Coaching and Mentoring - A Strategy for Success
by
First produced for
Copyright Anna Britnor Guest
Many organisations are placing increasing emphasis on personal attributes
in selecting and developing staff. This can bring a number of benefits, primarily
where the development of a motivated, cohesive team is required, for instance
in high pressure Call Centre environments, or where the company recognises that
its success depends largely on their corporate culture. However, it does not
come without significant challenges, not least of which may be significant gaps
in the core skills or knowledge required to perform the job. Whilst a formal
training course may offer wholesale transfer of many of these skills, it is
unlikely that the employee will 'hit the ground running' without further guidance.
Coaching and mentoring schemes are recognised as a highly effective way to
quickly ramp up an employee's performance. The IPD 'Training & Development in
Britain 1999' survey of 800 Training Managers suggests that around 87% of businesses
in the UK utilise coaching and mentoring.
The character of such schemes will vary widely between organisations but may
adhere to the following structures:
- Personal coaching programmes employing external or internal coaches
- 'Traditional' or peer-to-peer mentoring schemes
- Buddy schemes, a form of two-way peer-to-peer mentoring
The best model will depend largely on objectives, which may range from the
development and fine tuning of specific job-based skills through to a more holistic
approach including career planning or work/life balance. The company's culture
also needs consideration: there is little point in introducing an isolated buddying
relationship between two individuals if their working environment does not recognise
the value of mutual support, perhaps in a highly competitive sales environment
where staff are measured only on their individual performance.
Whichever approach is adopted, it is essential that an appropriate relationship
and working style is established between the coach/mentor and recipient, particularly
in internal schemes where the coach, mentor or buddy role is 'secondary' to
the employee's primary function. In this scenario, the employee may be unaware
of the responsibilities of the role and the skills they need.
To ensure the success of a programme the organisation should take ownership
for:
- Developing the culture, processes and procedures to support such programmes
- Redesigning jobs so that the coaching / mentoring function is integrated
into the individual's role and awarded sufficient time and priority
- Undertaking skills assessment of their coaches, mentors and buddies and
for providing these individuals with appropriate ongoing training and development
- Ensuring that these staff appreciate the responsibility they are assuming
for their colleague's professional development, and that they are suited to
this role in terms of attitude, emotional maturity and motivation
- Defining the scope of the relationship and where it fits within a broader
development programme. This may include defining boundaries, objectives and
key performance indicators as well as offering guidelines for how the programme
should be delivered.
- Monitoring, measuring and recording effectiveness at both individual relationship
and programme-wide levels, through implementing comprehensive feedback and
review procedures.
Many companies employ coaching skills as a means of providing ad hoc one-to-one
training but only a small percentage adopt coaching as their core strategy for
ongoing staff development. Indeed, for every company that achieves this there
are a number whose programmes never made it off the paper or whose success was
short-lived and unquantified.
However, by ensuring that coaching programmes are properly designed and implemented,
well-monitored and integrated into the corporate learning culture, business
in the 21st century can look forward to developing a workforce better able and
motivated to meet the ever-increasing demands of working life.
Anna is a co-founder and director of the and Lauriate
Coaching Ltd which specialises in designing and delivering corporate coaching
and mentoring programmes.
She is a conference presenter and writes regularly on coaching and mentoring for professional journals including
the Institute of Sales & Marketing Management, Success Now and is the regular
Sales Coach for Infomatics.
She has been assessed and awarded Fellowship of the Institute of Sales and Marketing
Management (FInstSMM).
Anna can be contacted at
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