Leadership coaching and

mentoring skills

CMI LEVEL 7 COACHING AND MENTIORING SAJITH ABEYRATHNE

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Contents How coaching and mentoring programs support business objectives ......................................................... 2

The benefits of coaching to an organization............................................................................................. 2

The benefits of mentoring to an organization .......................................................................................... 4

How coaching programs support business objectives .............................................................................. 6

Planning = Successful Corporate Coaching Programs ........................................................................... 6

How mentoring programs support business objectives ........................................................................... 9

Implementation of coaching and mentoring to achieve organizational objectives ................................... 12

The organizational and resource implications of coaching .................................................................... 12

The organizational and resource implications of mentoring .................................................................. 15

How to overcome organizational and individual resistance to the implementation of coaching .......... 23

How to overcome organizational and individual resistance to the implementation of mentoring ....... 26

To devise an implementation plan ............................................................................................................. 38

Implementation plan to install coaching programs within an organization ........................................... 38

Implementation plan to install mentoring programs within an organization ........................................ 44

Evaluate the impact of the coaching and mentoring plan .......................................................................... 49

The impact to an organization of establishing coaching culture ............................................................ 49

The impact to an organization of establishing mentoring culture ......................................................... 51

How to develop skills as a leader in coaching and mentoring .................................................................... 54

Current skills of communications and people development to support personal practice of coaching 54

Current skills of communications and people development to support personal practice of mentoring

................................................................................................................................................................ 56

Develop opportunities to meet personal skills needs and to develop own practice ............................. 59

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How coaching and mentoring programs support business objectives

The benefits of coaching to an organization The personal benefits of coaching are as wide-ranging as the individuals involved. Numerous clients report

that coaching positively impacted their careers as well as their lives by helping them to:

• Establish and take action towards achieving goals

• Become more self-reliant

• Gain more job and life satisfaction

• Contribute more effectively to the team and the organization

• Take greater responsibility and accountability for actions and commitments

• Work more easily and productively with others (boss, direct reports, peers)

• Communicate more effectively

(source: Ken Blanchard Companies)

Coaching in organization and leadership settings is also an invaluable tool for developing people across a

wide range of needs. The benefits of coaching are many; 80% of people who receive coaching report

increased self-confidence, and over 70% benefit from improved work performance, relationships, and

more effective communication skills. 86% of companies report that they recouped their investment on

coaching and more (source: ICF 2009).

Coaching provides an invaluable space for personal development. For example, managers are frequently

presented with employees struggling with low confidence. The traditional approach would be to send

them to an assertiveness course and hope this addresses the issue. In the short-term, the employee learns

new strategies for communicating which may improve confidence. Unfortunately, in isolation these

courses rarely produce a sustained increase in confidence. Although external behavior may change; it

needs to be supported by changes in their internal thought processes. This is often where coaching is most

effective.

Managers should not underestimate the impact of coaching on their people as it frequently creates a

fundamental shift in their approach to their work. For example, increased self-confidence enables

employees to bring more of themselves into the workplace. This results in employees being more resilient

and assertive.

The Benefits of Coaching in Organizations:

• Empowers individuals and encourages them to take responsibility

• Increases employee and staff engagement

• Improves individual performance

• Helps identify and develop high potential employees

• Helps identify both organizational and individual strengths and development opportunities

• Helps to motivate and empower individuals to excel

• Demonstrates organizational commitment to human resource development

For more on executive coaching see The Executive Coaching Handbook: Principles and Guidelines for a

Successful Coaching Partnership

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Evidence-based Research on the Effectiveness of Coaching:

In the past few years a number of studies have been conducted that clearly demonstrate the value,

efficacy, and impact of coaching in a number of contexts. For more information, please see the following

articles on the specific benefits of leadership coaching, health and wellness coaching, and positive

psychology.

5 Benefits of Coaching for Your Organization

Coaching is considered one of the first steps to improve an employee’s performance within an

organization. Throughout many organizations, coaching programs have been implemented to give

employees the opportunity to focus on the skills they may be lacking and become more proficient when

performing required tasks.

It’s easy to see that there are several benefits for the individuals being coached, but what might be less

known is that there are benefits for the organization too. Here are 6 benefits of coaching that we think

every organization should know about.

Increased Employee Engagement

By increasing employee engagement, individuals will be more likely to take responsibility for their work

and be a more productive part of the organization. This helps with increasing productivity and increasing

retention rates for the organization.

Identifying and Developing High Potential Employees

These hi-po employees are the ones that need to be considered for leadership development. This allows

the organization to find out who they can place into their succession pipeline and what needs to happen

to get them there.

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Boosting Efficiency

Coaching is going to help boost individual performance, and in doing so it will help to make these

employees a more efficient part of the organization.

Identify Development Opportunities

Not only will you be able to identify development opportunities for the individuals, but also for the entire

organization. Coaching will help to give a bigger picture of what areas of your organization need some

extra attention in order for your entire team to be successful.

Demonstrates the Organizations Commitment to Career Development

Today’s workforce is extremely invested in their career development and they expect their organization

to be just as invested. By implementing a coaching program, you are showing your current and future

employees that you care about their career goals. This will also help you to be more competitive when

hiring from the talent pool.

The benefits of mentoring to an organization Probably the biggest benefit of having a successful corporate mentoring program is that it helps not only

the organization as a whole, but also the individuals within the organization. Let's take a look at the

specific benefits for each.

