MSC (International Business)

HRD
Coaching and Mentoring

Coursework assignment

Business research

Submission date: 9th November 2007

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 Table of Content

1. Preface........................................................................................................................3
2. Introduction................................................................................................................4
2.1 Glance on Coaching:............................................................................................4
2.2 Glance on Mentoring:...........................................................................................5
2.3 What to Opt …… Coaching or Mentoring??.......................................................5

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In this assignment, we have studied about the coaching and mentoring. In today’s fast

moving world technology changes swiftly. An improvement in technology will lead to

higher production. Every organization needs to adopt such methods that will increase

its productivity and its profit. Changes in technology or to keep the pace to the

moving technology companies or multinational needs to train their employees. Some

organizations use mentoring and some use coaching to train their staff.

This assignment will guide us the differences between both training techniques. And

this assignment will also speak expressively; whether organizations go for mentoring

or coaching. Which ‘Human Resource Technique’ will entail the specified results.

Assignment will talk about the coaching and mentoring in an organisational level

require for the development of skills.

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Human resource development is to develop the employees to get the best out of them

and to train and to develop the skills of individual and to improve the quality of work.

So for training and development the two methods are the coaching and mentoring.

Coaching is done to train the individual or employees in workplace to make them

know to environment and to teach them how to perform their work in an organisation.

Coaching is done in different ways like seminars ,classrooms etc. whereas mentoring

is the on course of the job training it is done to develop the employees who are

already working and know the environment of the workplace and what is their duty.

Mentoring is done to improve the skills of the employees who on their course of job

and to help them in improving their work performance to get the work done in best

possible way, so that there is reduction in wastage time, money and stock. Therefore

organization should be aware of their needs and these organizations should know

what to opt for as part of human resource development.

2.1 Glance on Coaching:

In the past coaching has been associated with sports but it is now a relevant process

in the contemporary workplace.

Coaching is where a skilled, experienced professional person works closely with

another person to aid in their learning development. They provide their personal

knowledge and guidance to improve knowledge skills and work performance.

Coaching does not just benefit those whose performance is not satisfactory but also

improves the motivation of adequately performing employees. Coaching is usually

only a short term process in the workplace and can be performed internally by co-

workers or supervisors or externally by professionals whose job it is to come into

organisations and coach. It is based on performance and skill development. It is also

structured and often just focused on one task such as customer service. “Coaching was

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designed to enhance the development of employees with particular emphasis on the

transfer of learning from formal training courses into workplace activity.”(Bratton and

Gold, Human Resource Management 2003, 336)

2.2 Glance on Mentoring:

Mentoring is also a form of coaching but is more long term. It was previously less

formal than coaching although has became more formal in some modern

organisations. A close relationship is usually formed between a senior and a junior

employee and so the process is carried out internally. It is based on the personal

development of the junior employee and aims to give that person the guidance and

knowledge of how the organisation operates. “Whereas coaching focuses technical

aspects of the job, mentoring focuses more on improving the employees fit within the

organisation.”(Blanchard and Thacker, Effective Training, 1999, 309) Mentoring is

based on people and the development of attitudes toward the organisation, and this

helps people to succeed within the organisation.

2.3 What to Opt …… Coaching or Mentoring??

Before coaching and mentoring takes place in the contemporary workplace an

assessment should be made of how much it is needed and if there is a critical business

need for it. There should be clear aims of what the organisation want to get out of

coaching and mentoring. Management must be prepared to give their backing but all

who are involved must be willing to take part. “The moves towards a more learner-

centred approach to training and development and the increasing use of coaching as a

development tool have significant implications for the role of training practitioners. It

is likely to demand greater co-operation between trainers and line managers, and

greater consultation with individual employees.” (Parsloe and Rolph, Human

Resource Management, Vol.13 No.1, 2005)

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In order for organisations to facilitate coaching and mentoring as an approach to

managing learning there must be a strong relationship between coaches or mentors

and their trainees. They must be able to communicate with one another and there must

be willingness on both sides to learn from on another and listen to each other ideas

and beliefs. Trainers and trainees must have a degree of trust in each other in order for

them to take on board what each other are saying. Often it is partnerships that have a

lot in common, such as traits and aspirations, which are the most successful and get

the most out of this type of learning. Having similar interests, ideas and backgrounds

can speed up the development of relationships. “Career progress is assisted by having

a successful relationship with a more senior mentor. However work-based mentoring

is very much a one-step-at a time process, requiring some initial mutual identification

before gains are made.” (Blanchard and Thacker, Effective Training, 1999, 309)

Mentors and coaches are usually mature, experienced people, and in the case of

mentors are usually senior managers who are not line managers although they may

mentor in some organisations. “Mentors who are several levels up in terms of

seniority are indeed at an advantage in being able to deliver better career prospects,

but this seems to depend on an element of mentee selection or the partnership being

based on some mutual personal predisposition.” (Study 3.4 Mullen E. Vocational and

Psychological Mentoring Functions, 1998) Two of the main ways to facilitate

coaching and mentoring then are to have someone of seniority and with a lot of

experience to do the coaching or mentoring and to match the coach/mentor to

someone with similar characteristics.

