Issue
28(2)
Motivating
Your Team: Coaching for performance in schools.
(2007). Peter R. Taylor. United Kingdom: Paul Chapman Educational
Publishing (distributed in the U.S. by SAGE Publications).144
pp., $24.95 (paperback), ISBN 9781412921602
Review
by: Sandra
E. Culver, Director
Business
Advisement
Center,
College
of Business Administration
Missouri
State
University
Springfield,
MO
As more
educational institutions move toward merit-based pay systems rather
than traditional across-the-board pay raise systems, advisors
are being asked to develop job objectives and measurable outcomes
for those goals as a basis for their salaries. Advisors must adjust
to this new system and determine ways to measure their advising
successes, which can be a challenging task. Advising administrators
must adjust by learning effective ways to encourage their advising
staff to raise their level of performance. The uncertainty faced
when changing pay processes can have a detrimental effect on staff
morale and performance levels if the staff members are not motivated
to “buy into” the new system.
Peter
R. Taylor’s book is a good starting point for advising administrators
to become familiar with employee motivational techniques. According
to Taylor ,
a key to successful team motivation is whether your organization
is a “learning organization” and whether your team feels encouraged
to participate in professional development and continuous improvement.
He encourages managers to create a climate where employees will
want to grow professionally.
Taylor
includes many self-assessment
checklists that can be used by advising administrators to determine
the current status of their departments and their organizations.
These self-assessments can be very helpful by providing a starting
point and determining exactly what goals should be set for the
department. The author also advocates involving all team members
in discussions about the direction the organization is moving.
When team members feel empowered and have input in organizational
goals, they often become more effective in their everyday tasks
and procedures as Taylor illustrates in case analysis in the book.
He also cautions that the process needs to be transparent so that
the administration is not suspected of hidden agendas. Additionally,
Taylor
indicates that while employee performance should be measured by
determining whether the objectives for the year were reached,
the process must also be flexible to allow adaptation if unforeseen
events arise during the year. An example would be the loss of
a staff member requiring other staff to pick up the slack; therefore,
reducing time available to employees to work on their personal
job objectives.
Taylor
also delineates some of the
different methods of coaching which includes either directive
or client-centered coaching. I found the differences interesting
and believe that most academic advisors would compare the directive
coaching to prescriptive advising where advisors tell students
what they should do. Client-centered coaching can be compared
to developmental advising where the client/student is more involved
with the process and learning to make goals and finding ways to
meet them.
Expectations
for administrators are also discussed in the book. As performance
coaches, much of the administrator’s efforts are focused on enhancing
performance in staff. However, in order to be successful, coaches
must also be aware of ways to enhance their own performance. Coaches
must also be open to continually learning and changing their behaviors
to provide staff with the best leadership possible. Taylor
illustrates how administrators,
as coaches, must set a fine line when performing annual appraisals.
Leaders must carefully navigate between being a supportive, listening
coach, while also ensuring that objectives are met. Also, while
administrators are encouraging staff to have input into the goals
and measurable outcomes of the organization, administrators are
accountable for the results. Therefore, they must always maintain
some autonomy over the unit, as Taylor
explains. Coaches must know
how to push their employees as well as support their efforts as
needed.
Performance
coaching can be expected to become more prominent as more universities
move toward merit-based pay systems. Peter R. Taylor’s book does
provide ways for advisors and administrators to take stock of
their organization and begin the process to continually improve
the performance of the unit and ensure that goals are met. This
book provides a practical approach to improve motivation, but
may be considered somewhat elementary for administrators who have
studied management theory. Much of the information in the book
may not be applicable to an advising department, but the self-assessment
material provides good food for thought and may be give your staff
a jump-start at developing goals that everyone can support. It
also would be a good book for advising administrators to have
on the shelf as a reference.
