Implementing Coaching And Mentoring In The Workplace Enhances Employee Development And Growth.

Coaching

Discuss about the Implementing coaching and mentorin.

Coaching is a multifaceted process which is directed by the goal. It emphasize on the enhancement of individuals, their life and work, it is continuously realizing rapid growth if taken as an industry. In traditional way, coaching is considered as a significant learning program. Usually there is an outsider who offers the means or a way towards a neutral approach and he is recognized as a coach. Although in present time in-house coaching or coaching within the organization is more common and successful(Law, 2013).

Mentoring is a practice or process where  effective support and guidance is provided to the developing initiators by the individuals who serve as the role models as they are much more experienced in that particular field. These experienced mentors also sponsor the career progress of the individuals. Mentoring is an act of self-actualization and happiness which is acknowledged by viewing the individual and professional development of the beginners (Law, 2013).

In following few of the situations mentoring and coaching share some familiar aspects such as:

• Both mentoring and coaching provide a source for action, reflection and analysis which eventually let the individuals to progress in one more region of their work or life.
• Mentoring and coaching both are associated with the initiatives of organizational change for helping and supporting the employees to accept as well as adapt the changes in a way in which their personal goals and values remain consistent.
• Both of them empower the individuals to get solutions for themselves for the issues by the means of two-way discussion and questioning. With this aim in mind, mentoring as well as coaching aims to develop a non-directive approach for the individuals’ development instead of instructing them that in what way they should improve their performance.
• Mentoring and coaching helps in building self-awareness in the individuals which turns into effectual decision making (Garvey, Stokes and Megginson, 2014).

Following are few of the elements on the basis of which mentoring and coaching has some sort of differences:

• Purpose

Mentoring helps the employees in understanding the cultural degree in any company or organization, develop expertise in a particular field, provide ideas and enhance motivation related to career course and make the employees friendly with the management stages and various segments of the organization’s business. For the organization, it is recognized as knowledge management.

Coaching helps the individuals or the employees in building skills and competencies, gaining self-awareness, helps in adjusting their management style or behavior and particularly for attainment of the business objectives.

• Individuals

Mentoring is usually for the individuals who are high achievers in any organization

Coaching is generally for the low performers or the general candidates.

• Time frame

Mentoring is generally a process of six months or for a year which consist of scheduled meetings. And there can be a continuous course for years if it’s the informal mentoring association.

Coaching is generally for a period of six or nine months in which there held regular and continuous scheduled meetings (Garvey, Stokes and Megginson, 2014).

The main and the chief purpose of coaching are as follows:

• To help the employees to achieve personal and professional development
• Development of the individuals by understanding, transferring of knowledge and learning from the experience of others.
• To enhance and improve the development, learning and performance of the individuals (Connor and Pokora, 2012).

The main and the chief purpose of mentoring are as follows:

• Motivation

Mentoring motivates and inspires the employees to get involved and have a better engagement with the employees and the organization and also work as an efficient and beneficial resource for the organization. Mentoring offer number of opportunities to the employees so that they can share their viewpoints as mentors and it also offers them the responsibilities so that they can be motivated and work effectively.

• Improved consideration for the organization
• By enhancing effective communication and network in the organization mentoring facilitate the mentees and the mentors to have an improved understanding of the organization (Connor and Pokora, 2012).

Mentoring

Following are some of the key benefits of coaching for the stakeholders:

• Understanding of individual weaknesses and strengths
• Better self-awareness
• Understanding the effect of individual’s behavior on others which comprises of the positive impact over the individual management skills and their association with those more senior and more junior.
• Provides a greater clarity of the roles which the stakeholders require to play in the organization.
• Helps in improving the skills and competencies to deal with complicated circumstances and in leading change in vague times, comprising of others engagement in the transition.
• Helps in developing particular skills such as workload prioritization, goal setting, long-term planning and developing strategy.
• Build confidence in their individual capability to manage upward (Tong and Kram, 2013).

Following are some of the key benefits of mentoring for the stakeholders. The stakeholders involve the employees and the customers:

• Enhancement in the sales performance and increase in the income generation
• Increased output as the efficiency and motivation of the employees will increase through positive mentoring
• Cost saving as there will be lesser mistakes and the processes will be complete at a much faster rate
• Improvements in the quality of the service
• Minimization of the period of non-productive induction through acceleration of the transitions into executive roles.
• Increased retention rate of key individuals who might have switched over to another organization because of being demoralized.
• Reduction in the rate of sick absence during the organization change
• Initiatives through increased number of people (Tong and Kram, 2013).

