Coaching & Mentoring

Why Do We Need Coaching & Mentoring?

The main reasons why organizations need

coaching and mentoring activities are as follows:

To maximize knowledge transfer

To increase the skill levels
For succession planning
Why Do We Need Coaching & Mentoring?

To maximize knowledge transfer

Coaching & Mentoring provides a learning

channel that effectively transfers knowledge
within the organization
Critical knowledge is maintained in the
organization
Contextual learning is evident
Why Do We Need Coaching & Mentoring?

To increase skill levels

The coaches and mentors can very effectively

transfer core skills
Customization of skills in relation to the core
activities of the business is retained
Cross training of staff can be achieved
Why Do We Need Coaching & Mentoring?

For succession planning

The ability for the organization to identify „fast

track‟ candidates and prepare them for new
jobs is enhanced by coaching & mentoring
Coaching & Mentoring can ensure continuity
of performance when key staff leave the
organization because core skills have been
transferred
Beneficiaries of Coaching & Mentoring

The Coach / Mentor

The Employee

The Department

The Organization
 Benefits to The Coach / Mentor

Benefits to the Coach / Mentor can be described

as:
Job Satisfaction

Further development of own skill level

Involvement in strategic activity

What does a mentor actually do?
 What does a mentor actually do?
Encourage
Convey sincere belief in protégé ability to succeed
Give advice
Give constructive feedback
Give formal and informal instruction (technical, political)
Introduce to colleagues, etc.
Provide opportunities for protégé to demonstrate his/her
skills
 What does a mentor actually do?
Serve as career and lifestyle role model
Attend meetings, conferences, and other events together
Provide observation experience
Provide role-playing experience
Exchange/discuss ideas
Co-authoring
Challenge protégé to and assist with career planning and
development; emphasis on planning!
 What does a mentor actually do?
Review resumes, cover letters
Provide sense of direction/focus
Help in problem solving
Practice communication/interpersonal skills
Assist in career planning
Help set goals
 What about mentees?
Potential to succeed
Capacity for self-disclosure
Willing to learn
Confident to try new things
Communicate well
Trust others
Ambitious
 What about mentees?
Internal focus of control
High job investment
Values relationships
Sees relationship between personal and
professional growth
Active learner
Focused
Learn from, but not have to please the mentor
 What about mentees?
Knows limits/ when to get help
Ethical
Takes initiative
Goal oriented
Organization/ time management skills
Open minded
 Module 2

Mentoring: The Process

 Eight Steps

• 1. Learn what mentoring is all about

• 2. Review mentoring suggestions
• 3. Make a match
• 4. Have your first meeting
• 5. Continue the partnership
• 6. Have a six-month check-up
• 7. Continue with personal growth
• 8. Conclude the mentoring partnership
Step One: Learn What Mentoring Is All
About
The mentoring partnership is an
agreement between two people sharing
experiences and expertise to help with
personal and professional growth.
Step One: Learn What Mentoring Is All
About (cont’d)

To learn about mentoring, you need to know:

• What does it take to be a mentor?
• What does the mentor get out of it?
• What are the mentee‟s responsibilities?
• What does the mentee get out of it?
What Does It Take to Be a Mentor?

• Desire
• Time
• Reality check
• Individual career
development plan
 What Does the Mentor Get Out of It?

• Pass on successes
• Practice interpersonal &
management skills
• Become recognized
• Expand their horizons
• Gain more than the mentee does
What Are the Mentee’s Responsibilities?

• Willing to learn
• Able to accept feedback
• Willing to “stretch”
• Able to identify goals
What Does the Mentee Get Out of It?