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A successful mentoring program benefits your organization by:

• Enhancing strategic business initiatives

• Encouraging retention

• Reducing turnover costs

• Improving productivity

• Breaking down the "silo" mentality that hinders cooperation among company departments

or divisions

• Elevating knowledge transfer from simply "getting" information and instead transforming the

process so that your organization retains the practical experience and wisdom gained from

long-term employees

• Enhancing professional development

• Linking employees with valuable knowledge and information to other employees in need of

such information

• Using your own employees, instead of outside consultants, as internal experts for professional

development

• Supporting the creation of a multicultural workforce by creating relationships among diverse

employees and allowing equal access to mentoring

• Creating a mentoring culture that continuously promotes individual employee growth and

development

Mentors enjoy many benefits, including:

• Gaining insights from the mentoree's background and history that can be used in the mentor's

professional and personal development

• Gaining satisfaction in sharing expertise with others

• Re-energizing the mentor's career

• Gaining an ally in promoting the organization's well-being

• Learning more about other areas within the organization

Mentorees enjoy many benefits, including:

• Gaining from the mentor's expertise

• Receiving critical feedback in key areas, such as communications, interpersonal relationships,

technical abilities, change management, and leadership skills

• Developing a sharper focus on what is needed to grow professionally within the organization

• Learning specific skills and knowledge that are relevant to personal goals

• Networking with a more influential employee

• Gaining knowledge about the organization's culture and unspoken rules that can be critical

for success

• Having access to a friendly ear with which to share frustrations as well as successes

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How coaching programs support business objectives

Planning = Successful Corporate Coaching Programs

Many organizations are discovering that the secret sauce to talent development is creating a successful

corporate coaching program — one that not only engages key talent but also drives strong

organizational outcomes. A study from Bersin and Deloitte recently found that organizations with

“excellent cultural support for coaching had a 75% higher rating for talent management results than those

with no or weak support for coaching. Further, they had 13 percent stronger business results and 39

percent stronger employee results. The more cultural support for coaching, the stronger the results.”*

To help you get started, we’ve gathered up our best practices advice and summed it up in 10 key

ingredients that you can use as you develop your own organization’s recipe for successful

coaching programs.

10 Essential Ingredients for Creating a Successful Corporate Coaching Program 1. Define clear goals and objectives.

Without a clear goal it is impossible to know where you are heading or whether or not you ever arrive.

Having specific program goals (overarching priorities) and defined objectives (specific targets) is like

having a precise destination and good directions.

For example, the program goal (overarching priority) might be to prepare middle managers for advanced

leadership positions. As a result, the one defined objective (specific target) might be to improve

participating middle managers’ abilities in motivating and inspiring others toward a shared vision and

strategy.

The best goals are ones that are created in partnership with key program stakeholders. Whose buy-in do

you need for the program to be successful? Involve representatives from these key groups in the early

stages of program planning. These representatives will in turn become your program champions because

they have a stake in the program’s success.

2. Target coaching populations at mid-level to increase impact.

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Coaching is often used in organizations as if a precious salt, sprinkled in small amounts only at the top.

However to have the biggest organizational impact, coaching should be used more liberally, specifically

targeting mid-level managers. These are the supervisors who have the greatest impact on employee

engagement and productivity and who, with development, will continue to advance in the organization

to ensure its future success.

When a leading national university faced increasing economic challenges and the need to make significant

operational changes, it invested its limited resources in leadership development and coaching for mid-

level managers. In its evaluation of program results, the university found that those managers who

participated in the program had higher employee engagement scores, higher productivity, and improved

departmental outcomes. In addition, more than 30% of the coached managers advanced to more senior

positions in the organization.

3. Craft compelling communication to promote your program

For coaching programs to be effective, they must be high-profile development activities that engage your

best talent. Even in instances where the development is a top down activity, it is important that the target

audience understand the coaching program and why they should be a part of it. Crafting compelling

communication for dissemination in a variety of vehicles – staff meetings, success stories shared via email,

etc. — will ensure that talent is enthusiastic and committed to coaching. This sets the stage for the best

possible outcomes.

4. Involve talent in the coach selection process.

Effective coaching hinges on a strong relationship between coach and employee, a relationship born of

respect and trust. In order to create the most fertile ground for this kind of relationship it is recommended

that employees have some level of participation in the coach selection process. If possible, provide

employees with a small, select pool of potential coaches, and let them make the final decision. To create

impactful and lasting learning, a positive coaching relationship with great chemistry is essential.

Online tools, such as Chronus software for coaching, can provide a valuable means of effective matching,

allowing employees to search through available coaches by region, areas of expertise, and other relevant

criteria. Coaching software also enables program managers to track coach availability and make coach

recommendations based on potential compatibility.

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5. Establish clear expectations of a particular engagement.

Successful corporate coaching programs are about clarity, learning and action. In order to set the stage

for effective coaching engagements, it is important that the coach and employee refine the development

focus. While leadership may identify a broader skill area such as “influence,” it is up to the employee and

coach to identify which elements of influence would be the most effective focal areas. Such refinement is

essential for development planning and establishing clear success measures.

6. Effectively manage, track, and measure progress.

Wide-scale coaching programs require regular administrative oversight to ensure they are effectively

managed. It is important to know if connections have been established, coaching engagements are taking

place and progress is being made. This critical step will help you make program adjustments and broadcast

program success later.

Use coaching software to help you effectively track coaching engagements and measure progress.

Embedded reporting functionality can provide engagement metrics and online survey tools can ensure

managers have real-time feedback from employees and coaches regarding results.

7. Continuously refine your program in response to feedback.

Don’t wait until the coaching engagements have come to an end before finding out how things are going.

By getting regular feedback from program stakeholders plus participants and their coaches—through

survey tools described above—you can identify any problems, misunderstandings, or subtle

misalignments. Sometimes, the smallest programmatic adjustments can have a huge impact on the overall

efficacy of the coaching program.

