Employee Reward and Development - Essay Example

?Employee Reward and Development Table of Contents Introduction 3 Concept of Coaching and Mentoring 4 Growing Application of Coaching As an Employee Development Process Compared To Others 5 Effectiveness of Coaching in Modern Day Business Context 6 Challenges and Issues Associated with Coaching 7 Arguments against Coaching 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Bibliography 14 Introduction In modern era, developing and retaining the talented workforce is considered as one of the major issues for any organisation. It is generally accepted that the human capital of an organisation is measured as one of the most essential elements in terms of building long-term value and building a flexible and agile base to maintain future growth (Price, 2011). The concept of employee development has come into attention in recent years as organisations have observed that the competency of an organisation to retort rapidly and flexibly to change is mainly dependent upon the capability of its human resources in order to learn, adapt and develop (Jarvis & et. al., 2004). With this concern, there are many approaches that are accessible in the field of human resource management such as coaching or mentoring, e-learning or blended learning, management or leadership development. Furthermore, HR practices of organisations are implementing the various approaches of employee development since it has been identified as a supporting and motivational component for employees to provide high performance in organisation (Stewart, 1999). With regards to this, the aim of the paper is to identify the concept of coaching or mentoring approach among the existing various approaches. It also includes the argument for and against the chosen approach with the assistance of academic literature and research reports. In addition, the paper provides the challenges and issues related with the coaching in order to measure the effectiveness of the approach which in turn endow with the effective evidence to achieve the objectives of an organisation. Concept of Coaching and Mentoring Coaching and mentoring are considered as the two employee development methods that foster the ability of an employee in order to improve behaviour and level of the performance. The concept of coaching and mentoring are similar. However, the processes of each other are creating differentiation between them (Brooks, 2006). Coaching tends to be recognised as more task-oriented, skill focused and time-bound. On the contrary, mentoring is more focused on ‘open-ended personal development’. The process of coaching deals with instruction, discussion and guidance which are provided by the coach to the coached person. Whereas, the process of mentoring takes place through a conversation that assists the mentee in order to learn from the mentor (Deans & et. al., 2006). Coaching and mentoring programs are playing significant roles amongst employees and organisations as these programs help to establish a connection between organisational goals and objectives. At the same time, they are also concerned about personal development requirements of individual employees. Therefore, coaching and mentoring can be measured as ‘two way relationship’ with both the organisation as well as the employee in order to gain adequate benefits (Whitmore, 2002). Growing Application of Coaching As an Employee Development Process Compared To Others Source: (Jarvis & et. al., 2004). With a purpose to show the growing application of coaching in order to develop the performance and productivity of the employee and the organisation, the above figure has been extracted from the survey report of Chartered Institute of Personal and Development (CIPD). It can be identified from the above figure that the application of formal classroom-based training with regard to the employee development is in recent times becoming a rarity in an organisation. HR practices are applying much highly developed and effective technique for the betterment of the employees which in turn assist an organisation to progress in the path of sustainable growth and development. It has been also identified that in recent years the use of coaching, mentoring, and e-learning have increased in terms of employee development process. However, the above figure depicts that the application of coaching approach is comparatively more than any other approaches. It can be identified through the percentage of respondents. For instance, the percentage of respondents for coaching was 51, whereas, the other approaches comprised of less than 51% i.e. e-learning 47% and mentoring 42% among others. Therefore, it can be stated that the use of coaching has increased in recent years as it has developed the ability as well as motivation of employees to engage with their work along with the opportunity to deploy their ideas, abilities and skills efficiently and effectively (Jarvis & et. al., 2004). Effectiveness of Coaching in Modern Day Business Context The growing attractiveness of coaching has come into the existence due to the significant shift of organisations towards a learner-centered approach which involves the heredity, experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, interests, capabilities and needs of an individual in an organisation. In the modern era, application of coaching is growing day-by-day as it offers an effective support for employee development in order to align the individual goals with the organisational goals and objectives. According to Jarvis & et. al., (2004) “coaching is popular because it fits the complexity and fast pace of modern organizational life”. Furthermore, the rapid pace of business as well as major time pressure signify that dealing with change is becoming an everyday challenge. Subsequently, coaching provides a platform for an organisation in order to enhance the abilities of employees to learn and adapt the change quickly (Lassister, 2004). The success and growth of an organisation is mainly dependent upon the productive functioning of employees who work together with others in the form of departments, teams and ultimately as a whole organisation. The aptitude of employees to work in a team or a group is largely dependent on the worth of their interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, communication skills and self awareness (Jarvis & et. al., 2004). Therefore, coaching provides a method for employees in order to develop this series of skills with a purpose to create more productive working relationship in the internal environment of an organisation (Serrat, 2009). Challenges and Issues Associated with Coaching The challenges faced by the Human Resource (HR) practitioners today is to understand the premium and cost-effective utilisation of development methods and includes various methods such as coaching, e-learning and mentoring among others. Organisations can obtain furthermost benefits by finding a suitable employee development method according to an organisation’s culture, structure and environment (Brennan, 2008). With this concern, an organisation can be able to enhance the performance