• Listening ear
• Valuable direction
• Gaps filled in
• Doors opened
• Different perspective
 Step Two: Review Mentoring
Suggestions

• Commit to one-year partnership

• Discuss “no-fault” termination
• Have a six-month check-up
Step Three: Make a Match

You may be looking for a

mentor, a mentee, or both.
Step Three: Make a Match (cont’d)

General Guidelines

• Keep it out of the chain of command

• Try for a two grade level difference
Step Three: Make a Match (cont’d)

Looking for a Mentor

• Look for someone at or

near your location
• Or use the Mentoring
Program database
 Step Three: Make a Match (cont’d)
Looking for a Mentee
• Look at your location
– Senior people should reach out to junior
people
– Consider those who are quiet, not likely to
ask for help, or feel excluded
• Volunteer as a mentor on the Mentoring
Program database
 Step Four: Have Your First Meeting

• May be in person, by e-mail, or by

phone
• Discuss the mentee‟s expectations
• Choose a neutral setting (if face-to-face)
• Discuss when you will meet and how
often
Step Four: Have Your First Meeting (cont’d)

• Discuss when it‟s okay to phone

• Agree to confidentiality
• Get to know each other

Now you’re on your way!

Step Five: Continue the Partnership

• Mentor will use listening, counseling,

coaching, career advising, and goal
setting to help mentee develop
Individual Career Development Plan
Step Five: Continue the Partnership (cont’d)

• Identify goals
• Fill in the gaps
• Expand available options
• Explore referral resources
• Build self-esteem
• Evaluate each meeting
Step Six: Have a Six-month Check-up

• Describe progress
• Review Career Development Plan
• Ask questions
 Step Seven: Continue With Personal
Growth (for Both Partners)

• Mentoring can expand world of both

partners
• Mentoring can help people become more
comfortable with differences
 Step Seven: Continue With Personal
Growth (cont’d)

• Resources to help
– Gender differences
– Ethnic differences
– Personality differences
 Step Eight: Conclude the Mentoring
Partnership
• Many partnerships continue
• Notify if you decide to end it early
• Give feedback
• Review and revise goals
• Express gratitude

Congratulations! And thank you for participating in

the Mentoring Program.
Is there a difference between a mentor, coach,
and supervisor?

3. The role of mentor, coach, and supervisor is

different. The mentor is person-focused; the
coach, job-focused; and the supervisor,
results/productivity-focused.
 Mentor’s dominant styles

4. The top four words chosen to depict the mentor’s

dominate styles were: direct, friend/confidant, logical,
and questioner.
 Benefits for the mentor

5. Partners felt the primary benefits for the mentor

was satisfaction from fulfilling a role as helper
and developer of others and a learning
experience for the mentor.
 What do partners want from mentors?

6. The partner wanted a mentoring relationship for two

primary reasons: career development and
development of their potential.
 What Are the Different Types of
Mentoring?

It’s important to understand that there are

several types of mentoring:
• Natural mentoring
• Situational mentoring
• Supervisory mentoring
• Formal facilitated mentoring
 Natural Mentoring
Natural mentoring occurs all the time.
It happens when one person (usually senior) reaches
out to another, and a career-helping relationship
develops.
Research shows this type of mentoring most often
occurs between people who have a lot in common.
This is because we are usually more comfortable with
those who are most like ourselves.
 Situational Mentoring

Situational mentoring is usually short-lived and

happens for a specific purpose.

An example would be when one worker helps

another with a new office computer system, or
when someone goes on an “informational
interview” with someone who is in a career they
are considering.
 Supervisory Mentoring

• Very important
• All good supervisors mentor their subordinates
• Drawbacks
– May not be a “subject matter expert”
– Heavily tasked
– Comfort levels
 Formal Facilitated Mentoring
• Formal facilitated mentoring programs are
structured programs in which an organization
matches mentors with mentees.
• They may target one special segment of the
organization whose career development may
be lagging behind that of others (for example,
women) to help that group advance further.
• They may assign mentors to mentees and
monitor the progress of the mentoring
connection.
What is the mentoring process?
 Example of a Mentoring Program

• Partly formal, partly informal

• Used benchmarking and research
– Programs are most successful when
mentee selects mentor
– E-mail partnerships are valuable
• Chose a user-friendly program, available to
all
Example of a Mentoring Program
• Educate people so they will form mentoring
partnerships
• Includes a database of volunteers
– Web-based system
– People can sign up as mentors and/or
search for mentors
– Most useful for those who cannot find a
mentor at their location
 What is coaching?