8. Communicate throughout the course of the program.

As George Bernard Shaw so astutely reminds us, “the single biggest problem in communication is the

illusion that it has taken place.” Be sure to communicate regularly with employees in coaching

engagements, with coaches, with program stakeholders, and to the organization overall regarding your

important investment in talent development. While such regular communication can seem daunting, if

you manage your program online, you can easily provide valuable progress metrics and streamline

communication to keep the program visible and on track.

9. Evaluate impact.

By now you know how many people have been coached, what percent of the target population they

represent, how many times they have been coached and their evaluation of the coaching engagement.

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You even know how much the program cost. But what about program impact? What effect did coaching

have on departmental outcomes and organizational objectives? To truly understand impact, gather input

from additional sources outside of the program participants. What do their direct reports say? What do

their managers say? The use of online survey tools can help you easily gather and analyze this information.

Additionally, evaluate other departmental metrics—such as increased sales, reduced cost, increased

productivity, etc. — to evaluate the impact of the coaching program.

10. Share your successes.

Sharing success stories is one of the most effective ways of motivating and inspiring others—whether you

are seeking to expand coaching program reach, ensure leadership commitment, or even strengthen the

reputation of the HR or learning and development function. Effective success stories show benefit,

provide a memorable fact/truth, provide metrics, include an emotional hook, and create a sense of

urgency. Coaching program participants are the best source of these stories and also can serve as one of

the best means of getting these stories out into the organization. Profile participants’ experience in a

video on the company blog, have them participate in noontime panel discussions, or post their stories on

the walls of the cafeteria. Be creative and get these stories heard.

How mentoring programs support business objectives

Mentoring in the workplace is a popular way for businesses to integrate new workers into the

organization as seamlessly as possible. But these efforts can and should be so much more than an

onboarding tool.

Strong mentoring programs not only provide support for new hires but also help create an open, inviting culture that emboldens all workers to contribute their ideas for improving the company.

Mentoring in the workplace also encourages goal setting, and in a new Accountemps report, 93 percent of the workers surveyed said goal setting is important to their work performance, yet for some professionals, those discussions with managers never happen.

For forward-thinking managers, mentoring provides an environment where finance and accounting professionals generate ideas and share not just knowledge but a commitment to building a successful company.

In order for these relationships to be rewarding, you must kick them off with a solid foundation and hold regular meetings. Here are five tips for achieving success with mentoring in the workplace.

1. Match mentors and mentees

Some employers make the mistake of having new hires shadow veteran employees in the hopes that key information will just naturally be transferred. However, this “follow Joe around” type of arrangement is typically an unproductive approach to the onboarding process and certainly doesn’t qualify as a mentoring relationship — particularly if the mentor and mentee are a poor match.

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To make a good match, you need data. One way to gain information is to create a questionnaire that asks interested employees about their career objectives, communication styles, and what they are looking for in a mentor or mentee. Then pair them up according to their responses. Successful mentor-mentee pairings are those where the participants have similar interests and personalities, as well as complementary goals.

2. Build strong mentoring programs

Make mentorship an integral part of your company culture. Promote it during the recruitment process, start matching new hires with mentors during orientation and make sure the pairs have the tools to succeed. This requires planning, internal marketing, training and plenty of follow up. Make sure managers at the highest levels talk up the program, emphasize its importance and are themselves participants.

In order for formal employee mentorship programs to be a success, there needs to be buy-in from both top management and rank-and-file staff. Kick it off during an all-company meeting or departmental retreat. Keep the communication clear, simple and positive. Make sure everyone knows participation is voluntary, but at the same time stress the importance of mentoring on career success and also the company’s bottom line.

Don’t expect the program to run on autopilot after launch. Request regular feedback from each participant and look for ways to improve processes. Be sure to collect success stories and testimonials for future program promotion.

3. Establish roles and responsibilities

Mentoring relationships and programs vary not only from one organization to the next, but also from person to person. However, it’s important that all participants understand that “mentor” is not synonymous with “supervisor.” Mentors supply advice and guidance; they do not give work assignments or tell mentees how to do their jobs.

After they’re paired up, encourage the mentor and protégé to help their relationship grow by staying in regular contact. Check-ins by email or phone are fine, but occasional in-person meetings are critical. Some mentors and mentees have weekly coffee get-togethers, while others do lunch every month or two. For both parties to benefit from mentoring, they must meet consistently.

The person tasked with overseeing the mentoring program should check in with each participant a few weeks after they're paired up to make sure the relationship is going smoothly.

4. Engage in goal-setting discussions

Companies benefit when team members have clear goals that help meet overall business objectives. Workers who can see a clear future with a company and feel supported in their professional endeavors are more likely to want to stay with a company.

Some of the suggestions mentors can use to help with goal setting include the following:

• Provide access to training and development opportunities

• Offer feedback on performance and recognition for good work

• Partner with mentees so their goals align with the business objectives of the company

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5. Highlight benefits of mentoring in the workplace

The benefits of mentoring go beyond welcoming new staff members. Mentoring relationships can result in the following:

• Increased knowledge transfer

• Job satisfaction

• Smart succession planning

• Development of leadership skills

• Motivation for professional development and accountability

• Achievement of goals and objectives

• Stronger internal networks

• Increased teamwork

• Improved staff retention

Mentees aren’t the only ones who benefit from mentoring relationships. Team members who take an active role in guiding and counseling others have the opportunity to develop their leadership skills, and show senior management their readiness to take on greater responsibilities. Mentors also note the satisfaction of helping others — paying it forward — as one of the biggest benefits of mentoring relationships.

What’s more, the learning goes both ways. For example, tech-native millennials may be able to teach boomer mentors how to harness the power of social media, though mentoring has less to do with age and is more about transferring knowledge. By purposefully matching employees of different areas of expertise and generations in the workplace, you help employees diversify their skill sets.

As you put together an employee mentoring program, remember that it’s much more than simply a prolonged orientation. By making strong mentoring relationships an integral part of your corporate culture, every participant can benefit, which will only strengthen your department or company.

