Why Coach the Bottom 80% of Your Workforce?
Written by Nancy Parsons
For most executives and HR leaders, the idea of providing individual professional coaching for each employee in the organization borders on the absurd. Think of the unimaginable costs, logistical nightmare, and time involved in such as massive plan.
Today, the fact is that organizations provide coaching for executives and senior leaders who are in the last 25% or so of their careers. We, too, have focused most of our coaching at this senior level for more than two decades. Shouldn’t we flip that script to help younger employees be sure they are on the best track to perform well? Aren’t they key to the future success of the organization?
One of our visionary clients put this idea in my head and I couldn’t shake it. The Department of Defense had been using our assessments for coaching senior leaders at both the Pentagon and the U. S. Civilian University. Leslye McDade Morrison, Ph.D., the Chief Learning Officer at the Department of Defense (now former) at the time, said to me,
“We have 10,000 employees who need this type of assessment and coaching for self-awareness, do you think you could come up with some kind of digital or avatar coaching to handle this? Live coaching feedback is too costly and just not logistically feasible.”
I responded, “Well, I think we can, let me get on that…” Of course, I had no tech background to accomplish this and moved ahead regardless. The idea was intriguing. In 2020 my team completed the designs, conducted beta testing and launched CDR-U Coach, this novel digital avatar coach that debriefs the deep CDR 3-D Suite Assessments, fulfilling Dr. Morrison’s idea. Since then, CDR-U Coach has won several prestigious awards. We continuously improve and even added a STEM Fit Review within our Career Action Planning module, to help identify hidden STEM talent.
So back to the point – why coach the bottom 80% of your workforce? There are two key benefits: 1) individual development to improve performance and retention and 2) organizations gain a talent inventory to facilitate better promotional decisions and developmental investments.
Benefits for the formerly neglected 80% of employees:
1. This is Inclusive and Accessible:
Our coaching technology is designed to be inclusive and accessible to the entire workforce, ensuring that every employee, regardless of their position, receives coaching and assessment to help them in their performance and careers. It is a scalable coaching solution.
2. Personalized Coaching Journeys:
Unlike one-size-fits-all approaches, our avatar coaching technology tailors coaching journeys to the individual characteristics, needs and aspirations of each employee within the bottom 80%.
3. Enhanced Self-Awareness:
Every employee would experience a significant boost in self-awareness which is not otherwise possible. Our avatars guide individuals on a journey of self-discovery, unlocking their true potential, gifts, risks and intrinsic motivators.
4. Unmatched Assessments:
Each employee’s CDR 3-D Suite results are debriefed by their avatar coach. These assessments go deep and measure one’s personality traits to a detailed level, inherent risk factors that can undermine success, and drivers and rewards needs. These scientifically validated assessments are also used for selection and succession purposes, so they are ideal to help employees plan their best career and developmental paths.
5. Practical and Actionable Insights:
Each employee receives practical and actionable insights that they can implement in their daily roles. Our technology translates self-awareness into tangible improvements in performance, job satisfaction, and overall well-being and is formulated in the action planning modules.
6. Cultivate a Positive Work Culture:
By empowering the bottom 80%, you contribute to fostering a positive work culture where all employees feel valued, supported, and motivated to reach their goals. This supports your employee retention goals.
Your organization benefits from:
- Data & Analytics from the CDR 3-D Suite
You will gain a CLEAR TALENT INVENTORY OF YOUR ENTIRE WORKFORCE and data for: succession planning, training needs analysis, team formation, custom training designs, talent capability analysis, insights to design rewards programs, and more.
- Accurately Identify Hidden Talent to Upskill & Reskill
With the data from CDR-U Coach, you will be able to discover talent that has been hidden or underdeveloped or underutilized in your organization. This equips you to pinpoint who should be developed for what types of roles to support your organizational performance goals.
- Inclusivity:
We believe in inclusive employee development, ensuring that every team member has the tools they need to succeed. This helps you walk the talk on inclusivity!
- Measurable Impact:
Our technology is not just about assessments; it’s about driving measurable impact on individual and organizational success for a positive ROI.
- Tailored Solutions:
We understand that each employee is unique, and our avatar coaching technology reflects our commitment to providing tailored solutions for personal and professional growth.
Too many younger employees stall prematurely in their careers or never reach their full potential due to their inherent risk behaviors. If they have no idea what their risks are, they are not going to be able to manage them effectively. They go unchecked and derail their future success. I have written two researched based books on why this is so for women in leadership. Women tend to have risks as “Worriers” or a fear of failure that ends up holding them back.[i] With keen self-awareness, and development that is accurate and on point, this premature derailment can be prevented.
We realize change isn’t easy. However, we make it easy for you to develop all your precious talent, especially the bottom 80%!
You are invited to schedule a demo and pilot test with us!
References:
[i] Parsons, Nancy, “Women Are Creating the Glass Ceiling and Have the Power to End It, WSA Publishing, 2019.
and Parsons, Nancy, “Fresh Insights to End the Glass Ceiling,” CDR Companies, 2017.