Workplace Coaching

Workplace coaching is the act or course by which individuals get well equipped with the opportunities, knowledge and tools which they require to develop themselves to become efficient towards their commitment to their work, the organization and themselves. The work related performance is improved by the coach through his proficiency and experience (Jones, Woods and Guillaume, 2015).

Career Coaching

Career coaching is the process by which employees can get personal help in overcoming their obstacles, in creation and execution of plans, in making career decisions and in establishment of their professional goals. Career coaching helps the employees in the fulfillment of their future career goals by recognizing their abilities, knowledge and skills, long-term development requirements and identifying that in what way they can increase their effectiveness in the development of these (Cox, Bachkirova and Clutterbuck, 2014).

Executive Coaching

Executive coaching usually emphasize on the development of the senior management.  It is a question or analysis based approach towards the professional and personal development of the individuals which focus on enhancing learning and growth, generating action and creating awareness. There are several benefits of executive coaching such as building of new skills, improved confidence and self-esteem, attracting talent, decreasing turnover, improved morale, increased productivity and enhanced performance (Stern, 2004).

Leadership Mentoring

Leadership mentoring is a process which helps the individual or the leader to build their ability and skill to accomplish the long-term term and short-term organizational goals. Leadership mentoring is customized, individualized and generally conducted on one-on-one basis for a specific purpose and for a defined time period (Ladegard and Gjerde, 2014).

Performance Mentoring

Performance mentoring is a course in which the mentor helps in the development of the mentee so that effective changes can occur in the life of mentee. It helps in enhancing the workplace performance of the individual by identifying the road blockers and smoothing them, by maximizing their strength, by developing tools for their development, by understanding their emotions and inspiring them to work hard (Wilson, 2014).

Personal Mentoring

Personal mentoring is the association between the mentor and the mentee to provide support, guidance and structure related to the personal as well as professional development of the individual. The mentor understands the issues and current state of the individual on personal grounds and provides him with friendly perceptions so that the individual can achieve the personal and professional goals effectively.

Similarities between coaching and mentoring

Line mangers play a vital role in coaching and mentoring. The importance of the line managers’ roles can be understood by the following points:

Induction activities: For the successful implementation of the induction programme for the employees, the line managers arrange for a ‘buddy’ which can help the employees in guiding and advising them for the fresh start and also helps them in encouraging to work alongside as a staff member to handle work and meeting clients.

Incorporate and implement job rotation so that there can be develop multi-tasking so the employees can contribute their significance in multiple sections of work of the organization, department or team.

Line mangers plays a vital role in providing guidance and coaching to the individuals while working with them in any complex business issue for example handling a rigid customer or using any technology based device. It one of the key activity of line managers to provide support and coaching to the low performers.

The line manager has significant role in recognition of the external training programs for enhancing employees’ skills and abilities.

The focus of line managers is on the knowledge-sharing between the employees and the managers (Joo, Sushko and McLean, 2012).

Following are the five major factors which are required to be in consideration at the time of implementing mentoring and coaching in an organization:

Involvement of employees

The first major factor is the involvement of the employees in the process of implementation of mentoring and coaching. This factor laid the highest impact over the outcomes of the process as if the most vital resource of the organization i.e. human resource or the employees are not involved in any change process or in any program then the success rate of that program is negligible. For successful implementation, the organization needs to involve its each and every employee in the change process and the coaching and mentoring program so that their present employee engagement with the organization’s aim and objectives (Woodfield, 2013).

Planned strategic approach

For any successful implementation, another key factor to be considered about is the use of planned strategic approach. To implement any change the organization needs to first strategically plan for the objective as well as make available the adequate resources, methods, knowledge required for the implementation of the program. By adopting a planned strategic approach there are maximum chances of any program to accomplish success (Fletcher and Mullen, 2012).

Differences between coaching and mentoring

Raising Awareness

Another vital element is raising awareness regarding the program. It comprises of various elements such as informing the employees about the program, making the employees aware of the need behind the change, communicating the benefits associated with the change program and the consequences associated with the failure of the implementation program.