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Implementation of coaching and mentoring to achieve organizational

objectives

The organizational and resource implications of coaching Whatever the nature of your organization, its culture and ethos will have an impact on your ability to

perform as a coach. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Europe's largest HR

development professional body, has conducted research into the organizational barriers to effective

coaching.

It provides you with insight into why some organizations are reluctant or unable to implement effective

internal coaching.

The following list highlights the barriers that the research identified as preventing an organization from

maximizing the benefits of coaching as a way to develop their personnel:

• The organizational culture

• Lack of understanding of the value of coaching

• Not seen as a priority for the business

• Resistance from senior management

• Low levels of skills and experience within the organization

• Lack of time and resources

You need to assess how extensive these barriers are in your own organization when deciding if coaching

is the right form of learning. If the organization has the majority of these barriers you may find that

attempting to use coaching will have a detrimental rather than motivational effect.

So before you start the coaching process you need to judge whether or not the organizational barriers

are too strong for you to be successful. You can assess the extent of each barrier within your organization

by asking yourself the following questions.

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Is the organizational culture conducive to coaching?

If you are working in an organization where the existing leadership method is that of telling individuals

how things are to be done and where everything is driven by 'red tape' you will find that the organization

conflicts with the principles of coaching conflict. This constitutes the single largest barrier to successful

coaching.

Where an organization's leaders are unsupportive, often managing by dictating and using threats to gain

short-term productivity, the overall culture makes it very difficult to integrate coaching principles into

your team development efforts.

The benefits of coaching can only be realized if the organization's leadership are prepared to take a long-

term view of staff development. This aspect of the culture will be reflected in the resources allocated to

training and development, as well as the nature of remuneration and promotion policies.

Is the value of coaching understood?

In many organizations the senior management do not appreciate or understand what coaching can

achieve. They are therefore unable to perceive that it can be a cost-effective way in which to develop their

personnel.

The management are unable to recognize the different levels at which coaching can achieve

improvements and productivity - for example, the role of the executive coach compared with the role of

the line manager as a coach.

The overall perception of coaching can also be that it brings no 'real' benefits to the organization. It is

often viewed as a time-wasting activity and therefore the senior team do not actively listen to individuals

who attempt to implement coaching activities for their teams.

What level of priority does the organization assign to coaching?

Many organizations pay lip service to coaching, assigning it a low priority. This can be because they see it

as only one of the tools a manager can use in their overall learning and development strategy. This belief

ensures that coaching is positioned as part of a wider culture change process rather than an isolated

development activity.

Is there a resistance to coaching?

Resistance to coaching often arises from a belief within the organization that coaching is only for those

who are poor performers. It can also arise from the behaviors shown by senior management. Where

employees see that senior management are reluctant to use internal coaches, and that they encourage

an attitude of assigning a low priority to coaching activities, they will be resistant to undertake coaching

themselves.

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What levels of skills and experience exist internally?

The level of coaching expertise and skill amongst managers varies considerably. For coaching to be

successful the organization must establish the style or use of a model that becomes an embedded aspect

of the organization's management. This model should also provide a means whereby established

processes and procedures can be questioned in a structured way by encouraging the coachee's own ideas

and thinking.

An essential aspect for success is the recognition of coaching as one the core leadership skills your

organization wants to promote in its managers. This will take time to create and needs someone to own

the coaching process. Their role is to manage, resource, promote, maintain, and communicate with a pool

of coaches.

What resources are available?

Organizations need to view coaches within their organization as they do any other valued resource. The

senior management have to provide sufficient and appropriate funds to ensure that their coaches can

perform the role well and achieve the desired results.

What time pressures exist?

Part of the resourcing process has to be providing managers with the opportunity to free up their time to

allow enough to perform the role of coach for their team or others in the organization. The coach must

be willing and able to commit the necessary time to coach an individual. Those who say 'I don't have

enough time' are not showing the right attitude to this process.

In situations where there is little or no flexibility in adjusting managers' high workloads so that they can

perform the role of a coach, the organization will not be able to realize the benefits of coaching.

The fundamental belief within an organization must be that coaching opportunities occur with every

interaction. If the ethos in an organization is that coaching can only be formal and structured then a lot of

opportunities will be missed.

If you decide to introduce coaching as part of your own management style then you should think about

doing it gradually. This avoids it being seen by your team as a new fad or as something that you have just

attended a course on.

The first steps you could take include:

• Practicing active listening

• Developing effective question skills:

To replace giving instructions

To encourage participation in meetings and discussions

• When giving feedback allow time to ask for the team members' own perceptions

You cannot eradicate all of the barriers to coaching in your organization but by viewing each conversation

or discussion you have as an opportunity to improve people's skills, you can maximize the personal

development within your team.

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The organizational and resource implications of mentoring What is mentoring?

Mentoring is most often defined as a professional relationship in which an experienced person

(the mentor) assists another (the mentoree) in developing specific skills and knowledge that will

enhance the less-experienced person’s professional and personal growth.

What does a mentor do?

• The following are among the mentor’s functions:

• Teaches the mentoree about a specific issue

• Coaches the mentoree on a particular skill

• Facilitates the mentoree’s growth by sharing resources and networks

• Challenges the mentoree to move beyond his or her comfort zone

• Creates a safe learning environment for taking risks

• Focuses on the mentoree’s total development

Are mentoring and coaching identical?

No. People often confuse mentoring and coaching. Though related, they are not the same. A mentor may

coach, but a coach is not a mentor. Mentoring is “relational,” while coaching is “functional.” There are

other significant differences.

