffer are the most common

reasons that employers use interns,” according to one source (Anonymous, 2005).

Unlike cooperative arrangements that blend college and work experience, the traditional

mentoring program is one in which the full-time employee (the mentee) contracts with an

experienced, supervisory-level employee (the mentor) to obtain career advice, political support,

access to inside information, and opportunities for advancement. Primary benefits cited as

hallmarks of this type of mentoring are typically career or job-related support and psychological

support (Eddy et al, 2005). Another form of mentoring in the workplace is peer mentoring,

defined as “…an intentional one-on-one relationship between employees at the same or similar

lateral level in the firm that involves a more experienced employee providing support and

teaching new knowledge and skills to a less experienced employee” (Enscher, Thomas and

Murphy, 2001, p. 419). According to Bryant and Terborg (2008), who examined the impact of


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peer mentoring on 222 employees of a software firm, peer mentoring can increase knowledge

creation and sharing among both mentors and mentees, and this knowledge-based philosophy

may help work organizations create sustainable competitive advantages. Other professional

disciplines that have reported highly successful results with mentoring programs include nursing

(Coughlin and Hogan, 2008), the electronics industry – notably, at Xerox (Carvin 2009), and

accounting (Covelski and Dirsmith, 1998; Kaplan and Walo, 2001), to name a few.

Regardless of the setting used to transfer classroom learning into workplace practice,

environments that include task variety, feedback, and meaningful interactions lead to positive

work outcomes (Cunningham and Sagas, 2004). Silberman (2006) strongly asserted that topics

are not essential. Rather, what is important is what learners value, understand, and the

knowledge and information that is put to use as it is being transferred – from concept to active

practice.

The vital role held by work-based or real world experience cannot be underestimated as

witnessed over the years in the refinement of Kolb’s experiential learning model (1984), which

stresses the use of concrete experience to test ideas and the use of feedback to change practices

and theories. In his groundbreaking research related to adult learning and development, Kolb

examined models of the experiential learning process previously developed by Lewin, Dewey,

and Piaget. All of these researchers, in their own ways, characterized learning as a process and

not a function of outcomes; as a continuous process grounded in experience; and as a holistic

process and function of adaptation to the world. In acknowledging the ways in which the learner

interacts with their environment and, in the process, creates new knowledge, Kolb defined

learning as “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”

(Kolb, 1984, p. 38).


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The Emergence of the Coaching Concept

As a management technique, the coaching concept has appeared within management

literature for almost 60 years and, for well over 30 years, its application within business

management settings has been rooted in athletic and sports coaching practices (Ellinger, Ellinger

and Keller, 2003). In the sports sector, coaches guide incremental progress and motivate their

athletes to extend their capabilities in order to increase team performance from the inside out.

Similarly, business coaches, as work-based management developers, can increase both skill and

behavioral requirements from various levels of employees through the use of feedback, goal

setting, and guidelines that fulfill strategic organizational objectives. Interestingly and because

both managers’ skill requirements and their organizations are rapidly changing, employees may

seek out a coach who works at their own level of learning and development. In addition, many

organizations now rely on team-based structures to improve quality, productivity, customer

service, and employees’ work skills (Thompson, 2004), so it is not surprising that coaches may

be found among any of the members of a work team.

Recent literature suggests that effective coaching goes beyond only supporting an

employee’s realization of specific work-related goals. For example, Anderson and Anderson

(2005) found that coaching activities elicit behavioral changes that meet development needs of

both the organization and the individual, and these changes often produce lasting effects that

evolve and encourage those who have been coached to coach others. To realize these lasting

effects, however, it is important to view the essence of coaching as “shaping” or the process of

successive reinforcement toward an objective (Daniels and Daniels, 2006). The criterion for

reinforcement is the sign of any improvement, no matter how small, and when small


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improvements are reinforced, behaviors are strengthened and, hopefully, continued improvement

will follow. Attainability is a key element of any coaching effort since reinforcement alone does

not lead to the development of the confidence, self-esteem and task knowledge traits associated

with improved work performance (Bivens, 1996).

Clearly, coaching appears to create positive outcomes within employees who have been

influenced and motivated by an effective coach. When employees find their own answers, their

increased sense of empowerment creates a work environment in which clear decisions, creative

options, and actionable solutions for problems are achieved. A very recent online survey of

2,040 executives within the United States and Canada supports these observations. Blessing

White, the consulting firm that conducted the survey, found that sixty-five percent of these

respondents experienced benefits from employing the coaching concept, and more than half of

them believe that coaching employees can help improve the bottom line (Immen, 2008).

The Benefits of Coaching In Business Settings

At this juncture, it is important to note how coaching differs from mentoring. The word

“mentor” has mythological roots in Homer’s The Odyssey, in which Odysseus left his friend,

Mentor, to take care of his son while he fought in the Trojan War. Odysseus was absent for

more than twenty years! Since the book was written, the word has referred to a wise and trusted

teacher or counselor. As mentioned briefly and earlier in this paper, while there are no processes

common to all mentoring programs, mentoring continues to be viewed as a process in which the

mentor disseminates knowledge, experience and advice to another individual, the mentee, for the

purpose of recruiting, retaining and developing talented people within an organization.


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Both mentoring and coaching efforts involve three parties: the mentor, the mentee, and

the organization. Historically, however, mentoring efforts have been characterized as formal

programs that include a contractual agreement among the parties, defined goals and objectives,

specified time and work requirements, and a deep commitment from the three constituents.

