Alistair Gibb: coaching can help managers retain their staff

Before I became a leadership and management consultant, I spent several years working overseas and in the UK as a farm manager, mainly on large dairy units. It was an exciting and challenging job, and, like everyone, as I gained experience in the workplace, I encountered leadership that frustrated and demotivated me. I was really interested in figuring out the ‘secret sauce’ of the best people managers. This eventually led me into my role as a consultant and coach. 

Tackling labour challenges in agriculture and horticulture

Over the past 24 years, about 70% of the businesses I've worked with have been in the agriculture and horticulture sector. I've seen how the pressures on farming and growing businesses have evolved over the years, one notable area being the growing challenge of finding and keeping staff.

Labour availability is now one of the industry's biggest challenges, so much so that the UK Government has set up an independent panel to investigate what needs to be done. 

As part of efforts to tackle the problem, TIAH recently commissioned research into the skills and labour requirements of England's agricultural and horticultural industry. One of the areas the research highlighted was that many farming and growing businesses could use help to improve their leadership and management skills to be better at attracting and keeping staff. TIAH is now acting to improve access to training in this area and invited me recently to hold a workshop with a group of farmers and growers on staff retention.

The power of coaching and the GROW model

It’s well recognised that skilled and engaged staff tend to stay in their jobs longer and not leave prematurely, so the day's main theme was how managers could help their team members develop and feel committed at work. 

We discussed the use of a ‘non-directive coaching’ approach using the GROW model. This uses open-ended questions to steer a conversation, helping guide an employee to solve a problem, be more effective, or improve their performance.

There's a skill to it, and it takes practice, but using open-ended questions can really open people up and encourage them to think about how they can achieve a task, gaining their commitment to change how they work.

I’ll be meeting the workshop participants again soon to find out how they're getting on using the technique at work. Everyone had the opportunity to practice the technique in the workshop relating to real situations.

Their positive attitude to trying something new reflects my general experience that many farmers and growers are open to improving their leadership, management, and skills. This ultimately becomes the most important skill set to business success. 

Lifelong learning: diverse approaches to leadership development
Leaders don’t often get feedback on how they're leading and managing. So, getting involved in any leadership and management development opportunities is a great opportunity to raise self-awareness and learn from others. There's often no right or wrong answer to leading people. Gaining skills in this area means you have more flexibility to deal with different situations, enabling you to be more effective as a leader.

New skills can be gained in so many different ways – it doesn’t always have to involve a formal training course or workshop. My CPD involves a mix of things, including learning from the groups I facilitate, reading books and newsletters, tapping into useful websites, and occasionally working with other trainers or going to industry events. All of this helps me pick up on different perspectives and insights, which is what lifelong learning is all about.

Follow Alistair on Twitter @becky_cedar.

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