Coaching characteristics:

• Managers coach all of their staff as a required part of the job

• Coaching takes place within the confines of a formal manager-employee relationship

• Focuses on developing individuals within their current jobs

• Interest is functional, arising out of the need to ensure that individuals can perform the tasks

required to the best of their abilities

• Relationship tends to be initiated and driven by an individual’s manager

• Relationship is finite - ends as an individual transfers to another job

Mentoring characteristics:

• Takes place outside of a line manager-employee relationship, at the mutual consent of a

mentor and the person being mentored

• Is career-focused or focuses on professional development that may be outside a mentoree’s

area of work

• Relationship is personal - a mentor provides both professional and personal support

• Relationship may be initiated by a mentor or created through a match initiated by the

organization

• Relationship crosses job boundaries

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• Relationship may last for a specific period of time (nine months to a year) in a formal program,

at which point the pair may continue in an informal mentoring relationship

Are buddy systems and mentoring programs the same?

No. Buddy systems are initiated by organizations to help new employees adjust to jobs during their first

few months of employment.

Buddies are most often peers in the same department, who assist new employees for short periods of

time and require no specialized training as a buddy.

Mentoring is a more complex relationship and focuses on both short- and long-term professional

development goals. Though a mentor may be an employee’s peer, most often a mentor is a person at

least one level higher in the organization who is not within the mentoree’s direct supervisory line of

management.

Why do organizations implement formal mentoring programs?

Interest in mentoring has varied over time and has been affected by economic and social factors.

Organizations recognize that workforce demographics have changed dramatically in recent years, as

women and members of different minority groups have joined the workforce in greater numbers. In

addition, technology has automated traditional employee functions and continues to affect on-the-job

performance, altering the way people see themselves within the corporate structure.

With these changes, organizations are finding it difficult to recruit and retain qualified personnel. As

corporate downsizing continues, organizations are also experiencing a flattening of their organizations,

challenging them to provide sufficient growth opportunities for employees.

On the plus side, organizations find today’s employees exhibit a more flexible approach to work. On the

minus side, employees may feel less loyalty to the organizations for which they work.

Organizations now look to mentoring to implement a strategic game plan that includes:

• Recruitment

• Retention

• Professional development

• Development of a multicultural workforce

Does mentoring happen naturally?

Absolutely. Informal mentoring occurs all the time and is a powerful experience. The problem is that

informal mentoring is often accessible only to a few employees and its benefits are limited only to those

few who participate. Formal or structured mentoring takes mentoring to the next level and expands its

usefulness and corporate value beyond that of a single mentor-mentoree pairing.

How are informal and formal mentoring different?

Informal and formal mentoring are often confused, but they are very different in their approaches and

outcomes.

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Informal mentoring:

▪ Goals of the relationship are not specified

▪ Outcomes are not measured

▪ Access is limited and may be exclusive

▪ Mentors and mentorees self-select on the basis of personal chemistry

▪ Mentoring lasts a long time; sometimes a lifetime

▪ The organization benefits indirectly, as the focus is exclusively on the mentoree

Formal mentoring:

▪ Goals are established from the beginning by the organization and the employee mentoree

▪ Outcomes are measured

▪ Access is open to all who meet program criteria

▪ Mentors and mentorees are paired based on compatibility

▪ Training and support in mentoring is provided

Organization and employee both benefit directly.

What do you mean by “chemistry” and “compatibility?”

"Chemistry" is an intense, very personal feeling – an initial connection or attraction between two

individuals that may develop into a strong, emotional bond. Unstructured and unpredictable, it is the basis

for an informal mentoring relationship.

"Compatibility" occurs when individuals work together in harmony to achieve a common purpose. In

formal mentoring, that means a more-seasoned person leading someone less experienced through a

structured professional-development program in much the same way teachers facilitate learning.

Why do organizations need a structured mentoring program? Aren’t managers already performing this

role?

While many managers demonstrate mentoring behavior on an informal basis, it is very different from

having a structured mentoring program. There is a qualitative difference between a manager-employee

relationship and a mentor-mentoree relationship.

▪ Managerial Role

The manager-employee relationship focuses on achieving the objectives of the department and the

company. The manager assigns tasks, evaluates the outcome,conducts performance reviews,

and recommends possible salary increases and promotions.

Because managers hold significant power over employees’ work lives, most employees demonstrate

only their strengths and hide their weaknesses in the work environment.

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▪ Mentoring Role

A mentor-mentoree relationship focuses on developing the mentoree professionally and personally. As

such, the mentor does not evaluate the mentoree with respect to his or her current job, does not conduct

performance reviews of the mentoree, and does not provide input

about salary increases and promotions.

This creates a safe learning environment, where the mentoree feels free to discuss issues openly and

honestly, without worrying about negative consequences on the job. The roles of manager and mentor

are fundamentally different. That’s why structured mentoring programs never pair mentors with their

direct reports.

What are the benefits of mentoring?

Mentoring benefits the organization, mentors and mentorees. A successful mentoring program benefits

your organization by:

• Enhancing strategic business initiatives

• Encouraging retention

• Reducing turnover costs

• Improving productivity

• Breaking down the "silo" mentality that hinders cooperation among company departments

or divisions.

• Elevating knowledge transfer from just getting information and to retaining the practical

experience and wisdom gained from long-term employees.

• Enhancing professional development.

• Linking employees with valuable knowledge and information to other employees in need of

such information

• Using your own employees, instead of outside consultants, as internal experts for professional

development

• Supporting the creation of a multicultural workforce by creating relationships among diverse

employees and allowing equal access to mentoring.

• Creating a mentoring culture, which continuously promotes individual employee growth and

development.

Mentors enjoy many benefits, including:

• Gains insights from the mentoree’s background and history that can be used in the mentor’s

professional and personal development.

• Gains satisfaction in sharing expertise with others.

• Re-energizes the mentor’s career.

• Gains an ally in promoting the organization’s well-being.