According to Coll and Raghavan (2004), the top four concerns or issues for the organization

alone include a commitment to the program, the need for a dedicated coordinator (to provide

assistance and implement feedback), patience (for program development and modifications), and

feedback (a concern that these authors found surprisingly minimal within this review).

The distinctive advantages that coaching efforts have demonstrated over the last decade

are due to a number of factors. The growth of the Internet not only has eliminated physical

distance but also the speed with which information is conveyed. In addition, the Internet has

enabled instructional designers to create innovative and highly interactive subject matter.

Another factor is the widespread increase of corporate acquisitions and reorganizations at every

level, which has prompted businesses to reexamine how and when to deliver developmental

material that responds to individual and organizational change. This latter factor also has

changed the ways in which employees at all levels professionally network individually and in

groups – a subject for another paper but one that has affected business transactions that include

management development efforts.

Business Sector Applications

Not surprisingly, many “success stories” about coaching are found within the training and

development literature, and they have become increasingly more creative over time. Leadership

development and succession planning are key areas of interest. Wachovia’s internal and external


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coaches, after completion of an intensive online coaching management program, deliver

executive coaching tools to others (Anonymous, 2004). In one of its issues, the journal Training

reported three successful endeavors. Alltel Corporation’s use of monthly conference calls that

educate managers at retail stores and its call center emphasizes new marketing strategies as well

as effective communications with employees. At another company, American Century

Investments, senior directors serve as facilitators/coaches. Helen Miller, the company’s director

of leadership and management development, stated that these coaches “…describe their

experiences, what works for them and what doesn’t, and why they do things the way they do”

(Gordon, 2006, p. 28). A third company, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, utilizes an extensive and

formal training program before second-line managers are held responsible for first-line manager

coaching. This program, which spans a two-year timeframe, is designed to identify the

employees who will become the next leaders of the company (Gordon, 2006). These and other

corporate coaching initiatives underscore the need for leadership development that is grounded in

daily, performance-related tasks – a significant outcome of one study’s online survey among

over 2,500 senior human resources and training and development executives (Pace, 2008).

Another management directive among progressive companies is ongoing employee

development and retention – within and across functional areas. Avnet Technology Solutions

provides new employees the opportunity to “job shadow” experienced managers in departments

that include but are not limited to strategic planning, finance, support and sales operations,

materials management, marketing, and inside and outside sales (Anonymous, 2004). Two years

ago, Carter & Burgess, a Texas-based engineering and architectural services firm with 30 offices

across the United States, realized it had a problem with employee turnover and a lean internal

leadership pipeline that seriously affected its revenue. Its leadership development program that


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includes executive coaching sessions has decreased turnover (approaching the industry average

of 15%), increased retention of high-potential employees, and increased employee satisfaction by

12%, according to Jim Garman, the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer (Anonymous,

2008).

THE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

Closely aligned with relationship marketing, customer relationship management (CRM)

is defined by one expert as “…the combination of strategies and technologies that empowers

relationship programs, reorienting the entire organization to a concentrated focus on satisfying

customers” (Kurtz, 2008, p. 322). Obviously, this definition implies that all stakeholders –

suppliers, dealers, partners, top management and employees – must have a vested interest in both

outcomes and processes associated with that focus. Historically and in the sales management

arena, coaching has been used to teach traditional selling skills that include probing, handling

objections, and closing techniques – all of which have been deemed “…underdeveloped and

antiquated relative to the new learning requirements imposed by relationship selling” (Doyle and

Roth, 1992, p.59). Interestingly these same authors – over 15 years ago – advocated “an

emphasis upon experiential learning and structured efforts to consolidate learning through

frequent debriefing sessions” (Ibid, p. 61) that permeate all levels of management.

Today, CRM appears to be centered on frontline service employees and their

commitment to service quality. A recent study of 310 frontline service employees from the

logistics service provider industry found that managerial coaching has a strong influence on both

service quality and job-related outcomes improvement (Elmada, Ellinger & Franke, 2008).


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However, these same authors emphasized that research in this area is relatively scarce, especially

in business-to-business contexts.

Another frontline service example is Bath & Body Works, which acquired and quickly

implemented a powerful software system that gave frontline employees virtually instant answers

to customers’ questions and allowed them more time for face-to-face coaching with their

managers. According to Pati Crowley, the company’s Senior Director of Customer Experience,

“We feel that we had even better customer satisfaction and loyalty this year, based on our

interactions, than last year. We’d rather [see managers] spending time coaching employees in

the stores than trying to look things up or submit a piece of paper to the home office” (Musico,

2009, p. 44).

At the time of this writing (spring of 2009), the United States and a large portion of the

rest of the world are engulfed in an economic recession. While many critics might argue that

price is all that matters now, others contend that customer satisfaction continues to differentiate

businesses, especially those in overcrowded markets. Lior Arussy, the author of Excellence

Every Day, asserts that “in economic times such as these, abandoning a dedication to customer

experience is a risky move. Price is a cheap, unsustainable motivator for customer retention.

Customer experience is the quality product” (Arussy, 2009, p. 12).

While we believe that technology tools greatly enhance the speed and effectiveness of

learning outcomes, we also believe that whatever allows coaching to happen has and continues

to hold great promise as a powerful management tool. Whether corporate leaders choose to use

coaches for frontline employee training, management development or peer-to-peer enrichment –

and regardless of the state of the economy – it appears clear from this limited discussion that


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young management professionals benefit from and are empowered by the coaching method of

instruction.

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