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Coaching Plan Example

Consumer Lending Transformation – Servicing

Coaching Plan

Speed To Market

9/30/2017

Table of Contents
1. Coaching Plan Introduction 2
1.1 Document Purpose 2
1.2 Customizing the Coaching Plan 2
1.3 Preparing the Coaching Plan 3
1.4 Coaching Guidance from Best Practices 3
2. Servicing Transformation – Year 1 Coaching Plan 4
2.1 Ensure the Necessary Sponsorship and Communication Activities are in Place 4
2.2 Prepare Managers to Lead Change with Their Employees 4
2.3 Enable Managers to Introduce, Manage and Reinforce Change with Their Employees 6
2.4 Servicing Transformation Year 1 – Coaching Plan Activities and Schedule 7
3 Coaching Plan Implementation 9
3.1 Engage the Change Manager as the Manager and Supervisor’s Coach 9
3.2 Measure Coaching Effectiveness 9
APPENDIX A: 10
APPENDIX B: 11

1. Coaching Plan Introduction
After preparing the organization for change by reviewing the high-level change management, the focus now shifts to creating and implementing plans that will move the organization and individuals through change aligned with the Speed To Market (STM) framework. The five plans include:

1. Communications Plan
2. Sponsor Roadmap
3. Coaching Plan
4. Resistance Management Plan
5. Training Plan

Each of the change management plans will help drive certain elements of the STM framework.

1.1 Document Purpose
The purpose of this document is to provide support for managers and supervisors to:
 Enable them to become effective change managers
 Provide them with the tools and support they need to work with employees.

The desired outcomes from effective coaching for employees during change:
Awareness of how a change impacts a given employee and WIIFM.
Desire is created through personal interactions with employees and the effective management of resistance.
Knowledge is supported through on-the-job training and mentoring.
Ability is fostered by creating the right environment for employees to develop new skills and behaviors.
Reinforcement of the change is supported through private recognition and rewards.

Managers and supervisors are closest to the employees that need to adopt the change and play a vital role in helping them transition successfully through the change.

1.2 Customizing the Coaching Plan
Diagnostics were completed during Phase 1 to profile the size and type of change (Change Characteristics) and the attributes of the Servicing organization and groups (Organizational Attributes). As a result, Servicing LoB transformation was profiled as a ‘High’ people risk change
(Appendix A). [NOTE: The Servicing LoB transformation profiled close to a ‘Medium’ people risk, but it is being treated as ‘High’ risk for all plan customization activities due to the strategic nature of the project.]

Because this change is considered High risk, the following approach to coaching is recommended:
 Training for supervisors/managers: Extensive
 Amount of individual coaching: High
 Amount of group coaching: High
 Feedback: Formal, proactive
 Compliance by coaches: Monitored and enforced

1.3 Preparing the Coaching Plan
Coaching is a vital part of successful change management. Best practices research in change management identified employee resistance as a top obstacle to successful change. The influence that a supervisor or manager has on front-line employees is significant and will directly impact the overall engagement of employees in the change process.

Before managers and supervisors can effectively lead their employees through the change, however, they must first be prepared themselves for the change. Only after the manager or supervisor is prepared for the change can they assist their employees through the process.
The STM Catalyst will work with the managers and supervisors to support them through the change process and assist them with their interaction with their employees.

The steps for preparing the Coaching Plan defined in this document include:
1. Ensure the necessary sponsorship and communication activities are in place
2. Prepare managers to lead change with their employees
3. Enable managers to introduce, manage and reinforce change with their employees

The Change Management lead for Servicing transformation (Linda Jennings) will be the primary and on-going coach to the managers and supervisors as they build competencies as effective change leaders with their employees. This is an important distinction; change management team member can develop the plans, but managers and supervisors do much of the change management work.

1.4 Coaching Guidance from Best Practices
Employees are most impacted by messages from the CEO/senior leadership (covered in the Communications Plan and Sponsor Roadmap) and their immediate supervisor or manager. According to the multiple studies in change management, managers and supervisors are a preferred sender of change messages by employees. Effective coaching can alleviate many of the reasons for resistance and build support for the change throughout the organization.