• Learns more about other areas within the organization.

19

Mentorees enjoy many benefits, including:

▪ Gains from the mentor’s expertise

▪ Receives critical feedback in key areas, such as communications, interpersonal relationships,

technical abilities, change management and leadership skills

▪ Develops a sharper focus on what is needed to grow professionally within the organization

▪ Learns specific skills and knowledge that are relevant to personal goals

▪ Networks with a more influential employee

▪ Gains knowledge about the organization’s culture and unspoken rules that can be critical for

success; as a result, adapts more quickly to the organization’s culture

▪ Has a friendly ear with which to share frustrations as well as successes.

How does an organization know when it’s ready to implement a formal mentoring program?

An organization that values its employees and is committed to providing opportunities for them to remain

and grow within the organization is an ideal candidate for initiating a mentoring program. Ideally, the

organization has an internal structure to support a successful program. Examples include:

▪ A performance management program

▪ Developed competencies

▪ A valued-training function

▪ Diversity training

▪ A succession-planning process

▪ A management development program

▪ Strategic business objectives

In addition, there should be individuals within the higher ranks of the organization who will champion the

mentoring initiative and help make it happen. Advocates may include the organization’s president, vice

presidents and other influential executives.

A Mentoring Program Manager (MPM) is also needed to coordinate the mentoring program. The MPM

should be someone who is perceived as a facilitator, listener and coalition-builder – a person who is

trusted. MPM is not a full-time position, so mentoring responsibilities must be balanced with the MPM’s

other duties. Typically, such a person works in a Human Resources, Organizational Development, Training

or Diversity Department.

What does a Mentoring Program Manager do?

Coordinating the mentoring process within the organization means working with a Management Mentors

consultant, as well as fellow employees, to design and implement a mentoring initiative that fits the

organization’s culture.

The initiative forms the basis for ongoing mentoring. During the pilot, a Mentoring Program Manager

(MPM) typically works with 20 to 30 individuals (10 to 15 pairs). The manager contacts them on a regular

basis, making certain the relationships are going well and that the mentoring program is achieving its

goals. The MPM offers each pair whatever resources may be needed.

20

The MPM also becomes the organization’s internal mentoring expert, serving as a resource for various

departments and divisions that have an interest in pursuing mentoring.

The amount of time this take varies. Normally, a MPM spends one to four hours per week coordinating

the project, depending on how often the mentor-mentoree pairs meet.

How can we create a pilot mentoring program?

The Mentoring Program Manager forms a task force of 6-8 people. Members of the task force should

represent a cross-section of the organization, including potential mentors and mentorees, supervisory

personnel and any stakeholders who can bring value to the process. For example, a representative from

Human Resources might help tie department goals with the goals of the mentoring program.

The task force:

▪ Determines the goals of the program

▪ Chooses the proper mentoring model

▪ Selects criteria for mentors and mentorees

▪ Defines other critical components of the program

▪ Interviews potential candidates

▪ Matches participants

▪ Evaluates results at the end of the pilot program

How can you determine an organization’s need for mentoring?

Some organizations conduct focus groups, employee surveys or both to determine where the

need for mentoring is greatest, and whether there is sufficient support for a mentoring program.

Other organizations rely on task force members, who have been asked to participate because of

their knowledge of the organization and the population being targeted. The appropriate method

depends on what steps an organization has already taken as well as what resources are available.

Are there different types of mentoring models in a structured program? What are they?

One of the advantages of mentoring is that it can be adapted to any organization’s culture and resources.

There are several mentoring models to choose from when developing a mentoring program, including:

▪ One-On-One Mentoring

The most common mentoring model, one-on-one mentoring matches one mentor with one

mentoree. Most people prefer this model because it allows both mentor and mentoree to develop a

personal relationship and provides individual support for the mentoree. Availability of mentors is the

only limitation.

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▪ Resource-Based Mentoring

Resource-based mentoring offers some of the same features as one-on-one mentoring. The main

difference is that mentors and mentorees are not interviewed and matched by a Mentoring Program

Manager. Instead, mentors agree to add their names to a list of available mentors from which a

mentoree can choose. It is up to the mentoree to initiate the process by asking one of the volunteer

mentors for assistance. This model typically has limited support within the organization and may

result in mismatched mentor-mentoree pairing.

▪ Group Mentoring

Group mentoring requires a mentor to work with 4-6 mentorees at one time. The group meets once

or twice a month to discuss various topics. Combining senior and peer mentoring, the mentor and the

peers help one another learn and develop appropriate skills and knowledge.

Group mentoring is limited by the difficulty of regularly scheduling meetings for the entire group. It

also lacks the personal relationship that most people prefer in mentoring. For this reason, it is often

combined with the one-on-one model. For example, some organizations provide each mentoree with

a specific mentor. In addition, the organization offers periodic meetings in which a senior executive

meets with all of the mentors and mentorees, who then share their knowledge and expertise.

▪ Training-Based Mentoring

This model is tied directly to a training program. A mentor is assigned to a mentoree to help that

person develop the specific skills being taught in the program. Training-based mentoring is limited,

because it focuses on the subject at hand and doesn’t help the mentoree develop a broader skill set.

▪ Executive Mentoring

This top-down model may be the most effective way to create a mentoring culture and cultivate skills

and knowledge throughout an organization. It is also an effective succession-planning tool, because it

prevents the knowledge "brain drain" that would otherwise take place when senior management

retires.

What is the role of diversity in mentoring?

Mentoring can be of great value to women and people of color. These are the employees who have often

been disenfranchised within organizations and have not been “chosen” by informal mentors.

However, if mentoring is to be successful as a tool for empowering employees, it needs to be truly diverse

– representing everyone within the organization and not just women and people of color. By including the

broadest spectrum of people, mentoring offers everyone the opportunity to grow professionally and

personally without regard to gender or race. A successful mentoring program needs to balance the need

for inclusion with the need for fair representation.

