Coaching

Correct Answer: Guide the employee to create an action plan highlighting strengths and addressing weaknesses.

In a challenging coaching scenario where an employee fails to meet performance expectations, a SHRM-CP should focus on helping the employee improve their performance through constructive approaches. Guiding the employee to create an action plan that highlights their strengths and addresses weaknesses is the most effective of the given options. It encourages self-reflection, specific goal setting, and a clear path for improvement which aligns with best practices in human resource management. Discussing the employee's personal life to understand external factors affecting their performance, while sometimes insightful, can be too invasive and is not the primary focus for performance coaching. It's important to maintain professional boundaries and focus on work-related actions and support. Advising the employee to model their behavior on a high-performing colleague is not necessarily wrong, but it's not the most effective approach. Without individualized guidance, the employee may not understand how to apply what they observe to their own performance or it may not suit their personal work style. Encouraging the employee to take full responsibility for the situation by self-evaluating their performance gaps is important, but without the additional step of creating an action plan, it may not lead to the actionable steps needed to actually improve performance.

Correct Answer: Role-play conflicts with the employee to provide real-time feedback and practice.

The most effective next step for the SHRM-CP certified coach to take when an employee is struggling with conflict resolution skills is to provide opportunities for role-playing conflicts. This approach allows for real-time feedback and practice, which can help the employee to understand and apply the techniques in a safe environment before using them in actual conflict situations at work. Role-playing can also help identify specific areas where the employee might be misunderstanding the techniques or where further clarification is necessary. Suggesting the employee take a break from coaching might deprive them of needed support and guidance, and could lead to further frustration. While observing colleagues might provide some insight, it is passive and may not directly address the employee's individual challenges. Enrolling in a comprehensive training program may be beneficial, but it could be more time-consuming and costly, and it still might not address the individual's unique application challenges without additional support.

Correct Answer: Facilitating self-discovery and solutions

The most effective coaching sessions usually involve the coach facilitating self-discovery and solutions for the coachee. This approach empowers the coachee to reflect, identify their own challenges, and generate personal solutions that they are committed to and believe in. The coach's role is to guide and support this process rather than imposing their own ideas or solutions. As for the other answers, offering expert advice and instructions might occasionally be appropriate, but it does not constitute the core of coaching, which is more about unlocking a person's potential to maximize their own performance. Directing the coachee towards predefined solutions or providing step-by-step action plans takes away the coachee's autonomy and opportunity for self-directed growth, which are key components of effective coaching.