Coaching and Mentoring in Business - Research Paper Example

During the contemporary period, it can be d that change in organisations is inevitable and has necessitated them to implement strategies that aremeant to enable them to keep pace with the changes taking place. One of the strategies is coaching which is rapidly expanding in business. These changes have resulted in a recognised need for leadership and guidance from professionals who can support, encourage and help individuals and organisations to master changes and succeed in increasingly competitive and challenging world (Zeus & Skiffington 2002). Thus, the purpose of this essay is to critically explore the concepts and dynamics of models of coaching, communication in the coaching process as well as to explore the ethics in the coaching process. The essay will start by explaining the meaning of coaching from different perspectives where it can be seen that people often confuse it with mentoring. The main body of the essay will specifically focus on the models of coaching and processes involved such as communication as well as ethical issues related to the coaching process. The terms mentoring and coaching are sometime used interchangeably since they share some similarities. For instance, creating trust, committed partnership is as crucial as crucial to mentoring as it is to coaching and these also involve continuous and long term learning within a supportive environment (Zeus & Skiffington 2002).In coaching, managers guide the actions of less experienced employees to develop their delivery and set a good example of what is to be done (Kleynhans 2006). A one on one coaching situation will enable less experienced people to quickly understand what is required of them. This would remove unnecessary fears among the employees as they would immensely benefit from the knowledge of senior and experienced workers in a cordial fashion which encourages growth of interpersonal relationship. Where there is a cordial relationship among the workers, there would be very high chances of successfully achieving the goals of the organisation. In the same vein, coaches also encourage their trainees to discuss difficult situations as they arise and work through alternative scenarios to deal with those difficult situations. In house training which forms part of coaching is very effective for ensuring the retention of workers. On the other hand, Kay and Hinds (2005) define mentoring as “a relationship between two parties who are not connected within a line management structure, in which one party (a mentor) guides the other (the mentee) through a period of change towards an agreed objective.” It is about giving help and support in a non-threatening way, in a manner that the recipient will appreciate and value and that will empower them to move forward with confidence towards what they want to achieve. This process is also concerned with creating an informal environment in which one person can feel encouraged to discuss their needs and circumstances openly and in confidence with another person who is in a position to be of positive help to them. Though these concepts are often confused, particular attention in this case will be paid to the concept of coaching. Coaching encompasses numerous and varying models and coaches can choose an approach to the models and framework that underpin their practice. It can be noted that coaching demands flexibility and not all models are appropriate for all coaching interventions. The appreciative or grow model’s fundamental premise is that coaching should focus on an individual’s strengths, resources, competencies and opportunities rather than on the problem (Zeus & Skiffington 2002). It emphasises the coachee’s ability to reflect on and solve his or her own issues. The aim is to encourage the coachee to use the power of his or her mind to solve problems he may encounter during the course of dispensation of his or her duties. The main strength of this model is that it aims to create personal growth within the less experienced worker which will allow that person to use his mind to think of measures he can implement if he is confronted with a problem. In order to promote creativity in an organisation, employees who are also learners must not be led all the way but they must be given the opportunity to reflect on their strengths while under the guidance of an experienced worker. This strategy will enable the learners in the organisation to learn quickly and it can help them to discover their strengths that may be unknown to them. Though to a lesser extent, the only limitation that can be encountered from this model is that the learners will tend to be overconfident while in actual fact they may not yet be aware of some of the things that are important to them. According to this model, learning cannot occur in the absence of reinforcing the individual’s strengths and achievements. At the workplace therefore, the coach guides and helps the coachee to accept, manage, reframe and resolve the problems he or she encounters (Zeus & Skiffington 2002). Indeed, the coach must be present but emphasis will be put on the need for the employee to realise his or her potential in solving the problems that may be encountered. This encourages him or her to grow within the organisation and he or she will be better positioned to deal with some aspects which may not require the intervention of skilled workers. In this case, the coach will mainly be there to guide the coachee through different stages of which the learner will have more input than the coach. The other model is the self helper model which is based on the premise that the less experienced person