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However in order for coaching and mentoring to be successful both the person being

coached or mentored and the actual coach or mentor must want to take part in this

type of learning. If the learner is instructed to take part in the coaching or mentoring

and has not volunteered for it they may resent this fact and therefore not wish to take

part. Being forced to take part will often mean that the employee will not get the full

benefit from the learning scheme and will not strike up the critical relationship with

the mentor or the coach. Employees must want to learn in order for them to learn from

their coach or mentor.

Coaches and mentors must also want to help others learn and pass on their knowledge

and experience. “Not only do trainees need to be motivated to learn, trainers need to

be motivated to train”. (Blanchard and Thacker, Effective Training, 1999, 357) One

way to motivate trainers and mentors is to make this role a type of promotion within

the organisation, to make it a high-status role with bonuses, for example more money.

It is easier when coaches or mentors come into the organisation externally as their job

is solely to mentor or to coach and so they are already motivated and trained. It is

more difficult for coaches and mentors internal to the organisation as they may have

to perform their usual work role as well as their role as a coach or mentor. “The

important thing to remember is that someone who is training another employee should

not be expected to perform at the same level of productivity as someone who is

not.”(Blanchard and Thacker, Effective Training, 1999, 357) If coaches and mentors

have too heavy a workload this may greatly inhibit the effectiveness of workplace

learning; coaches and mentors must be granted enough time to fulfil these roles.

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Finding the right people to become mentors and coaches is essential for these types of

learning within the contemporary workplace. The people who they are coaching and

mentoring will look up to them and seek guidance from them. The people selected for

coaching and mentoring must be enthusiastic about the role but have thorough

knowledge of the job and be able to communicate well with others. The coach or

mentor must be encouraging and helpful towards the person learning from them. If the

wrong people are picked for the roles of coaches and mentors then the learning will

not succeed. The people who are best at their jobs are not always the ones who are

best at passing on their knowledge to others. “You need to choose an employee who

has a solid work ethic and correctly models the appropriate behaviours you want

emulated”. (Blanchard and Thacker, Effective training, 1999, 357)

In the study of Investmentco (Gibb, Learning and Development, 2002) many issues

had affected the success of mentoring in the workplace. Unclear aims had led to

confusion between mentoring and performance management roles. Objectives must be

communicated clearly to all involved before mentoring or coaching takes place to

reduce the risk of confusion. The matching of mentors to mentees had not been

assessed efficiently it was simply based on what staff were available. The matching of

coaches and mentors to suitable partners in workplace leaning is essential and perhaps

the most critical factor of it being a success. Unsatisfactory training was given to the

mentors in this case study resulting in little evaluation of the mentoring and no

knowledge of how to conclude the mentoring relationship. Training of the mentors

and coaches is important so that they know exactly how to go about helping others

learn and to know when learning is no longer required. The study shows some of the

factors that inhibit mentoring but if rectified can turn mentoring into a success.

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The cost of coaching and mentoring may deter some organisations from using it as a

learning method. Most internal coaches and mentors will need some form of initial

training in how to perform these roles properly, costing the organisation money and

time. External coaches and mentors fees could also be very expensive for the

organisation. The one-on-one element of this type of learning means that the process

will take longer and require more people to coach and mentor. There is also the issue

of reduced productivity in the workplace if people (especially those who are highly

skilled) are taking part in learning partnerships as well as their everyday tasks.

However with coaching and mentoring employees are still in the workplace and

working to a certain extent. This is a reason why organisations may choose coaching

or mentoring over other forms of learning as employees are still producing products

or services while learning or teaching at the same time. It may also cut costs as no

additional equipment or materials are required as they are already in the workplace

and everything is already on site.

3. Bibliography

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 Blanchard P.N. and Thacker J.W. (1999) Effective Training, Systems,

Strategies and Practices, 1st edition, Pearson/Prentice Hall, New Jersey,

PP.309-357

 Bluckert P. Critical Factors in executive coaching-the coaching

relationship, INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL TRAINING VOL.37

NO.7 (2005), Emerald Group Publishing Limited

 Bratton J. and Gold J., (2003), Human Resource Management Theory and

Practice, 3rd edition, Palgrave , PP.336

 Gibb, S , (2002), Learning and Development; process, practices and

perspectives at work, Palgrave

 Mullins E., (1998), Vocational and Psychological Mentoring functions,

Study 3.4

 Pasloe and Rolph, Coaching; savior or just a fad? Popular new focus on

developing people HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT VOL.13 NO.1

(2005), Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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