and productivity of both employees as well as organisation. Coaching is primarily referred as short term process and it cannot be employed for a long term period. With this regards, mentoring can be applied by an organisation to gain sufficient benefits which in turn help the organization to enhance performance and productivity of employees (Jarvis & et. al., 2004). It is often identified that the challenges regarding implication of coaching is also related with the decision of when to use coaching. The decision regarding use of coaching as an employee development process will depend upon a variety of factors including the perception of the individual learner, the environment of their development needs, organisational circumstances and the attitude of the individual towards the approach (Jarvis & et. al., 2004). A few specific organisational situations are defined at this juncture through which it can be identified that in which situation the coaching approach is helpful in terms of employee development activity. For instance, a business was set up by a group of people. Initially, it is recognised as a small enterprise. However, slowly and steadily it wants to establish itself as a larger business. With this concern, the organization has to provide their employees with developmental opportunities. It is also unlikely that the employees can be away from work for extensive periods of the time for development activities. In this situation, coaching can be regarded as most efficient and effective method that can offer targeted and timely development on identified issues which in turn can assist the organisation to progress in the path of sustainable growth and development. Similarly, coaching can be helpful for an organisation where an employee is changing his/her job role and is required particular skills and abilities according to the specified job. At this point, it can be regarded as an important short-term intervention that can assist employees to adjust and to cope with their role change (Jarvis & et. al., 2004). Therefore, it can be stated that the effectiveness of coaching is highly dependent upon the situation at the organisation. The structure, environment and process of an organisational work schedule are the deciding factors that have the major impact upon the selection of appropriate employee development activity for its current situation which in turn provides an effective and efficient way for sustainable growth and development of organisation (Jarvis & et. al., 2004). Arguments against Coaching It has been observed that due to a few lacunas coaching is not applicable in every situation within an organisation. Likewise, coaching requires external resources for its successful implementation in organisation such as an expert advisor or trainer which can increase the cost of employee development activity and thus can result in detriment in terms of organisational growth and development. It often provides the visible results. Accordingly an individual can easily identify his/her performance drawbacks which might be de-motivating and restricting the employee to perform better in their work sphere (Hallam, n.d.). On the contrary, mentoring can be beneficial for an organisation in terms of cost effectiveness as it allows senior people of an organisation to provide their directions, advices, experiences, ideas, knowledge and skills. It often breaks down barriers in organisations as it allows the mentee to shares their views, opinions and ideas and thus results in motivation and encouragement for employees to perform better in near future and lead the organization in the path of success and development (Apex Coaching Ltd, 2004). Therefore, it can be observed that in every situation coaching cannot be implemented in terms of employee development activity. There are other activities that are also available such as mentoring, e-learning and leadership development approach among others that can be regarded as important tools for the purpose of employee development (Apex Coaching Ltd, 2004). Conclusion Employee development is considered as an important aspect for organizations in terms of responding rapidly and flexibly to change in order to sustain for a long-term period in the marketplace. There are variety of approaches that are available in the field of human resource management such as coaching, e-learning, mentoring, management and leadership development approaches and many other techniques which can be implemented by an organisation to enhance the performance and the productivity of both the employees as well as the organisations. Coaching in recent times is playing a significant role in terms of employee development. However, it also consists of a few lacunas which in turn illustrates that an organisation should apply the appropriate employee development activities according to the situation as well as environment, structure and process of an organisation. References Apex Coaching Ltd, 2004. Make Training Work For You. Training. [Online] Available at: http://www.apexcoaching.co.uk/training.pdf [Accessed March 05, 2012]. Brooks, T., 2006. Coaching and Mentoring Report. Cultural Leadership Programme. [Online] Available at: http://www.culturalleadership.org.uk/fileadmin/clp_user/research_and_resources/COACHING_MENTORING-Brooks_11_19.pdf [Accessed March 05, 2012]. Brennan, D., 2008. The Philosophy and Practice of Coaching: Insights and Issues for a New Era. John Wiley & Sons. Deans, F. & et. al., 2006. Coaching and Mentoring for Leadership Development in Civil Society. The Concepts of Coaching and Mentoring. [Online] Available at: http://www.intrac.org/data/files/resources/371/Praxis-Paper-14-Coaching-and-Mentoring-for-Leadership-Development.pdf [Accessed March 05, 2012]. Hallam, G., No Date. Advantages and Disadvantages of Internal Coaching. Creative Metrics Whitepaper. [Online] Available at: http://www.creativemetrics.com/whitepapers/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-internal-coaching-programs.pdf [Accessed March 05, 2012]. Jarvis, J. & et. al., 2010. Making The Wider Case For Learning And Development. Coaching. [Online] Available at: http://www.pdf.net/Files/Case_for_Coaching_sample_chapter.pdf [Accessed March 05, 2012]. Lassister, D., 2004. The Business Case for Coaching. Leadership Advantage Newsletter, Vol. IV, Iss.1. Price, A., 2011. Human Resource Management. Cengage Learning. Serrat, O., 2009. Coaching and Mentoring. Knowledge Solutions. [Online] Available at: http://www.adb.org/documents/information/knowledge-solutions/coaching-and-mentoring.pdf [Accessed March 05, 2012]. Stewart, J., 1999. Employee Development Practice. Financial Times Management. Whitmore, J., 2002. Coaching for Performance. Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Bibliography Becker, B. & Gerhart, B., 1996. The Impact of Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance: Progress and Prospects. The Academy of Management, Vol. 39, Iss.4, pp. 779-801. Brown, D. R. & Harvey, D., 2006. An Experiential Approach to Organization Development. Pearson Education India. Chan, C. C. A., 2006. 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