Unlocking Support & Self-Advocacy
Making space & structure to communicate challenges and support needs
Following a tough experience with a previous manager, a training professional found themselves struggling to ask their new manager for what they needed in order to get their job done. As a result, they were underperforming, and the manager expressed that the employee would soon be placed on a PIP if she didn’t see improvements.
Understanding both a manager’s expectations and the strengths and support needs of an employee can make the difference between losing a great employee and empowering them.
An NITW coach worked with the employee to outline what things they needed in order to get their job done– both technical components as well as structural aspects to their workday to ensure their communication, processing, and learning needs were met. Additionally, they workshopped language to be able to communicate this to the employee’s manager, and created template messages for them to use in the future for similar scenarios.
In assessing the employee’s needs and providing them with a structure to share this information with their manager, the NITW coach helped this employee not only improve their performance but also develop their skills in self-advocacy. Two years later, the employee continues to thrive in their role and is on track to achieve a promotion.
This case study is an anonymized example from a past NITW engagement, exemplifying the beneficial impact that NITW can have on team performance and organizational excellence.