Supportive behavior

The supportive hand from the higher authorities or the managers is one major factor for the successful implementation of any program. If the mangers will understand and answer the needs of the employees and their doubts related to the program then they will surely get a positive response from the employees’ side (Spence and Deci, 2016).

Identifying reasons behind resistance towards change

One major factor to get concern about is the reasons behind employees’ resistance towards any program. The organization needs to understand those reasons and must provide an effective solution to them so that employees can involve and engage in the program without any further issues (Phillips, 2013).

Coaching and mentoring have several benefits and positive impacts for the organization and the employees but following are few recommendations which can help mentoring and coaching to provide a much deeper impact:

Recognition of the objectives and aims of the organization and the chief business drivers which aims for organizational growth and future sustainability. There are various tools for analysis which can help such as mathematical modeling, stakeholder analysis, scenario planning, PESTLE and SWOT analysis, skills audit etc.

There is need to recognize the future development requirements of the organization in terms of attitudes, knowledge and skills needed for the enhancement of the competence of organization to face the forthcoming challenges.

There is a need to undertake a complete evaluation and check of the organization’s L&D interventions for finding out the extent or point to which the organization is addressing the growth and development requirements. By using the various evaluation tools, a complete evaluation can be performed as well as understanding of expectations and ROI will aid in raising awareness related to the issue that whether mentoring and coaching are capable of matching L&D interventions or they possess an increased impact.

Once, it has been analyzed that both mentoring and coaching are significantly adding value then the organization is required to undertake a complete analysis of the stakeholder for identifying the resistors as well as the supporters towards the organizational change. A complete analysis of the culture and climate of the organization by evaluating the surveys of employee engagement and incorporation of methods and approaches which persuade the voice of the employees in open discussion will surely help the organization in analyzing whether it’s the right time to implement mentoring and coaching or not.

Key benefits of coaching for stakeholders

Once the engagement and awareness is raised towards mentoring and coaching by the multi-directional consultation and communication, the organization then require to incorporate the essential L&D or HR approaches in place which will enhance the motivation and development of mentees, mentors, coach and coaches. There is a further need to identify that in what way it will be evaluated and monitored on a continuous basis. At this stage, there is a need to formulate a key metrics in collaboration with main stakeholders. There will be an emphasis over the main business drivers which offers added value.

By using media and various communication techniques the feedback of the chief stakeholders must be taken so that there can be multi-directional and two-way feedback.

There is a vital requirement that a clear and identical selection criterion must be in place which offers transparency and equity in relation with the issues that on what basis individuals are selected or not selected for a specific position. The abilities, key skills and knowledge must be set in the selection criteria for ensuring that individuals are prepared for taking part in the mentoring or coaching contract.

For helping the coaches and the mentors there should be implementation of a support mechanism so that they can seek regular feedback and support. For instance, every mentee or coaches must have their own mentor or coach so that they can freely discuss the issues and problems with them. Various interventions for example appreciative questioning and action learning sets can also contribute in the development of mentoring and coaching.

There must be a continuous evaluation so that the impact can be indentified over return on expectations, return on investments, organizational performance and individuals.

There are various tools which can be taken use for effective implementation of coaching and mentoring such as GROW model, SMART technique.

All these above recommendations have taken place in various organizations and have given much positive outcomes. They add significance value towards the improvement of the employees, organizational outputs, customer satisfaction and individual development.

Similar to the mentees and coachees, both mentors and coaches possess requirements for development in terms of increasing their efficiency and by taking use of the ideas and thoughts of the fellow professionals for identifying that in what way they can further develop their techniques, skills and behaviours. In the process of managing and designing mentoring and coaching interventions and for their enhancement, the L&D professionals and the senior managers play a vital strategic role.

Key benefits of mentoring for stakeholders

At the initial level, the first and the foremost major element for the effectiveness of mentoring and coaching is selection of the coach or the mentor who is best suitable and appropriate according to their competence.

Though no single individual possess entire set of appropriate behaviours, knowledge and skills which can fulfil the organization’s as well as individual’s present and future needs. Moreover, it is expected by the individuals and the organizations to adapt the environmental changes and further develop themselves in such a way that they are able to face the challenge of these transformations.

