Human Resources or Management Perspective: Effective Communication - Essay Example

 The concept of mentoring can be summarized as a seasoned and experienced professional helping guide and develop the skills of a less experienced professional. This provides unique opportunities for both parties. Ehrich and Hansford in the article “Mentoring: Pros and Cons for HRM” provides an outline. The authors mention that one key purpose for the mentor is personal satisfaction (Ehrich and Hansford, p.6). This is an intangible quality, but provides a seasoned worker with needed purpose and satisfaction. Another purpose for the mentor is an increased interest in their work (p.6). For the mentee, a major point the author mentions is that of career development. In addition, increased confidence will usually occur (p.6). Aspects of the relationship for the mentor are improving the ability to teach and reflect on points of his or her career (p.6). Two other aspects from the mentor’s view are to be recognized for high quality professional ability along with relationship enhancement (p.7). Aspects of the relationship from the mentee side are improved ability to identify support needs of themselves and others (p.7). Learning traits are also enhanced. Finally, relationship skills in the workplace are also developed and improved upon (p.7). Three types of mentoring are: (1) formal mentoring; (2) informal mentoring; and (3) developmental networks mentoring (Daniel, p.9) The author describes formal mentoring as occurring in companies that have formal programs in place. One benefit of this type of mentoring is having the objectives of the program listed out beforehand to ensure adequate progress is being made (p.9). Another benefit is the formal match up of the mentor and mentee which can provide a best fit based upon certain criteria (Daniel, p. 9). A second form the author mentions is informal mentoring (Daniel, p.9). This type is not organized and occurs at random. Advantages to this type of mentoring are that bonding can occur more naturally since nothing is prearranged or forced. Also, a particular need might be better met this way since the relationship could be based out of trying to fulfill a specific need (p. 9). A third variety is with developmental networks mentoring (Daniel, p.10). This is where more than one mentor is involved in helping the mentee. Advantages of this form of mentoring include being able to draw upon the strengths of a multiple number of people. In addition, the strength of the whole network is more long lasting and beneficial in most cases (p.10). One situation where mentoring is appropriate is with career development. This includes such areas ranging from initial sponsoring to protection to coaching. It also includes challenging the mentee to bring out her or her full potential (Elkin, p.11). Sponsorship is where the mentor will be an advocate for the mentee throughout the period (p.11). Protection is another aspect of career development, and is where the sponsor tries to steer the mentee away from negative organizational politics (p.11). Coaching helps give the mentee positive input, thoughts, and feedback which help the mentee make good decisions and enhance skill attributes (Elkin, p.12). A second situation where mentoring is suitable is with psychosocial mentoring. This can involve things such as positive confirmations, positive reinforcement, and counseling (Elkin, p.17). These items go beyond the technical aspects of the job, and try to give confidence and self-reliance to the mentee. A time when mentoring is not suitable is when a relationship is used where there are key differences between the mentor and mentee (Elkin, p. 18). The author brings out how individual backgrounds, attitudes, and belief systems could cause more harm than good in some instances (p.18). The career direction of the mentee is just one item which there should be an agreement between the two parties. Another way a toxic relationship could exist is with unresolved misunderstandings. If the two parties are not given enough time to develop a trusting working relationship, then it could create a mentoring relationship that is not healthy (p. 18). There are clear benefits for both the individual and organization to mentoring. For the individual, job satisfaction is shown along with culture fit into the organization. In addition, career advancement with the company improves in such an environment (Ehrich and Hansford, p. 6). The authors mention that a survey was conducted of 300 college graduates and it was discovered that those who received mentoring had a significant increase in both promotion and overall job satisfaction from those who did not participate in mentoring (Ehrich and Hansford, p. 6). Another notable benefit for the individual is the ability to adapt to an organization’s culture. A study of 39 university students in Australia found that a significant benefit from mentoring was the ability to adjust to the social and other aspects of the job that may not have existed without mentoring (Ehrich and Hansford, p.7). Organizations also benefit from mentoring. Three aspects mentioned by Ehrich and Hansford are: (1) increased worker loyalty; (2) increased