For many years, some organizations thought of mentoring only as a tool to help women and people of

color. Viewed inappropriately as a remedial program, mentoring lacked widespread support within most

organizations.

22

These mentoring programs did not provide mentorees with the assistance they really needed. Good

intentions gone astray resulted in a misapplication of mentoring.

Diversity is equally important when choosing mentors within organizations. Because many mentoring

programs are geared to management levels, today’s mentor population still tends to be made up of white

males.

As organizations seek to devise mentoring programs, they need to include mentors who are both non-

white and non-male. Using the resource-based or group-based models, tied to the one-on-one mentoring

model, can help diversify the mentor population.

For example, one of the mentoring goals might be to learn how to navigate effectively through the

organization’s culture. Using the group model, an organization might have a panel of diverse employees

meeting with the entire mentor-mentoree population to share how they have successfully navigated that

culture.

What results can be achieved in a structured mentoring program?

Though a great deal has been written about mentoring, there is little statistical data supporting its value.

Much of the published information available is based on theory alone. Because mentoring is about human

relationships, it is more difficult to quantify scientifically.

Using interviews and questionnaires, Management Mentors has evaluated mentoring programs

implemented by client companies. The results consistently demonstrate that well-designed programs lead

to the acquisition of knowledge and expertise within a trusting and supportive mentoring relationship.

Why shouldn’t we create a program ourselves?

Creating a structured mentoring program requires a solid understanding of mentoring dynamics.

There are myriad examples of mentoring programs that failed because organizations mistakenly believed

they fully understood mentoring. Rather than create a successful program, they negatively impacted the

careers of both mentors and mentorees. Typically, such programs have put people together without clear

guidelines, offered no training about mentoring relationships, lacked internal support, paired employees

with the bosses of the employees’ immediate supervisors, and violated other fundamentals of mentoring.

The amount of outside expertise needed to establish a mentoring program varies from organization to

organization. Most organizations have found that using a consultant to set up a pilot program has made

the difference between success and failure.

What does an outside consulting firm offer a prospective client?

Experienced consultants provide:

▪ Cost effectiveness - reduces the time and effort needed to establish a program

▪ Successful design - program operates more efficiently based on successful designs employed by

similar organizations

▪ Improved results - focuses on specific competency areas

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Higher success rate - previous mentoring expertise helps organizations avoid pitfalls that have derailed

many mentoring programs.

How to overcome organizational and individual resistance to the implementation of

coaching

“I just don’t know how to make this coaching stick” said a frustrated leader to me. He’s an executive

coaching client and he is trying to coach a direct report to change his behavior.

His tone of voice reminded me of the frustration I had felt too often, when I was just not getting through

to an executive coaching client. Coaching doesn’t work for many reasons. The coachability of a

leader determines whether the coaching has impact.

The skill of the coach also has a significant impact. According to a 2017 LinkedIn report, learning how to

coach others is the most important leadership priority for organizations today. As coaches we need to

grow our own skills to overcome the resistance to change in our coachees.

Watch on Forbes:

Play Video

Ten Ways To Overcome Resistance

When your coaching is not getting the desired results, use the list below to diagnose what’s missing and

make an impact.

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Build trust. Trust is an absolute foundation of a good coaching relationship. Without trust between the

coach and the leader being coached (the coachee), the coachee is not able to lower their guard, which is

essential to the coaching relationship. As a coach ask yourself, what is the quality of the trust in the

relationship. Do you believe in your coachee? We can unconsciously feel others judgments and intentions

toward us and if the coachee doesn’t trust you, your impact will be limited.

Discover motivation. Any sustained change requires commitment rather than just compliance.

Understand what the coachee’s vision is for themselves. What does success look like to them? What's

important to them? What are their goals, dreams, and desires for their career and life? What is the link

between their own goals and the behavior change you’re coaching them on? Help them get in touch with

what's really important to them. Are they equal partners in the coaching process or are you dragging them

along on the behavior change you want?

Nurture confidence. Any change effort that a coachee undertakes requires confidence in themselves. You

can help build both trust, motivation, and confidence by reminding the leader about their strengths and

what’s already working well. Focus on catching the coachee doing something right!

Raise self-awareness. I don’t believe anyone comes to work deciding that they are going to be a horrible

leader today. Leadership performance gaps mostly exist because people are not aware of their impact on

others. You can use assessments (360-degree feedback, self-assessments) help people under their impact.

What are you doing to build that self-awareness?

Set clear and measurable goals. What are the two to three specific behaviors you are both aligned to

shifting? How will they measure their progress? Which stakeholders do they want to engage and get input

on the progress they are making?

Bring curiosity. When someone is not following through on their commitments, instead of judgment,

skilled coaches bring curiosity. This helps the coachee lower their guard and get curious themselves

(instead of judging themselves or being defensive). They get new insights about what stands in the way

of sustained behavior change.

Practice presence. Presence is slowing down and being fully here in this moment, listening deeply. As

coaches, we can get involved in a “story” in our own heads or the “story” that the coachee is repeating to

themselves. Instead, we must be an objective observer to notice what’s happening in the moment that

the coachee may not be aware of and bring it to their attention. For example, when what a leader is saying

is at odds with their body language and tone of voice, it’s okay to observe “I notice you’re saying you want

to improve your peer relationships, but I’m not hearing a lot of conviction in your voice”. Then just be

silent, and listen. Silence is a great coaching tool.