will seek the services of the experienced person to learn something. In this model, coaching is seen as vehicle and platform of learning. In this case, it can be noted that learning involves a relatively persistent change in the individual’s possible behaviour due to experience which is required in this particular approach. The self helper model is advantageous in that coaching enhances the individual’s ability to learn and take effective action. Otherwise, the learner has a great role to play where learning will present the opportunities and challenges to the coachee. Whilst in some cases, fears and anxieties may be encountered coaching promotes learning in such a way that can alleviate these potential barriers. In a workplace environment, coaching is a personalised, self directed means of learning which gives the learner the opportunity to come to terms with the requirements of the changes that may take place within the organisation (Zeus & Skiffington 2002). In the coaching process, communication forms a very significant role in that it allows the parties involved to interact and have an interpersonal relationship which promotes mutual understanding between them. Both verbal and non verbal communication styles contribute to the communication types involved in the coaching process. It can be noted that interpersonal communication is primarily concerned with linking two or more people directly where they can freely express their feelings as well as ideas and this is a viable tool of ensuring effective communication in the coaching process (Kritzinger, Bowler and Goliath 2003). There are likely chances that people would understand each other better and clearly in a face to face situation which will certainly go a long way in promoting learning which is the essence of coaching. Essentially, promoting interaction between a coach and a coachee is one very important aspect of the coaching process and this can be promoted through communication. In this regard, a coach must be an exemplary person who is able to create a free environment that can be used as a platform to promote effective communication. The coach is mostly concerned with ensuring that the learner has acquired the much needed knowledge and this can done through the exchange of information which can be done through communication. In order to fully support the management of a learner who is expected to achieve a certain stage of competence through the coaching process, there is need to create a relationship based on mutual understanding between the coach and the coachee. This can also be referred to as a rapport. Mutual understanding in such a kind of learning environment is very crucial in that it would allow easy interaction which also allows free flow of information between the two parties involved. For coaching to be successful, there is need to create an environment which can promote free flow of information as well as sharing of ideas. Communication plays a very special role since it allows the exchange of vital information to be possible between the two parties involved. It is important that both the coach and the coachee should effectively use both verbal and non verbal communication in their exchange of information such that they will share the same purpose of attaining the intended goal of developing the less experienced person. Both parties should freely interact and there should be no barrier to communication since this a special arrangement to improve the skills of the learner who is expected to reach a certain stage of competence as far as performance is concerned in an organisation. Coaching is about relationships where the coach brings his or her knowledge, skills and abilities to the learner. The personality of the coach has a great bearing on the success of the coaching activity. The coach should be better positioned to use effective verbal as well as non verbal communication so as to create a mutual understanding with the learner under his guidance. There is need for understanding of self and one’s values so as to create trust between the two parties involved. Where there is trust between the coach and the coachee, it can be noted that the coaching process is bearing fruit (Zeus & Skiffington 2002). This will also be characterised by mutual respect shared between the parties involved. Thus, an enabling environment will lead to creation of a mutual relationship which is beneficial to both the learner and the coach which is one good step to show that the desired goals will be likely to be achieved. Through personal guidance, the learner can develop self esteem as well as confidence that will positively contribute to him or her to learn quickly. Good listening skills play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of the coaching process. A coach who is able to carefully listen what the learners say in this case is better positioned to effectively contribute to communication which can play a major role as far as influencing the behaviour of individuals to learn is concerned. It can be noted that effective communication is closely related to good listening skills in various ways (Kritzinger, Bowler and Goliath 2003). To communicate effectively, one has to be a very attentive listener where by the coach himself shall not suppress the flow of information. Essentially, communication forms the backbone of every organisation given that all the activities of the people involved are coordinated through communication. Feedback in this case is very important since it will promote mutual understanding between the coach and the learner which in turn facilitates quick transfer of knowledge as well as learning by the learner. A coach and