Coaching Conversations

One of Phillips Edison’s most valued assets is its people.  We take pride in having the best team in the business and put a great deal of effort into helping our associates continue to learn and grow.  As part of that, a little over a year ago we chose to discard the often dreaded annual review process in favor of a more fluid, ongoing coaching approach. 

Every associate at every level participated in a coaching conversation workshop and received access to a wide variety of tools and resources to help them implement the coaching conversations model of performance management.  Now, instead of a rigid annual form that must be returned to the human resources team, managers and their reports use worksheets or other tools that they find most useful to facilitate ongoing, regular conversations regarding associate goals, development and performance.

The foundation for a successful coaching conversations platform is ongoing (ideally daily) feedback and regular, open and honest conversations between associates and their managers.  This means corrections and training when things aren’t going well, but also compliments and praise when they are. 

We train our managers and leaders on how to give both types of feedback, and we work with associates on how to best use the feedback they receive.  The coaching conversations platform is a holistic model that encompasses all aspects of every associate’s development and performance.  We have found that associates appreciate the increased feedback, immediate performance evaluations and more focused development efforts.  Managers have indicated that the system is helping them form better relationships with their teams and have a more thorough understanding of the strengths and needs of their people.