Lincoln is on a mission. We are on a mission for our residents, owners, clients and associates. As the second largest management company in the nation, we have a responsibility and goal of increasing employee engagement, reducing turnover, and increasing our customer loyalty.
With those goals in mind, just over two years ago we started the journey of employee coaching. Like all journeys, we had to get ourselves equipped so that we could prepare our associates. It started with defining what it meant to create a coaching culture. Most of us go straight to football, baseball, basketball or any sport that has a coach yelling from the sidelines, making all the decisions and controlling the team. Not the same thing.
Coaching defined in a business environment is, “Interactions that help the person being coached to expand awareness, discover superior solutions, and make and implement better decisions.” In short, helping our associates come up with their own solutions to the challenges that they are facing.
So why coaching? What makes it different? The answer is everyone. It involves everyone. It gives all of our associates – from our trusted accountants to our amazing groundskeepers – a voice and someone to listen and help guide them in making decisions with confidence. If we can equip everyone to coach, we become a company that has associates that are more resilient, more engaged, and take ownership of their actions, which in turn gives us a more productive workplace. It is a win all around.
Changing the way we think and interact with one another is no small undertaking. Getting buy-in from our executives and regional teams takes confidence in presenting the business case and ensuring them that their time, money, and resources are being utilized wisely. It has been exciting to see how receptive our leaders have been to this paradigm shift. The adage, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” seems appropriate for how this journey has evolved and continues to influence our current associates and shape our new ones.
As the journey moves forward and we continue in the marathon we know that we never really hit the finish line. Our hope in this new way of working is that it will become the new norm, and that long after our current leaders pass the baton to their successors, coaching will be so embedded in our culture that it is a natural part of our conversation. That we as a company will be defined in our mission as a company that is for our people because we care enough about one another to lead, guide, and support each other throughout our everyday efforts in being Lincoln Property Company.
Guest post courtesy of Kristyn Ramsey, National Manager of Learning & Talent Development at Lincoln Property Company
Interested in learning more about company culture at Lincoln Property Company? Contact us today. We’d love to chat!