company cost effectiveness; and (3) increased company communication (p.9) The authors found that mentoring can provide better job satisfaction for all involved which in turn produces loyal and satisfied workers who show more commitment to the company (p.9) In addition, company communication is enhanced. Findings in this area are attributed to the time and opportunity that mentoring provides which can greatly improve the chance that important matters to succeed in the company can be discussed. This type of communication improves many areas of work satisfaction and work performance (p.10) Cost effectiveness is yet another clear advantage for companies as the mentors can perform the tutoring role at the same time they perform normal job duties. Cost is also avoided with needing additional trainers and building space to carry out formal training (Ehrich and Hansford, p. 9). Two factors to be considered when introducing mentoring into the workplace are: (1) a current needs assessment and (2) a mentoring program outline (United States Office of Personnel Management, p.2). A needs assessment can identify important concepts such as if a mentoring program is necessary, and how the company will benefit from having such a program. Listing what items should be in the program is important as well. By using surveys or interviews, questions could be answered such as: (1) ‘If the company were to have mentoring, how could you benefit?’; (2) ‘Would you be available to participate and in what role could you participate’; (3) ‘What kinds of items would be desirable to have on the schedule?’; and (4) ‘What would you look for in a mentor?’ (p. 2). A second factor to be considered when introducing mentoring into the workplace is an outline for the mentoring program. This is an important factor to be considered, and should include such items as: (1) a stated goal of the program; (2) budgetary concerns; (3) resources available or needed by all participating parties; (4) the length of the program; (5) intermediate goals and targets to be met as the program progresses; (6) who will and will not be participating; and (7) what the initial mentoring session should include (United States Office of Personnel Management, p. 3). The role of the mentor is broad based. Two roles are sponsorship and coaching. Sponsoring is helping the mentee with both support and opportunity throughout the relationship while coaching is focused on items ranging from learning about company interactions to becoming a positive critic of how the mentee is performing job functions (Murrell, p.3). Another mentor role is that of protector, or steering the mentee away from what he or she has learned to be harmful paths to take in regards social aspects of the organization (p.4). Providing visibility is another mentor role where the mentor helps the mentee to network within the company (Murrell, p.4). Template 3DCS Part A- Coaching Conflict coaching is one model of coaching mentioned in the article “Conflict Coaching for Leaders”. The author brings out how conflict can be costly to companies and should be avoided. The goal of this type of coaching is to take out toxic effects to give both parties the chance to resolve the problem and to create a better relationship for the future (Noble, p.2). Key parts to this style are: (1) identifying goals to reduce conflict; (2) analyzing what actions can meet these goals; (3) finding ways to alter behavior that could provoke conflict; (4) changing any non useful responses to productive responses; (5) improving overall communication ability in order to minimize conflicts; and (6) minimizing the harmful effects of conflict to all parties (Noble, p.3). The author mentions that this type of coaching can either be tailored to individuals who often find themselves in unwanted conflicts, or can be specific to certain types of situations (p.3). Executive coaching is a second model that focuses on an executive who is mentored by a more seasoned executive (Thach, p. 205). In this type of coaching, both individuals lay out goals to increase the manager’s performance at the work level and the organizational level (p. 205). Executive coaching involves: (1) contracting; (2) data collection; and (3) coaching. The contracting step is a plan that is drawn up which includes goals, resources, and initial planning. The data collection step may involve skill assessment, interviews, and other collection of data. The coaching step is the largest step where two individuals analyze the data in order to develop a plan to overcome issues previously identified (Thach, p.206). An executive coaching example was mentioned by the author where 281 executives participated to either improve managerial effectiveness, or be able to assume a top executive role if needed. The study found that executive coaching did significantly improve both types of situations (Thach, p. 213). Steven Downward in his article “Coaching vs. Training---What Really is the Difference?” outlines differences between the two practices. One major difference is with the degree of learning involved (Downward, p.1). Training is the act of imparting knowledge to another person that would usually involve more intense