The areas where supervisors and managers are influential:
 Employees trust them
 They are close to where the change happens
 They mitigate resistance
 They build support

The five primary roles they fulfill during change include (CLARC acronym):
 Communicator
 Liaison
 Advocate
 Resistance Manager
 Coach

Of these five roles, the ones that managers struggle to fulfill during change are ‘Coach’ and ‘Resistance Manager’. Consideration will be given to each of these findings in the Coaching Plan details that follow.

1.4 Manageable Change Navigation Tools
There are seven manageable change navigation tools that coaches support change leaders in developing new skills to use during the emergent changes of Agile at Scale transformations, such as STM.

Transformation coaches work in partnership with leaders to leverage best use of
1. Vision
2. Leadership
3. Accountability
4. Management
5. Teamwork
6. Commitment
7. Uncertainty

The Coaching Plan details that follow incorporate building awareness, understanding and desire of leaders in adopting sustainable use of these tools.

2. Servicing Transformation – Year 1 Coaching Plan

2.1 Ensure the Necessary Sponsorship and Communication Activities are in Place
The change management team must ensure the necessary sponsorship and communication activities are in place and visible to managers and supervisors. It will be important for the change management team to think of all five change management plans (communications, sponsorship, coaching, training and resistance management) as one integrated plan that require sequencing and careful alignment. Communications and sponsorship for the change should always lead the way, with coaching and training following up these activities.

The Servicing Transformation Year 1 – Communications Plan and Sponsor Roadmap have been prepared and will be aligned with the output in this document and integrated with the master change management plan.

2.2 Prepare Managers to Lead Change with Their Employees
The change management team has the responsibility to facilitate the first part of the Change Management Process for Managers and Supervisors: Preparing Yourself for Change

The change management team will deliver a program for managers and supervisors as a series of activities delivered in person (in Des Moines) and via video conferencing (for all remote participants). The primary project sponsor (Hilzendeger, Perry J) will invite the managers and supervisors to attend via an email message that includes a personal endorsement and request from the senior leader in their area of the organization. The overall program will be outlined at a high-level in the email agenda (3 Parts/Learning Activities).

2.2.1 Learning Activity 1: Understanding the Changes Underway and Their Role
In this activity, managers and supervisors are given the opportunity to learn about the changes that are underway in the organization and to understand the role they will play in leading change. Managers must have the opportunity to learn why these changes are being made, the risk if the changes are not made and how these changes will impact their group.

This activity is not a communications activity. This is an activity of discovery by the managers themselves that is facilitated by the change management team (led by STM). The goal of this first session is to allow managers to understand the overall change management program, and to begin the process by identifying the changes underway that impact them and their direct reports. The goal is to have managers consider how each of these changes impact their area and to explore their current knowledge about why these changes are being made.
In most cases managers will find areas where they have gaps in their own knowledge and this will prompt action on their part to fill those gaps. The following worksheet can/will be provided to managers to facilitate this first activity:
List the changes underway that impact you and your group
Do you know why these changes are being made and how they align with the direction for Consumer Lending - Servicing? (Yes/No)
Do you understand how this change will impact your direct reports? (Yes/No)

The session will highlight – why it is happening, why it is happening now, what are the risks of not changing and the WIIFM (‘what’s in it for me’) message for each of the impacted groups.

Once this session is complete, we will develop an action plan for each change where the managers and supervisors answered “No” for any of the above questions and provide follow-up before the Part 2 session. This session will also introduce the ‘CLARC’ acronym to discuss each of the roles a manager must fulfill in their role as change leaders including a discussion on the risks if the roles are not fulfilled.

2.2.2 Learning Activity 2: Adapting to Change that is Happening
In this second activity (scheduled for a second in-person meeting and video conference), managers and supervisors are given the opportunity to adapt to the change on a personal and professional level. This activity recognizes that managers are employees first, and managers second.

