Different Models Of Coaching And Mentoring For Talent Development Essay.

Models of Coaching and Mentoring

1. An evaluation of different models of coaching and mentoring and their potential for use within a talent development programme.

2. Assess the skills and competencies required for effective coaching and mentoring with respect to those involved, including individual employees, line managers and other coaches.

3. Evaluate the models and methods used to support coaching and mentoring and justify an appropriate design for your talent development programme.

There are different models of coaching and mentoring that emphasize different areas and it depends on the working style of trainer, trainee and context of training to adopt one accordingly. Different models that are used for coaching and mentoring are:

GROW Model: This model derives its major foundations from psychology pertaining to business and sports. Some of the approaches are derived from general management principles. Model adopts an ongoing approach where coach works towards continuous improvement of the individual (Harris, 2013). It is one most followed and adopted method of coaching and mentoring. This is being used as the base for various other models of development. ‘G’ in GOAL stands for goal, ‘R’ for reality, ‘O’ for options and ‘W’ for will. John Whitmore has created this model when he was a sports coach and was later adopted by the business domain seeing the potential. Every coaching session must have a specific goal. The objective should be clear in minds of both trainer and trainee. The success or attainment of goal should be quantifiable (Stokes, 2014). Then comes the reality realm. We need to grasp where we stand before we could plan to reach where we desire. Next we need to account for all the options that exists in order to attain the goal. And finally in order to sustain the journey from start to finish we should have motivation and enthusiasm.

STEER Model: ‘S’ in STEER stands for Spot, ‘T’ for Tailor, ‘E’ for Explain, ‘E’ for Encourage and ‘R’ for Review. The orientation in this model is also towards task just like in the previous model and is originated out of the sports world too (Pokoro, 2012). But it is different from the GOAL model by the fact that in this model trainer demonstrates before trainee in order to coach.

OSKAR Model: This model differs from other models as it takes problem as stepping-stone and instead focusses on solution (Passmore, 2012). ‘O’ in OSKAR stands for Outcome; ‘S’ stands for Scaling, ‘K’ for Know-How and resources, ‘A’ for Affirm and ‘R’ for Review. This is a solution-focused approach of coaching and mentoring. This first identifies what method is working and builds upon it, discarding what doesn’t work (Fletcher, 2012). In this model existing skills and capabilities are being leveraged to achieve what the mentor and mentee are setting.

GROW Model

Positive Coaching Model: This model touches the psychological being of the individual or corporate that needs to be coached. ‘P’ in Positive stands for Purpose and similarly others stands for Observations, Strategy, and Insight, Team, and Initiate, Value and Encourage. Support socially and positive reinforcement is being incorporated in this model (Megginson, 2013).

Transformational Coaching: The techniques being employed in this model address the self-image and perception of the participants. This is a task-based approach of coaching and mentoring (Grine, 2014). It helps to figure changes in the coaching techniques as it addresses self and relationships.

It is not easy being a coach or mentor as these are very crucial roles to take in any organization (Greif, 2013). So before any investments are made in programs including coaching and mentoring utmost care is taken in terms of techniques, standards and coaches. High expectations are placed upon coaches and mentors. These people should have necessary professional and personal quality to be effective in their work. Usually these coaches and mentors form part of the management in a company or organization. Therefore they must possess leadership qualities as well. The employees and other people are looking them upon as role models involved in the process. The first primary skill is rapport building that every personnel in this area should possess (Bachkirova, 2015). People having good interpersonal skills and who are people oriented find it easy to build rapport. It is very essential to build a connection between the trainer and trainee that is why rapport building is necessary (Chagnon, 2015). It helps to develop good level of understanding between all the stakeholders. It will be easier for rapport building exercise if there is friendly and comfortable atmosphere during the process. In such environment participants will not hesitate to carry out the activities and follow the basic drills.

The second quality is listening. To be a good and active listener is very critical for a coach in order to be effective. They should be able to pick out both verbal and nonverbal cues to deeply understand the requirement and personality of the participant. The approach should be two way in which both trainer and trainee take turns to speak and bring out the best out of the session. Good listening skills could be demonstrated by not interrupting when being spoken to. Paraphrasing is a good technique that can be leveraged to properly understand the context (Boyatzis, 2013).

STEER Model

The third quality is the ability to ask good questions. Every coach should develop a quality to ask effective and intelligent questions. Sometimes it becomes hard to bring something out of a participant without being questioned in a proper manner. Open ended questions is good way to make participant elaborate more and open out. In order to show interest and empathy towards person follow up questions should also be integrated in the training sessions.

Other very important skill is effective communication (Rhodes, 2013). As the process included elongated discussions and conversations between both the parties, coach should be able to effectively communicate the message across the table. This also becomes critical during the feedback giving process so as to not demean the self-esteem of trainee. Apart from these primary skills, coaches and mentors should also possess secondary qualities and abilities like to build respect and trust, develop good level of understanding, motivate, inspire, guide goal setting process, stimulate action and help in attainment of goal, teach self-knowledge and awareness. Standards are being set according to the associations like International Coach Federation (ICF) which set competencies like ethical practices, agreement, increasing level of awareness among participants and track trainee’s progress.

There are different evaluation models and methods for coaching and mentoring and can be utilized to structure a training program. In this manner we can tailor the coaching style to best suit the requirement (Hargreaves, 2012). Process that is being followed to design a coaching and mentoring program is carried out in different steps. First training needs are assessed and agreed upon. Analysis is being done to figure out training needs. Another very popular method to assess training and prioritizing it is called DIF Analysis. It stands for Difficulty, Importance and Frequency. It is rather a complex method that includes assessing and then prioritizing training needs followed by planning on different parameters vis-à-vis Difficulty, Importance and Frequency. It is a task oriented system where emphasis is given to skills, competencies etc. instead of looking from individual’s perspective. At a basic level if an activity measures low on all the three different parameters then it is low priority activity and on the other hand if an activity measures high on all three parameters then it is high priority activity. This step is generally taken during the appraisal process. All the stakeholders are consulted before agreeing and identifying training process so that goals are attained as per planned. Before any training process is finalized organizational values are considered and all aspects of ethics and integrity are properly considered. Apart from ethics and integrity factors such as spirituality, compassion and love are also being considered before anything is set upon. Hierarchy should be maintained while organizing coaching and mentoring sessions so that those people who are not right for such sessions don’t get trained unnecessarily which exhaust both time and resources. Keeping an eye on people leaving an organization could help to design an effective coaching and mentoring program.

OSKAR Model

In the next step specification for training and development are specified (Newman, 2013). The requirement is broken down into manageable insights so as not to miss finer details. Each such segment is labeled with a specific measure or standard or parameter or combination of these so that each segment could be identified separately. Some tools that can be used for such dissection are templates and 360-degree process (Hansman, 2013). Coaching needs and skills sets could be revisited to organize elements and have a proper direction in which we need to proceed. In other step personality of trainee should be analyzed and different learning styles are considered.

Conclusion

With the above discussion it can be said that the learning styles guide the coaching that would be most effective to bring out the results. Model used to study personality traits and designing coaching programs is Erikson Model. Also Johari Window model could be used to help design (Avery, 2014). Considering team and group Adair’s Theory and Tuckman model could be used (Tee Ng, 2012). Next training effectiveness is evaluated which includes before training and after coaching measures. In order to structure training design Kirkpatrick model could be used. In order to understand the development Bloom’s theory could be implemented (Denmark, 2013). Exercises and activities including team should be integrated in the process. Also self-study should be promoted for all round and quick coaching.

References

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