one-on-one interaction and feedback between the two parties (p.1). Coaching is more focused with guiding people to meet goals. Coaches do not necessarily have expertise that trainers would provide, but they do try to ensure that goals are met and outcomes achieved (Downward, p.2). Another type of development is mentoring which is described as a much more extensive and long lasting process than coaching (insala.com, p.1). Mentoring is a long term relationship that will develop between two individuals over time while coaching is usually finished once a specific task is completed. In addition, mentoring will target more complete development of an individual while coaching is limited to usually one measure of performance (p.2). Coaches will influence people’s behavior, but mentors will be involved in every aspect of creating desirable actions until final outcomes are well established. Finally, coaching is more of an event while mentoring has no specific time limits (p.2). The article “Core Competencies of an Executive Coach” describes how coaching can be used to meet organizational objectives. One way described is with facilitating continuous improvement. This is where coaches do research and try to improve worker effectiveness in multiple areas. In this way, other senior managers and the whole organization benefit as input is provided from multiple people in the company (Ennis, et.al, p.26). Another positive change for organizations is in the area of integrity (p.27). Company wide positive outcomes can occur when ideas developed in the coaching model use best techniques to meet organizational needs. This is particularly true when there is a coaching partnership that helps all involved parties to be accountable to each other and the organization (p.27). One option for developing a coaching culture is to start offering coaching at the higher organizational levels (Eldridge and Dembkowski, p.2). This avoids the notion that coaching is just used to fix problems, and gives the idea that it can be used to bring out organizational talent and help the company be an industry leader (p.2). A second option is in defining quality standards and criteria for selection. This helps to promote quality in coaching and helps to ensure that quality standards are achieved (p. 3) An advantage to in-house coaching is that the internal coach would know the environment and culture of the organization. The individual would be more familiar with the particular challenges and uniqueness of the current company (Strumph, p.227). In addition, he or she would be more familiar with threats that the company is currently facing and ways to address those challenges (p. 227). A second advantage is with internal coaching being more cost effective. Trying to hire from the outside is more expensive than filling the role with a qualified person inside the company (Ingbretsen, p.2). A third advantage of in-house coaching is that many coaching duties can be handled as well from the inside as it can be handled from external coaching sources (Wasylyshyn, p.7). The author mentions that building employee skills; developing leadership ability; and providing conflict resolution would usually not require outside coaching intervention (p.7). One disadvantage of in-house coaching would be with conflicts of interest issues (Wasylyshn, p.7). This is something that could develop due to the coach not being able to maintain neutrality in either reality, or in the perception of other employees (p.8). In such cases, it may do more damage to the internal well-being of the company than any cost savings would be worth. A second disadvantage of in-house coaching is with the lack of specialized skills and talent that an external coach could provide (Strumpf, p.226). A proper evaluation should be given if the in-house coach has enough expertise to pass along superior skills in the area being developed. If not, then an external coach may be required. A third disadvantage of in-house coaching is with potential trust issues in avoiding office politics. External coaches would have little difficulty in staying free of the normal political environment and maintaining high levels of confidentiality. It becomes less certain for those already who are entrenched in the company (Wasylyshyn, p.8). Template 3SCO Part A- Organizational Change Holiday Inn is a global hotel chain that is well established in the hospitality industry. It is part of a franchise that grew from a single hotel in the 1950’s to thousands of hotels worldwide. It was once thought of as a hotel that provided high quality and consistent service regardless of location for both families on vacation along with businesspeople. The company has fallen on more difficult times gradually over the last decade. The major challenges include having older facilities with aging interiors along with poor quality control. The organization needs to change in order to avoid harm to the brand name that might be difficult to repair once the current recession is over with. In addition, a larger issue facing the organization is the possibility of losing the loyal customers that it took so long to cultivate. Improving hotel facilities and hotel service are two