a coachee should freely interact which promotes the exchange of information. This enhances learning which is the essence of engaging in the process of coaching where by the aim is to improve the competencies of a junior person in the organisation. Where there is feedback from both ends there will be likely chances of mutual understanding between the parties involved. Timely response to queries raised by the learner may help the coach to remove likely barriers such as misunderstanding that may exist which can block the free flow of information. Where there is an open channel of communication in a coaching process, there are likely chances of effective communication since the parties involved would be agreeing on one thing which is aimed at attaining the goals of improving the learner’s ability to improve his or her capabilities at work. Good listening and coupled with speaking effectively as well as recognising the feelings and emotions of the other party form part of an effective communication process which in turn leads to effective coaching process. Through effectively harnessing these various interpersonal skills, coaches can successfully achieve their intended goals of improving the capabilities of the learners. It can be noted that without proper communication, there would be high chances of encountering the obstacles that can lead to misunderstanding during the coaching process. Thus, unnecessary fears among the learners can be removed through putting measures in place that encourage growth of interpersonal relationship. A cordial relationship in this case between the coach and the learner would allow them to share knowledge freely and to learn. The ability to use non verbal communication skills as well as good listening skills can play a complimentary role in the coaching process. In a face to face situation, chances of the learner and the coach of understanding each other are very high given that verbal communication can be reinforced with gestures or facial expressions that would seek to emphasise a particular point. Non verbal communication can be more revealing at times where they can help express or emphasise a point which is otherwise difficult to express verbally (Kritzinger, Bowler and Goliath 2003). All this leads to improved interpersonal communication which is primarily concerned with linking two or more people directly where they can freely express their feelings as well as ideas which is the aim of a coaching process. Communication is not only done verbally hence a person who carefully understands non verbal communication is likely to be effective in inspiring another person to learn. The concept of ethics in the coaching process entails that something good should be distinguished from bad practices in order to achieve the intended goals of the whole process. It can be noted that coaching as frequently stated is a relationship built and maintained through trust (Zeus & Skiffington 2002). When a third party is involved, then the issue of coachee confidentiality can be particularly important. The coaching process should be characterised by measures that ensure the prevalence of the terms and conditions of confidentiality that binds all the coaches. They must not in any way divulge the information about their learners to the third parties as this will compromise the likely goals to be achieved since the learner might lose confidence in the whole system. Ethically, the coach must not divulge data about the coachee without permission and data from the coachee and the others in the organisation should be anonymous. Also closely linked to the aspect of confidentiality is the status of communication between the coach and the coachee (Zeus & Skiffington 2002). A coach is not expected to share information about the coachee with the third party as this will compromise the authenticity of the whole process. The coaches must at all times uphold the principle of professionalism where he does not divulge important information to other people who may not be part of the program. This can as well put the image of the organisation into disrepute. Over and above, it can be concluded that coaching, just like mentoring is about giving help and support to another person in an educational system or organisation in a non-threatening way. The coaching process in particular is often designed in a way that the recipient will appreciate and value given that it will help create a mutual relationship which is the basic tenet of ensuring that the parties concerned will achieve the desired goals of improving the learner’s capability at work. In can be seen that organisations are operating in a changing environment hence there is need to keep pace with these changes. These changes have resulted in a recognised need for leadership and guidance from professionals who can support, encourage and help individuals and organisations to master changes and succeed in increasingly competitive and challenging world. Thus, coaching is one viable strategy which is concerned with creating an environment in which one person can feel encouraged to discuss their needs and circumstances openly with the coach. There is need to create mutual relationship between the coach and the learner as the first step that can promote mutual understanding between parties involved where they can share information in a free and enabling environment. This will enable the learner to achieve the intended goals. References Grobler P. Et al (2006). Human Resource Management. 3rd Edition. London. Thompson Learning. Kay D & Hinds R (2005). A practical guide to mentoring. 2nd Edition. London. How to books. 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