Coaching & Mentoring

Anna Britnor Guest

Implementation of Coaching & Mentoring

It is unfortunate that coaching and mentoring relationships do not typically occur automatically. Both require careful consideration of requirements, expectations and objectives. Format, content and timescales need to be formally agreed. They are dependent on mutual respect and empathy between both parties and underpinned by a shared commitment to achieving results.

For this reason, it may be appropriate to use a third party to assist with the design and implementation of the scheme, whether it be based on a coaching or mentoring model. This could be a specialist within the HR department or one of the many organisations offering mentoring and coaching services, from the 'big players' to the independent 'one person' practices. Finding the right match is important: not only must there be rapport between the two parties but the external mentor or coach must also immerse themselves in the culture and understand the challenges facing the organisation The internal mentor, meanwhile, must demonstrate strong and appropriate communication and interpersonal skills. If these factors are not present, programmes remain superficial and short-lived, with little opportunity for measurement. Assisting companies in finding the right approach is a new Web-based service. The Coaching & Mentoring Network offers free on-line access to a growing database of coaches and mentors both in the UK and overseas and operating in a variety of fields.

In conclusion, both coaching and mentoring have much to commend them. Benefits may be gained from utilising different approaches across the organisation. A newly appointed MD may employ a mentor to assist him in his development into the role, he may also create an internal mentoring scheme within the R&D department and implement an external coaching programme for the sales division.

Whatever the schemes may be called, one-to-one development can be a powerful organisational and personal development tool, assisting forward-thinking companies maximise success in the new Millennium. The key is to define the aim and objective and to implement a programme designed from the outset to achieve specific measurable benefits. In terms of the original question of coaching or mentoring or both? As Marion Gillie of Sheppard Moscow emphasises 'The labels don't matter - it's the process the counts'.