Julia Snowden, this quarter's NoonTimes featured trainer, has more than seven years of experience providing coaching skills to over 450 managers and senior executives in numerous Fortune 500 companies.

Noon Times: What is the difference between coaching and managing?

Julia Snowden: Coaching is a particular way of managing which fosters employee self-management. Basically, it's the belief that the person being coached has the knowledge and skills to do what they need to do. One of the main purposes of coaching is to bring forward and harness energy, ideas and momentum that employees often have but don't bring out.
     Someone using a more traditional managerial style is likely to start a meeting by informing employees of what's going on and telling them what they need to do. Coaching managers are more likely to start each meeting asking questions to bring out what the person already knows. This makes the employee feel empowered, listened to and respected.
     It's a paradigm shift to go from being a manager to a coach because, rather than being the holder of knowledge, the coach should be the facilitator of knowledge. Some managers don't want to make that shift, and may be resistant to it because they feel that their position is being challenged.
     NT: Does coaching assume that employees already have the necessary knowledge and skills and don't need any training?
     JS:No. It just assumes that employees have some knowledge and some drive. If there's a gap between what the employee knows and needs to know, that gets filled in. Many managers think they're dealing with somebody who doesn't have any drive. But when they actually start coaching employees, they find an enormous amount of drive; it's just not tapped into.
     NT: How does a company benefit if managers become coaches?
     JS: Any company that faces a retention issue will benefit from having a coaching mntality. Companies have tried higher pay, flexible work schedules, etc. Often those options are just a Band-aid, and don't retain employees over a long period. When employees are working with a lot of passion for what they do, it's more likely that they'll stay becuase they are fulfilled by the work. Teaching managers a coaching style is crucial to employees enjoying their jobs. Also, many high change environments -- mergers, downsizing or high growth -- don't want the traditional obedient employee who just shows up on time for work every day. They want people to start managing their own careers internally. The employes need to know what they do best and how to motivate themselves and find their own roles, because the environment may be chaotic.
     NT: Can you give any examples where coach training improved a situation?
     JS: In one company in the computer industry, the turnover rate of the supervisory participants who received training was 50% lower than the general supervisory population. In another company, a manager put in charge of a temporary cross-functional team built rapport quickly. In coaching sessions with each person, he asked questions that drew out what each individual could contribute to the project rather than simply dividing the work. It affected their willingness to take ownership, and the functioning of the team improved.

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