We may discover that a manager who is resistant to a particular change in the organization will also be resistant to learning about how to lead that change with his or her employees. As these are interconnected, we must allow managers to make a personal choice to support the changes underway before we attempt to train them on change management tools and processes.

In this session, Managers and supervisors will be asked to:
1. Identify their own areas of resistance
2. Discuss their objections or concerns
3. Make a personal choice to support and participate in the change

2.2.3 Learning Activity 3: Developing Competencies for Managing Change
In this third activity (scheduled for a third in person meeting and video conference), the change management team will lead a more detailed training program for managers. This program will address:
 The roles of managers and supervisors (CLARC) based on the Best Practices in Change Management. For each role, there will be an open discussion on the risks to change if this role is not fulfilled.
 How to talk with my employees about change
 How to coach my group through a change
 How to coach individual employees through change
 How to manage resistance to change

This session will follow the training template for change management coaching (APPENDIX B). The key output from this session is the managers and supervisors understand that it will be their role and responsibility to coach their direct reports during change and to give them the knowledge and skills to do so effectively.
The critical outcomes from this session (to be validated from feedback forms and follow-up emails and phone calls):
1. Each person understands the concepts of change management
2. They know how to use the tools for managing change
3. They develop specific action plans for working with employees

2.3 Enable Managers to Introduce, Manage and Reinforce Change with Their Employees

2.3.1 Leading Employees Through Change
With the formal development and implementation of the Communication Plan, Sponsor Roadmap, and Learning activities in the above sections, we will now be able to ask (and expect) the managers and supervisors to lead their employees through the change. This includes:
 Introducing change to their employees
 Managing employees through transition
 Reinforcing and celebrating success

These actions are taken by managers and supervisors with change management team support.

2.3.2 Group Coaching Activities
Managers/supervisors should prepare for and meet with their employees as a group to discuss the servicing transformation effort. They should review key messages with their employees that were provided to them from the change management team or from senior leadership so that a consistent message is provided to every employee.

Group coaching during a change is an effective medium for distributing information and gathering feedback – both of which are essential tasks. The group session can help to build support and ease concern and resistance.

2.3.3 Individual Coaching
If a manager or supervisor decides that one or more of their employees is change-resistant, they should schedule a one-on-one coaching session. Individual coaching sessions provide an opportunity for managers and supervisors to work on change with specific employees. The face-to-face messages received in these meetings are important as employees work through the change and try to perform in the changed environment.

The individual coaching session can help diagnose:
 At what point in the change process is the employee and, therefore,
 How the manager/supervisor can help them through the change process.

Individual coaching is the process of assessing where each individual is and developing actions to help the employee move through the change. The output of this assessment will be a table like the one below:
Employee A D K A R Notes/actions


Corrective action with the employee can begin with the barrier point (first element to score a ‘3’ or lower). Managers and supervisors will meet with the employee and discuss where they are in the process. The actions will be different for each individual. For example, if there is a low score on Ability, then mentoring on the process may be required. If there is a low score on Awareness, then additional discussions on the change and the business reasons may be required. If there are several employees with similar individual scores, then a group session may be required to address that specific area or concern.

Create an individual action plan that will help them overcome their barriers to change like table below. Continue to follow up with employees and repeat the individual coaching sessions as needed.

Employee ADKAR profile: Actions to take: Follow up:


2.4 Servicing Transformation Year 1 – Coaching Plan Activities and Schedule
The following tables outline the Coaching Plan activities and schedule for the Servicing Transformation – Year 1 as described in Sections 2.2 of this document. Each session will include pre-work, engagement/polling activities, and follow-up information to reinforce learning.