areas targeted. One approach to change is Lewin’s Three-Step Change which includes: (1) unfreezing; (2) moving; and (3) refreezing (Lunenburg, p.1) The ‘unfreezing’ would involve providing information to show why change is required for the company to survive. The ‘moving’ aspect takes the form of new behaviors, new viewpoints, or restructuring. After the desired behavior is in place, then a ‘refreezing’ with the new item included takes place (Lunenburg, p.1-2) In Holiday Inn, the change required is in the form of hotel furnishing upgrades, hotel service, and staff training. These items would all be implemented in step number two, but would take place at various times since the company is global in scale with some properties needing more work performed than other properties. A second approach to change is outlined with John Kotter’s ‘8-Step Plan’ (Lunenburg, p.3). Kotter’s 8 steps include: (1) give a sense of urgency by providing a reason why change is needed. In Holiday Inn’s case, a loss of brand quality and loyal customer base is critical; (2) create the coalition or group of people with enough diverse power to enact the needed change. With our company, this is most likely a revised franchisee agreement stating that new goals must be met. The third item is to form a vision of strategy. With Holiday Inn, this can be done by the hotel executives and board of directors. A steering committee may be formed to oversee the results. The fourth item in Kotter’s model is communicating the new vision of change. With our company, this can be done first at the corporate level, and then passed down to the individual hotel owners, management, and staff. The fifth item in Kotter’s model is to form an action plan which removes any obstacles to change while promoting creativity and risk taking. In Holiday Inn, this could be organizational wide with the staff. The action plan will take place at the higher levels in the company, but ideas for improvements can come from any level. The sixth item in the model is to gain short term victories and reward people who contribute to such wins. Again, this item in Holiday Inn can be directed at any level, and should reward employees at every opportunity to encourage development. The seventh item listed is to build momentum to produce more change by using smaller victories to gain larger victories later. The eighth and final step in Kotter’s model is to attach the new approaches into the culture. This final step tries to reinforce the behavior, and in the case of Holiday Inn is critical for the service aspect (Lunenburg, p. 1-3). A third model of organizational change is with Ben Harris’ Five-Phase Model (Lunenburg, p. 4-5) The five phases will come in certain order, but will usually overlap. Phase one is planning and beginning change. This is where resources, needs, and goals are outlined. In the case of Holiday Inn, the need of better quality facilities and improved service are stressed while individual owners outline their budgetary resources. Goals might take the form of a planned timeline that is mutually agreed upon between individual hotels and corporate. Phase Two of Harris’ Model is Momentum where movement towards the goal begins, and a prime emphasis is on leading and organizational processes. Management will take a heavy role in this responsibility in our company. Phase Three is where unexpected problems arise. As a result, the initial plan becomes more difficult as conflicts arise in people and resources, and leadership is critical in Phase Three. Again in Holiday Inn, it will take primarily skill at all levels of management in order to see change through to completion. Phase 4 is termed the ‘turning point’ where either the problem issues in Phase Three continue to grow or the effectiveness of the original planning begins to pay off. Leadership continues to be critical in Phase Four. Phase Five is termination where either positive or negative end results occur. The project could end if problems become too complex in nature. In the case of Holiday Inn, if such a thing would occur too early in the process, then the goal of saving the company as a quality hotel name could be in jeopardy. If positive results happen, then the successes will build more expectation of success and more interest, resources, and positive future directions are likely as the whole company feels the ability to meet stated goals (Lunenburg, p. 4-5). Template 3SCO Part B- Organizational Change Change was analyzed by a case study in the hospitality industry, and the authors found that there is a likelihood that some negative reactions could happen with employees who feel either trapped or unable to control the environment around them (Man Min Chow, et.al., p. 59). One behavioral response seen for these individuals is that of shock or disbelief if the employee processes negative outcomes at a personal level as an impact of the company change (p. 59). A second response is that of anger when the employee feels disappointed and hurt by the proposed change (p. 59). A third response is that of bargaining, or where the individual tries to deal with the reality of the change in the best way they know how to at the time (p. 59). The authors