Hrd Assignment1

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 coworkers 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 4

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 learnercentred 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 9

 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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