Resources and a training opportunity to implement and maintain a coaching culture that increases positive change and outcomes for everyone.
Creating, modeling, and supporting a coaching culture is a proven way that leaders can improve positive outcomes for employees, the community, and the people we serve. Coaching enhances the professional development of employees at every level of the organization through intentional and strategic instruction and interactions. This month, we focus on the basics of coaching, how to start, and how to coach the coaches.
Coaching: Helping Staff Develop Skills
Coaching is job-embedded professional development based on daily practice characterized by a partnership approach where the coach collaborates with the officer as a mentor, guide, and thought partner.
As a coach, you work in partnership with employees to support them with their goals, identify opportunities for growth, and celebrate their successes. When employee performance is improved through coaching, agencies will also see improved outcomes for people on supervision.
The Coaching: Helping Staff Develop Skills EBP Brief provides an overview on the culture of coaching as well as details five steps to effective coaching. The brief also highlights tools for coaching.
Coaching for Excellence in Community Supervision Toolkit
Having the right tools is critical to an agency’s and an individual’s success. The recently published Coaching for Excellence in Community Supervision Toolkit is designed to support adult probation and parole officer development through expectation setting, identification of coaching targets, and focused instructional coaching.
The Toolkit acts as a starter kit and a specialized resource that provides tools such as Job Aids (e.g., checklists, step-by-step processes), Observation Forms, and Self-Assessment or Review Forms that focus on four key areas:
Professional alliance and effective communication skills
Case planning
Targeted skill building
Responses to behavior
The toolkit is customizable and transferable to other coaching targets. Additionally, the toolkit includes surveys and forms intended to guide and support agencies with their coaching efforts.
Webinar: Coaching for Excellence in Community Supervision Toolkit
NOTE: After registering, you will receive a confirmation email detailing how to join the webinar.
An excellent panel of practitioners will participate in a discussion focused on the Coaching for Excellence in Community Supervision Toolkit and:
Importance and effectiveness of coaching
Cultures that support ongoing growth for officers
Process of effective coaching
Panelists will also review the coaching tools available that reinforce evidence-based practices and skills learned in training.
Chiefs, deputies, supervisors, CQI staff, trainers, and other employees interested in becoming a coach are encouraged to participate in the webinar. There are no registration limits per county.
Retired Adult Probation Chief Rick Parsons
Pro Tip:
Finding ways to build staff skills while simultaneously having a positive impact on my community and the people we served were key priorities to me in my role as a chief and as a member of the leadership team.
We would regularly spend considerable time developing a plan, delivering training, updating policies and related documents, and even purchasing various supporting tools, all with the intention of professionally developing our team members. Unfortunately, especially when new initiatives involved evidence-based practices, we found that the initiatives often failed to take hold and staff struggled. My intended outcomes did not come to fruition.
As I look back on my own life, especially as it relates to sports, I recognize the crucial role of coaches. My coaches included a broad spectrum of people—family, teachers, bosses, friends, mentors and traditional coaches—who helped me become the person I am today. These coaches helped me develop my knowledge, skills, and abilities. This was not accomplished through a one-day training, handout, or email. Rather, it was achieved over time. My coaches patiently and deliberately provided me opportunities to practice, shared feedback, and helped me develop and improve my skills.
Our common expectation that the “train and pray model” will work with our staff is unrealistic. My experience working in both a small and large county helps me understand the perception that implementing coaching might be overwhelming. With all that in mind, I offer the following tips to leadership teams as they embark on the coaching journey:
Start small and focus on one skill that you believe will have the greatest impact
Pick the right staff to be coaches—those who have the skills and knowledge, and, more importantly, are supportive and respected by staff
Develop tools that are tailored to your department and the focus of the coaching
Create a learning organization where coaching and providing feedback is an expectation and where everyone is encouraged to grow
Remember you are not alone—rely on each other and the numerous PPCJI resources
Reach out if you want or need guidance
We can’t coach without a team. By learning and working together, we all improve and, subsequently, so do our outcomes.
Next Month:Stage Four of Implementation
Positive change is possible for everyone in Pennsylvania. We look forward to continuing to enhance your EBP knowledge and invite you to submit education/resource requests to askppcji@gmail.com.