bring out critical factors to consider from a Human Resources or management perspective. The first of these is effective communication (p. 63). The ability of management or HR to listen carefully and understand employees’ perspectives while sharing interaction is a first step to resolving employee concern. Besides listening and communicating, a needed step is to provide encouragement and motivation (p. 63). A suggested model that the authors recommend is for HR to first understand the importance of helping employees adjust to the proposed change before the actual change occurs. This can be done with Human Resources Management (HRM) taking the lead in employee interaction discussions and expectations. Keeping employees informed on progress updates throughout the process is an important step (p. 64). Next, HRM should be open to new suggestions from employees while also explaining any hidden benefits of the new system to them. After the change is implemented, then ongoing communication is needed. This will help to correct any problem areas that should be addressed along with providing openness and supportive interaction. Since the service industry depends largely on employee input, it is necessary to make sure employee needs are reasonably met and accommodated to the extent possible (p. 65). Works Cited Daniel, Jessica. “Introduction to Mentoring: A Guide for Mentors and Mentees” Center On Mentoring: 2006 Presidential Task Force (2006). Web. http://www.apa.org/education/grad/intro-mentoring.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. Downward, Steven. “Coaching vs. Training---What really is the Difference?” Articlesbase.com 18 March 2009 Web. http://www.personal-coaching-information.com/definition-of-coaching.html accessed 28 December 2010. Ehrich, Lisa and Brian Hansford. “Mentoring: Pros and Cons for HRM.” Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 37 (3): 1-19 (1999) Web. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/1754/1/1754.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. Elkin, John. “A Review of Mentoring Relationships: Formation, Function, Benefits, and Dysfunction.” Otago Management Graduate Review Vol. 4 pp 11-23 (2006). Web. http://www.business.otago.ac.nz/mgmt/research/omgr/06elkin.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. Eldridge, Fiona and Sabine Dernbkowski “Creating a Coaching Culture: ten success factors for bringing it to life” n.d. coachingnetwork.org.uk Web. http://www.coachingnetwork.org.uk/resourcecentre/articles/pdfs/CtC4.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. Ennis, Susan, Robert Goodman, William Hodgetts, James Hunt, Richard Mansfield, Judy Otto, and Lew Stern. “Core Competencies of the Executive Coach” executivecoach.com (2005) Web. http://www.executivecoachingforum.com/ECFCompetencyModel905.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. Ingbretsen, Roger. “Five Benefits of Leadership Development Coaching.” Ezinearticles.com (2008) Web. http://ezinearticles.com/?Five-Benefits-of-Leadership-Development-Coaching&id=1444415 accessed 28 December 2010. Insala.com “What are the differences between coaching and mentoring?” 6 May 2008 Web. http://www.insala.com/Articles/leadership-coaching/what-are-the-differences-between-coaching-and-mentoring.asp accessed 28 December 2010. Lunenburg, Fred. “Approaches to Managing Organizational Change.” International Journal of Scholarly Academic Intellectual Diversity 12:1 pp1-10 (2010) Web. http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Lunenburg,%20Fred%20C%20Approaches%20to%20Managing%20Organizational%20Change%20IJSAID%20v12%20n1%202010.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. Man Min Chow, Joseph Mindy, S.L. Cheng, and Sonja Petrovic-Lazarevic Journal of Global Business and Technology 2:1 pp58-67 (2006) Web. http://www.ceroaverias.com/empower5.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. Murrell, Audrey. “Five Key Steps for Effective Mentoring Relationships” The Kaitz Quarterly 1:1 (2007) Web. http://nl.walterkaitz.org/FiveStepsInMentoring_Murrell.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. Noble, Cinne. “Conflict Coaching for Leaders” mediate.com May 2003. Web. http://www.mediate.com/articles/noble3.cfm accessed 28 December 2010. Strumph, Casey. “Coaching from the Inside: When, Why, and How?” N.d. pp225-227 Web. http://www.download-it.org/free_files/Pages%20from%2010%20COACHING%20FROM%20THE%20INSIDE-079bfebbc258c68e76fbc0afbd6e591d.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. Thach, Elizabeth. “The impact of executive coaching and 360 feedback on leadership Effectiveness.” Leadership and Organization Development Journal 23:4 (2002) Pp205-214 Web. http://www.coachteam.no/Documents/ExecutiveCoaching360Fed.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. United States Office of Personnel Management opm.gov n.d. Web. http://www.opm.gov/hrd/lead/BestPractices-Mentoring.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. Wasylyshyn, Karol “Executive Coaching: An Outcome Study” Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. 55:2 pp1-21 (2003) Web. http://www.karolwasylyshyn.com/pdf/executive_coaching.pdf accessed 28 December 2010. Read More