2.4.1 Prepare Managers to Lead Change: Business
Activity Responsible Senior Leader Managers/ Supervisors (#) Schedule
Three Part Coaching Series for Managers and Supervisors:
1. Understanding the Change (1.5 hours)
2. Adapting to Change (1.5 hours)
3. Managing Change Competencies (3 hours)
Linda Jennings/TMO (with support from Primary Project Sponsor – Perry Hilzendeger) Gui Kahl Des Moines (25?)
3 Sessions (in-person)

Perry Email (sponsor message) with Senior Leader Endorsement Message
(Months 2, 4, and 6) with follow-up coaching during each location specific implementation activities.


2.4.2 Prepare Managers to Lead Change: EIT
Activity Responsible Senior Leader Managers/ Supervisors (#) Schedule

Three Part Coaching Series for Managers and Supervisors:
1. Understanding the Change (1.5 hours)
2. Adapting to Change (1.5 hours)
3. Managing Change Competencies (3 hours)
Linda Jennings/TMO (with support from Primary Project Sponsor – Perry Hilzendeger) ???? Des Moines (25?)
3 Sessions (in-person)

Perry Email (sponsor message) with Senior Leader Endorsement Message
(Months 2, 4, and 6) with follow-up coaching during each location specific implementation activities.

2.4.3 Manager and Supervisor ‘Change Effectiveness’ trainings
Activity Responsible/
Leaders Managers/ Supervisors (#) Schedule

On-Going Individual Coaching sessions:
1. Fundamentals of STM Change Management
2. The 5 Roles of Effective Change Leaders
3. Group Coaching Tips & Tricks
4. Individual Coaching Tips & Tricks
5. Responding to and Managing Resistance
6. Coaching Feedback and Action Plans
Linda Jennings/TMO will be responsible for the sessions. She will engage senior leaders from each of the impacted areas to demonstrate visible sponsorship of the change. Open to all Managers and Supervisors (Recorded and Made Available on Demand)
Each will include a supporting FAQ information sheet Months 3 & 5, and 7-11

3 Coaching Plan Implementation

3.1 Engage the Change Manager as the Manager and Supervisor’s Coach
Linda Jennings/TMO will work with Perry to make sure all of the senior leaders in the sponsor coalition reinforce the importance of building manager and supervisor competencies to lead change. This will require they request managers in their organization take time to attend the formal change management engagement activities. In addition, Linda Jennings/TMO will work with the servicing training leaders to get guidance on how to develop and deliver these sessions in order to optimize learning.

3.2 Measure Coaching Effectiveness

3.2.1 Accountability for Manager and Supervisor Effectiveness
In addition to providing ongoing support, Linda Jennings/TMO will be collecting data to assess manager and supervisor change effectiveness. This will include monitoring attendance at the learning events, speaking with senior leaders as well as directly with managers and supervisors to gather feedback, and randomly contacting employees from each of the impacted groups.

3.2.2 Dashboard
TBD

APPENDIX A: The current scope of Consumer Lending Servicing transformation includes multiple cross-functional teams and programs, which have varied levels of readiness. This results in additional variances in the dependencies, and extended audiences/impacts of transformation which must also be managed.












APPENDIX B: Change Management Coaching Outline

 Introduction and welcome

 What is the role of a supervisor during change?
 Create awareness about what it means to be an effective coach in a changing environment. Describe the role and expectations for this specific project.

 Why is this level of coaching important during change?
 Illustrate the importance of supervisors in successful change. Employees trust and look toward supervisors for candid and meaningful information, especially when things around them are changing.

 How to talk about change with employees
 Identify where changes are failing and what actions can be taken. It is easy to understand and will give you a way to talk with your employees about the change.

 Group change coaching guidelines
 Distribute sample group meeting agenda. Use role-plays and question and answer exercises to practice group coaching during a change.

 Individual change coaching guidelines
 Distribute a sample individual change coaching plan. Discuss implications, frequency and variations of individual coaching approaches.

 Prepare change management coaching timelines
 Define timelines for specific group and individual coaching activities.

 Next steps and coaching support
 Develop feedback mechanisms for returning information to the change management team and adapting activities to meet the current situation. Tell managers and supervisors where they can get help.




last updated september 2019