The outcome is the requirement for mentors and coaches to competent enough to work with the mentees and coachees in a flexible and pragmatic way. There are different ways which will develop them to face these challenges such as continuous supervision and an open discussion for sharing the solutions and ideas on adoption of reflective practice (Passmore, 2015).

There should implement a support mechanism which clearly associated with both the desired results of mentoring and coaching interventions and objectives and aims of the organization.

The mentors or the coaches who are completely conscious about the desired results can then begin with the formation of support needed to meet these.

An open forum must be provided by the support mechanism to the mentors and the coaches so that there can be effective discussion of the issues and the principles of practices of mentoring and coaching. This will raise the insights regarding sharing of viewpoints on getting familiarized with it and organizational contact and mentoring or coaching within the framework.

On the basis of various things the support mechanism will be developed such as the personal requirements of the coach or the mentor, the organizational or stakeholders’ requirements to face the desired results, the issues of concern such as problem related to interpersonal communication, learning style of coach or the mentor, the complete series of experimental learning and on the basis on finance, time and other constraints (Garvey, Stokes and Megginson, 2014).

Mentoring and coaching supervision emphasis on the formal expert support which can incorporate in order to boost the effectiveness and efficiency of practice by the continuous evaluative and reflective practice and professional development of mentor and the coach. The support can be offered within the groups or in the one-on-one meeting.

These interventions of development and support can help in the development of behaviours, attitudes, knowledge and skills; they also facilitate individuals to experiment, reflect and discuss; as well as they offer quality assurance.

The mentors and the coaches can easily increase and improve their behaviours, skills and knowledge over a time period by taking use of various methods for example real-life experiences, social interaction, training, research and reading.

This enhancement of behaviours, skills and knowledge will fulfil their individual requirements, grounded on their chosen learning styles or way of learning and the available resources (Connor and Pokora, 2012).

References:

Stern, L.R., 2004. Executive Coaching: A Working Definition. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 56(3), p.154.

Law, H., 2013. The psychology of coaching, mentoring and learning. John Wiley & Sons.

Garvey, B., Stokes, P. and Megginson, D., 2014. Coaching and mentoring: Theory and practice. Sage.

Connor, M. and Pokora, J., 2012. Coaching And Mentoring At Work: Developing Effective Practice: Developing Effective Practice. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Tong, C. and Kram, K.E., 2013. The efficacy of mentoring–The benefits for mentees, mentors, and organizations. The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of the psychology of coaching and mentoring, pp.217-242.

Jones, R.J., Woods, S.A. and Guillaume, Y.R., 2015. The Effectiveness of Workplace Coaching: A Meta-analysis of Learning and Performance Outcomes from Coaching. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.

Cox, E., Bachkirova, T. and Clutterbuck, D.A. eds., 2014. The complete handbook of coaching. Sage.

Ladegard, G. and Gjerde, S., 2014. Leadership coaching, leader role-efficacy, and trust in subordinates. A mixed methods study assessing leadership coaching as a leadership development tool. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(4), pp.631-646.

Wilson, C., 2014. Performance Coaching: A Complete Guide to Best Practice Coaching and Training. Kogan Page Publishers.

Connor, M. and Pokora, J., 2012. Coaching And Mentoring At Work: Developing Effective Practice: Developing Effective Practice. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Joo, B.K.B., Sushko, J.S. and McLean, G.N., 2012. Multiple faces of coaching: Manager-as-coach, executive coaching, and formal mentoring. Organization Development Journal, 30(1), p.19.

Woodfield, I., 2013, August. Coaching and mentoring. In Professional Values and Practices for Teachers and Student: Meeting the QTS Standards (p. 174). Routledge.

Fletcher, S. and Mullen, C.A. eds., 2012. Sage handbook of mentoring and coaching in education. Sage.

Spence, G.B. and Deci, E.L., 2016. Self-determination Theory Within Coaching Contexts: Supporting Motives and Goals that Promote Optimal Functioning and Well-being. Beyond Goals: Effective Strategies for Coaching and Mentoring, p.85.

Phillips, R., 2013. Coaching for higher performance. Employee Councelling Today.

Passmore, J. ed., 2015. Excellence in coaching: The industry guide. Kogan Page Publishers.