“Good at the technical side of the job, but terrible with coworkers and customers”

This is a comment that is more common than you may think. When people are elevated to management, they often lack the interpersonal or key “people skills” necessary to inspire trust and effective communication. Exit interviews consistently find that employees become disgruntled or move on because of poor management, not because of poor job fit. “People leave people, not companies”.

If you have key employees that excel in their tasks or are technically talented, but have less than admirable skills in the areas of communicating with their people, empowering others or managing conflict, consider addressing these deficits by using a coach or consultant to set up a development plan that will support their growth in these critical areas. The process of growth starts with an assessment of needed competencies, powerful conversations between the coach and manager, and actionable steps that strengthen the practice.

As a “good business” trend, the use of an executive coach or consulting psychologist is an investment in people that affects the bottom line in many ways well worth the ROI. When good people get better, everybody wins.