GET YOUR CLIENTS CHARGED UP! Step #1

Keys to Working with Unmotivated Clients

Wouldn’t you love to have only clients and customers that are 100 percent self-motivated, positive, and enthusiastic about achieving their goals? But for workforce professionals, this is rarely the case. One-Stop staff work with three kinds of customers: first, we have some customers that are required to conduct a job search to satisfy government mandates. These can be the most challenging! Second, we work with customers that have been laid off unexpectedly and are in a hurry to get a new job, any job, and while motivated are willing to take the first thing that comes along. Finally, there are those that truly want to find a job that is ideal for them and are willing to do what is needed to obtain it. They are our easiest customers, and if that is all you have. you do not need to read the rest of this article!

Some of the skills career coaches offer to their clients include “challenging clients’ assumptions and perspectives to provoke new ideas and possibilities,” “helping clients ‘do it now,’” and “encouraging stretches and challenges as well as a comfortable learning pace.” (International Coach Federation Core Coaching Competencies) If a customer seems unmotivated to look thoughtfully at his/her situation, we as career coaches or counselors can suggest that there is an opportunity for growth if they do so, which could solve apparent long-term problems the customer has had.

Whether clients are seeking to access more of their known motivation regarding their work situation or to change the motivation behind a troublesome behavior, the following five steps will result in a change in both motivation and behavior:

1. Do a self-assessment: Clients must first become aware of how naturally, or habitually, they perceive and think about the people and situations they encounter. That is, they must thoroughly understand their present motivation and its consequences. Once they understand it, they can then seek to leverage it in their work. For example, Sue was feeling frustrated with her work as a customer service representative for a software company. Her self-assessment included noticing, throughout the day, which aspects of her job upset her most. She realized that the central issue was her lack of control over the situations she would encounter with customers, especially their emotional state --and not knowing whether she could successfully resolve their problems.

Portions excerpted with permission from Career Coaching: An Insider’s Guide by Marcia Bench (Davies-Black 2003). To get your copy of this career coaching text at a discount along with a free DVD, “Career Coaching: The Emerging Trend in Workforce Development”

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