Hr Coaching & Mentoring

8/8/2019 Hr Coaching & Mentoring

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Mentoring is...

"off-line help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work

or thinking"

The difference between coaching and mentoring

As can be seen above, there are many similarities between coaching and mentoring!Mentoring, particularly in its traditional sense, enables an individual to follow in the path of

an older and wiser colleague who can pass on knowledge, experience and open doors tootherwise out-of-reach opportunities. Coaching on the other hand is not generally performed

on the basis that the coach has direct experience of their clients formal occupational roleunless the coaching is specific and skills focused.

Having said this, there are professionals offering their services under the name of mentoring

who have no direct experience of their clients' roles and others offering services under the

name of coaching who do. So the moral of the story is, it is essential to determine what your

needs are and to ensure that the coach or mentor can supply you with the type and level of

service you require, whatever that service is called.

Business coaching & mentoring

Organisational development, changes brought about by mergers and acquisitions as well asthe need to provide key employees with support through a change of role or career are often

catalysts, which inspire companies to seek coaching or mentoring.

At one time coaching and mentoring were reserved for senior managers and company

directors, now it is available to all as a professional or personal development tool. Coachingand mentoring are also closely linked with organisational change initiatives in order to helpstaff to accept and adapt to changes in a manner consistent with their personal values and

goals.

Coaching & mentoring, both of which focus on the individual, can enhance morale,

motivation and productivity and reduce staff turnover as individuals feel valued andconnected with both small and large organisational changes. This role may be provided by

internal coaches or mentors and, increasingly, by professional coaching agencies.

Coaching and mentoring programmes generally prove to be popular amongst employees ascoaching achieves a balance between fulfilling organisational goals and objectives whilst

taking into account the personal development needs of individual employees. It is a two-wayrelationship with both the organisation and the employee gaining significant benefits.

There is also an increasing trend for individuals to take greater responsibility for their

personal & professional development and even those who are employed in large

organisations are no longer relying on employers to provide them with all or their careerdevelopment needs. There has been an increase in the number of individuals contracting

coaches and mentors on a private basis. Some are looking for a career change, but many are


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also seeking to maximise their potential with an existing employer or achieve greater balancewith their work and home lives.

Executive Coaching & Mentoring

There is a great deal of overlap between business and executive coaching or mentoring. Many

people will offer either service, but there is a growing body of professionals in the UK whoare calling themselves executive coaches and mentors and are differentiating themsleves in

the marketplace. The key differences between business and executive coaching and

mentoring are that Executive coaches and mentors typically

y Have a track record in professional and executive rolesy Work exclusively with the high-flyers or with those who have potential to be a high

flyery Work at board or CEO level within high profile or blue-chip organisationsy Offer total confidentialityy Work with potential 'captains of industry' and high profile business leaders

Performance Coaching and mentoring

Many coaching clients will seek coaching or mentoring

for performance enhancement rather than the

rectification of a performance issue. Coaching &

mentoring have been shown to be highly successful

intervention in these cases. When an organisation is

paying premium rates for development services,performance is usually the key pay-back they are

looking for. Even if an executive or manager receives

support in balancing work and home life, it will be with

the aim of increasing their effectiveness and

productivity at work and not for more altruistic reasons.

Performance coaching derives its theoretical

underpinnings and models from business and sports

psychology as well as general management approaches.

Skills coaching & mentoring

Skills coaching has some commonalities with one-to-one training. Skills coaches & mentors

combine a holistic approach to personal development with the ability to focus on the core


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skills an employee needs to perform in their role. Skills coaches & mentors should be highlyexperienced and competent in performing the skills they teach.

Job roles are changing at an ever increasing rate. Traditional training programmes are often

too inflexible or generic to deal with these fast moving requirements. In these instances one-

to-one skills coaching allows a flexible, adaptive just-in-time approach to skills

development. It is also possible to apply skills coaching in live environments rather thantaking people away from the job into a classroom where it is less easy to simulate the job

environment.

Skills coaching programmes are tailored specifically to the individual, their knowledge,

experience, maturity and ambitions and is generally focused on achieving a number of

objectives for both the individual and the company. These objectives often include the

individual being able to perform specific, well-defined tasks whilst taking in to account the

personal and career development needs of the individual.

One-to-one skills training is not the same as the sitting next to Nelly approach to on the job

training. What differentiates it is that like any good personal or professional development

intervention it is based on an assessment of need in relation to the job-role, delivered in astructured (but highly flexible) manner, and generates measurable learning and performance

outcomes. This form of skills training is likely to focus purely on the skills required to

perform the job function even though it may adopt a facilitative coaching approach instead of

a 'telling' or directive style.

Personal coaching & mentoring

Personal or life coaching is growing significantly in the UK, Europe and Australia. Personal

coaches may work face-to-face but email and telephone based relationships are also very

common. These coaches and mentors operate in highly supportive roles to those who wish to

make some form of significant change happen within their lives.

Coaches offer their clients a supportive and motivating environment to explore what they

want in life and how they might achieve their aspirations and fulfil their needs. By assisting

the client in committing to action and by being a sounding-board to their experiences,

coaching allows the individual the personal space and support they need to grow and develop.

The coach's key role is often is assisting the client to maintain the motivation and

commitment needed to achieve their goals.

In many cases personal coaching is differentiated from business coaching purely by the

context and the focus of the programme. Business coaching is always conducted within the

constraints placed on the individual or group by the organisational context. Personal coaching

on the other hand is taken entirely from the individual's perspective.

Traditional forms of trainingCoaching/mentoring

y Wholesale transfer of new skills, e.g. change in procedures, new systems (e.g.software application training), new job function.

y Programmes are mostly generic and not tailored to individual needs. Delegatesgenerally have to complete standard modules, so there is little room for tailoring the

programme to account for existing knowledge, skills or preferences.


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y Not always sufficiently similar to the live working environment to ensure effectiveskills transfer.

y Best suited to transfer of knowledge and certain skills rather than the development ofpersonal qualities or competencies

y Development activities are designed to suit clients personal needs (whether aspirationor performance related) and learning styles.

y Fine tunes and develops skills.y Can focus on interpersonal skills, which cannot be readily or effectively transferred in

a traditional training environment.

y Provides client with contacts and networks to assist with furthering their career or lifeaspirations.

y Performed in the live environment or off-line.y Highly effective when used as a means of supporting training initiatives to ensure that

key skills are transferred to the live environment.

y Coaches and mentors transfer the skills to the client rather than doing the job forthem.

CounsellingConsultancy

y Explore personal issues and problems through discussion in order to increaseunderstanding or develop greater self-awareness.

y The aim of counselling is to lead the client toward self-directed actions to achievetheir goals.

N.B Coaching and counselling share many core skills. However, professional counsellors

work with personal issues in much greater depth than would generally be explored within a

coaching context.

y Focus is on developing organisational practices, processes and structure.y Role generally more strategic and often used to instigate and design broad ranging

change programmes

y Consultancy frequently involves expert advice about specific issues andorganisational processes.

y Consultants are often brought in to provide specific solutions to business problemsand needs

y Consultant leads the job for the organisation: whilst upskilling the employee/clientmay be a contractual part of the service, it is not generally the primary goal.

N.B. The term consultant coach is often used when the coach is external to the organisationand therefore offering services on an external or consultancy basis. This is not, however,the same as consultancy per se.

Coaching and mentoring has been offered by consultancy companies for many years, even

though it is not specifically consultancy It is only recently that people have begun drawing a

distinction which in some cases, like the distinction between coaching and mentoring, is not

useful in distinguishing between them.


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