There is some confusion about what exactly

coaching is, and how it differs from other „helping
behaviours‟ such as counselling and mentoring.
 What is coaching?

Broadly speaking, coaching is defined as

„developing a person‟s skills and knowledge so that
their job performance improves, hopefully leading to
the achievement of organizational objectives. It
targets high performance and improvement at work,
although it may also have an impact on an
individual‟s private life. It usually lasts for a short
period and focuses on specific skills and goals‟.
Characteristics of Coaching in Organisations

It is essentially a non-directive form of development.

It focuses on improving performance and developing

individuals‟ skills.

Personal issues may be discussed but the emphasis is on

performance at work.

Coaching activities have both organisational and individual

goals.
Characteristics of Coaching in Organisations

Assumes that the individual is psychologically well

and does not require a clinical intervention.

Provides people with feedback on both their

strengths and their weaknesses.

It is a skill-based activity.

 Developing a coaching culture

A coaching culture as one where

„coaching is the predominant style of
managing and working together and where
commitment to improving the organisation is
embedded in a parallel commitment to
improving the people‟
 Who delivers coaching?
Delivered by external coaches, full-time and
part-time internal coaches who may be line
managers, or members of the HR department.

Helpful to enable internal and external coaches

share supervision arrangements. This enables
external coaches to get a better understanding of the
organisation and also enables them to share their
perspectives on what is happening within the
organisation.
Process of Coaching
 Coaching supervision
Coaching can be a challenging and lonely activity
Coaches need structured opportunities to reflect
on their practice. Such opportunities can help coaches
continuously to develop their skills as well as provide
them with support.
It can also be an important quality assurance
activity for organisations and a source of organisational
learning about issues being addressed in coaching
sessions.
 Stakeholders in coaching
The primary relationship is between the coach and
the individual
Other key stakeholders include the person
representing the organisation‟s interests
– HR practitioner and
– the individual‟s manager.
Both of these parties are interested in improving the
individual‟s performance and therefore their contribution
to the organisation.
 When is coaching the best development
intervention?
Coaching is just one of a range of training and
development interventions to meet identified learning
and development needs.
Should be considered alongside other types of
development interventions.
Employee preferences should also be borne in
mind.
There is a danger that coaching can be seen as a
solution for all kinds of development needs.
 Examples where coaching is a suitable tool

helping competent technical experts develop better

interpersonal or managerial skills
developing an individual‟s potential and providing
career support
developing a more strategic perspective after a
promotion to a more senior role
handling conflict situations so that they are resolved
effectively.
Coaching VS Mentoring

• People often confuse coaching and mentoring. Though related, they are not the
same. A mentor may coach, but a coach does not mentor. Mentoring is
"relational," while coaching is "functional." There are other significant
differences.

Coaching characteristics:

Managers coach their staff as a required part of the job.

• Coaching takes place within the confines of a formal manager-employee
relationship.
• The focus is to develop individuals within their current job.
• The interest of the relationship is functional, arising out of the need for
individuals to perform the tasks required to the best of their ability.
• Managers tend to initiate and drive the relationship.
• The relationship is finite, ending when an individual has learned what the
coach is teaching.
Mentoring characteristics:

• It occurs outside of a line manager-employee relationship, at the mutual

consent of a mentor and mentoree.
• It is career-focused or focused on professional development that may be
outside a mentoree's area of work.
• Relationships are personal--a mentor provides both professional and
personal support.
• Relationships may be initiated by mentors or created through matches
initiated by the organization.
• Relationships cross job boundaries.
• Relationships last for a specific period of time (nine months to a year) in a
formal program, at which point the pair may continue in an informal
mentoring relationship.