Coaching and encouragement are important to a new employee. He will want to please and meet your expectations, but he will almost certainly not feel totally confident in his new surroundings and new role.

It is advisable, then, to choose goals and needs that are important to him, that encourage him to achieve because he really wants to, rather than telling him that ‘you must just do it’. Goals into which a person buys are far more likely to be realised.

Set specific, measureable, authentic, realistic and timely (SMART) goals that:

• detail accurately the intended outcomes;
• indicate how the goal will be attained and measured the goal;
• are motivating and authentic;
• are realistically achievable - stretching rather than straining, and
• have a deadline.

Many young employees have never set goals before, so make sure the exercise is positioned as an opportunity for them to improve themselves and their working life.

Be positive in your delivery, be open and encouraging, support the employee’s ideas and ensure that the goal is achievable.

Managing a young staff member is sometimes a challenge. Each of the below scenarios are situations that real employers have encountered when coaching and mentoring young members of staff.