5 Developing Coaching and Mentoring

Coaching: helping another person to improve awareness, to set and achieve goals in order to improve a particular behavioural performance.

Any durable coaching process must contain three elements: managing expectations (the game plan), monitoring performance (watching the play), and giving feedback (time out). Expectations must be agreed upon both in output terms and in terms of the behaviours demanded. The criteria for success must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bounded. (S.M.A.R.T.).

One definition of coaching is “Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance.” (Coaching for performance, Sir John Whitmore 1992). Or to expand on this; Simply defined, coaching is one person guiding another through a process, leading to performance enhancement. The applications can vary, support to achieve a specific project, helping an individual to do better what they already do well, or developing a skill they don't yet possess.

Coaching and mentoring are not about learning to do something the right way, but are about helping to lead an individual to find their own way of doing it practically and efficiently. Coaching and mentoring sessions are guided with theoretical models, which help focus both the coach and the coachee in attaining desired outcomes for problem situations. However, even with the aid of theoretical models not everyone can coach another person. The first and far most important attribute of a coach is the ability to build relationships with the coachee

Mentoring: is the process of a more experienced person advising and guiding a less experienced (and usually younger) person, typically a colleague.

Mentoring involves a manager passing on his/her knowledge and expertise to an employee. Typically, the employee has a mentor who is at management level but not directly involved in his or her work area, so that issue s can be discussed in an impartial and confidential manner.

Clutterbuck & Megginson (1999, p.17) describe mentoring as being like ‘standing in front of a mirror with a trusted other, who can help you see things that you do not know how to see, or that have become too familiar for you to notice’. It is a helping relationship between an individual with potential and an individual with expertise. This multi-dimensional relationship is a partnership between those in similar roles, who can support each other. A number of roles of the mentor have been listed by Bolton (2010, p.193): role model, enabler, teacher, encourager, counsellor, befriender, facilitator, coach, confidante, supporter and ‘un-learner’. To be successful roles and responsibilities of those involved need to be clear and they need to be matched to each other and understand expectations of them.

This report will determine the value of coaching and mentoring; highlight some factors to consider when developing coaching and mentoring and show models and methods

"Mentoring is a special quality, skill set and attitude," she says. "The benefits are not only between the mentor and mentee, but the future generations."

Mentoring is a process where a more experience person creates a supportive relationship with an inexperienced, mostly younger person with the aim of providing information and advice. The process of mentoring must benefit both parties.

Mentoring is about nurturing the potential of the whole person; both however are about improving performance. There is a strong argument that coaching can be undertaken by line management or an individual within the organisation who has knowledge of processes and procedures. It is however more beneficial when mentoring to engage with someone from outside the organisation however it is essential to match personalities, research interests, experience and personal style.

Mentoring for the mentor is about challenging himself to perform to greater capabilities while nurturing a mentee and stretching them to realise their full potential. Mentors counsel, tutor and guide their mentees in developing themselves.

The chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in the UK (CIPD 2009) reports that 79% of survey respondents are using coaching within their organisation and that 77% say coaching has been increasing in recent years. It is therefore no surprise that the large UK-based customer facing organisation, where I am hypothetically working as a human resources manager, has made a commitment to deliver coaching and mentoring to improve performance over the next two years. The aim of this report is to highlight how coaching and mentoring differs from training, and to also explain how the use of coaching can

This essay will start by defining mentoring, and giving a brief understanding of mentoring. This essay will then go on to identify and evaluate a number of key factors that may influence the effectiveness of a mentoring relationship. This essay will focus on the example of mentoring within schools and a learning mentor to be more specific.

With the development of the more organic and less formal organisational structures the role of mentors has shifted with these changes. Unlike previously where mentors where seen as formal trainers who taught newcomers the processes and got them acquainted with the cultures and the systems within the organisation. Which required good interpersonal skills and a good knowledge of the activity or tasks the mentee would have to undertake, and be able to effectively relay or demonstrate the tasks or activities to the mentee. As opposed to more recently where a mentor would have to be more of an emotional counselor and demonstrate more skills than were traditionally required from