The use of coaching and mentoring is being increasingly utilised within organisations to aid professional development of employees. Both practices have grown in popularity, which is unsurprising due to the array of benefits that have been proven as a result. It’s commonly accepted that coaching and mentoring provide benefits for organisations and individuals alike. Organisations are taking advantage of improved retention levels, team efficiency, employee engagement and greater skilled workforces, all while the individual is improving their performance, professional relationships and development – win win!
Although, the terms “coaching” and “mentoring” are often treated as if they are interchangeable, to aid confusion and reap the advantages we have to ask; “What are the differences between the two?”
Coaching is generally task oriented, focusing on concrete issues, and usually has a set duration. The purpose is performance driven, it aims to build upon existing skills or obtain new abilities in order to reach the desired goal. Whereas mentoring is relationship oriented, it allows the client to share personal or professional issues and takes a broader view of the individual. This takes form over a long period and can be quite informal in nature, just to provide support when the need arises.
From our experience, to drive sustainable change within an organisation, it is paramount to place importance on the behavioural change of employees. At Managementors, we work with our clients’ teams, helping them to increase their abilities and grow professionally. It’s about driving cultural change and taking employees on the journey. We believe in coaching teams; giving individuals the tools to enhance their capabilities and, in turn, create mentors who can ensure performance improvement is sustained.
We typically see that managers are primarily focused on achieving the task at hand, but with this approach there is little empowerment given to the team and lacks self-sufficiency. We promote taking a step back to develop individuals and build the team. This gives employees the accountability and skillset to complete the tasks autonomously. We utilise the strengths from both coaching and mentoring alongside our holistic approach to provide a full magnitude of benefits.