25

Be honest and courageous. Honesty builds trust in the relationship. Without honesty, the coaching is

simply a pleasant conversation without much hope for change. Are you being as honest and courageous

as you can be as a coach? As hard as it is to practice as a coach (after all you’re supposed to be the expert),

showing vulnerability creates great trust. It allows the person being coached to feel safe in being

vulnerable too. I often find myself saying “okay I’m stuck here. I feel like I’m pushing you too hard. Where

do we go from here?”

Drive accountability. It is your job to help the person being coached improve their performance. Keep the

coaching goals and measures front and center. Let them self-assess and give them feedback.

Bring Choice. As a coach, we must believe that our coachee is empowered to make good choices for

themselves. Ultimately, if a coachee is not committed to an action, create a safe space for them to say so,

and discover what they arecommitted to. It is your job to explore with them the consequences of not

making a change, but the person being coached is ultimately at choice whether they want to change or

not. As a coach, this is perhaps one of the hardest truths to recognize.

As I look back to some of my coaching where the results were less than stellar, I can now see through this

list where I myself didn’t bring enough clarity, courage or accountability to the coaching conversations.

Our jobs as leaders is not just to deliver the results, but in the process grow the people we lead. This

perhaps is one of our greatest leadership legacies. I know that in looking back, I am deeply grateful to the

people who believed in me, who saw my potential and pushed me toward it, even before I could see it. In

the effort to do that well for our coachees, we must be willing to grow ourselves. This last piece is what

keeps me most energized about my work. I need to constantly improve my own skills if my coachees are

going to improve.

26

How to overcome organizational and individual resistance to the implementation of

mentoring One of the most baffling and recalcitrant of the problems which business executives face is employee

resistance to change. Such resistance may take a number of forms—persistent reduction in output,

increase in the number of “quits” and requests for transfer, chronic quarrels, sullen hostility, wildcat or

slowdown strikes, and, of course, the expression of a lot of pseudological reasons why the change will not

work. Even the more petty forms of this resistance can be troublesome.

All too often when executives encounter resistance to change, they “explain” it by quoting the cliche that

“people resist change” and never look further. Yet changes must continually occur in industry. This applies

with particular force to the all-important “little” changes that constantly take place—changes in work

methods, in routine office procedures, in the location of a machine or a desk, in personnel assignments

and job titles.

No one of these changes makes the headlines, but in total they account for much of our increase in

productivity. They are not the spectacular once-in-a-lifetime technological revolutions that involve mass

layoffs or the obsolescence of traditional skills, but they are vital to business progress.

Does it follow, therefore, that business management is forever saddled with the onerous job of “forcing”

change down the throats of resistant people? My answer is no. It is the thesis of this article that people

do not resist technical change as such and that most of the resistance which does occur is unnecessary. I

shall discuss these points, among others:

1. A solution which has become increasingly popular for dealing with resistance to change is to get the

people involved to “participate” in making the change. But as a practical matter “participation” as a device

is not a good way for management to think about the problem. In fact, it may lead to trouble.

2. The key to the problem is to understand the true nature of resistance. Actually, what employees resist

is usually not technical change but social change—the change in their human relationships that generally

accompanies technical change.

3. Resistance is usually created because of certain blind spots and attitudes which staff specialists have as

a result of their preoccupation with the technical aspects of new ideas.

4. Management can take concrete steps to deal constructively with these staff attitudes. The steps include

emphasizing new standards of performance for staff specialists and encouraging them to think in different

ways, as well as making use of the fact that signs of resistance can serve as a practical warning signal in

directing and timing technological changes.

5. Top executives can also make their own efforts more effective at meetings of staff and operating groups

where change is being discussed. They can do this by shifting their attention from the facts of schedules,

technical details, work assignments, and so forth, to what the discussion of these items indicates in regard

to developing resistance and receptiveness to change.

Let us begin by taking a look at some research into the nature of resistance to change. There are two

studies in particular that I should like to discuss. They highlight contrasting ways of interpreting resistance

to change and of coping with it in day-to-day administration.

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Is Participation Enough?

The first study was conducted by Lester Coch and John R.P. French, Jr. in a clothing factory.1 It deserves

special comment because, it seems to me, it is the most systematic study of the phenomenon of resistance

to change that has been made in a factory setting. To describe it briefly:

The two researchers worked with four different groups of factory operators who were being paid on a

modified piece-rate basis. For each of these four groups a minor change in the work procedure was

installed by a different method, and the results were carefully recorded to see what, if any, problems of

resistance occurred. The four experimental groups were roughly matched with respect to efficiency

ratings and degree of cohesiveness; in each group the proposed change modified the established work

procedure to about the same degree.

The work change was introduced to the first group by what the researchers called a “no-participation”

method. This small group of operators was called into a room where some staff people told the members

that there was a need for a minor methods change in their work procedures. The staff people then

explained the change to the operators in detail, and gave them the reasons for the change. The operators

were then sent back to the job with instructions to work in accordance with the new method.

The second group of operators was introduced to the work change by a “participation-through-

representation” method—a variation of the approach used with the third and fourth groups which turned

out to be of little significance.

The third and fourth groups of operators were both introduced to the work change on a “total

participation” basis. All the operators in these groups met with the staff people concerned. The staff

people dramatically demonstrated the need for cost reduction. A general agreement was reached that

some savings could be effected. The groups then discussed how existing work methods could be improved

and unnecessary operations eliminated. When the new work methods were agreed on, all the operators

were trained in the new methods, and all were observed by the time-study people for purposes of

establishing a new piece rate on the job.

Research findings: The researchers reported a marked contrast between the results achieved by the

different methods of introducing this change:

• No-participation group—The most striking difference was between Group #1, the no-participation

group, and Groups #3 and #4, the total-participation groups. The output of Group #1 dropped

immediately to about two thirds of its previous output rate. The output rate stayed at about this

level throughout the period of 30 days after the change was introduced. The researchers further

reported:

“Resistance developed almost immediately after the change occurred. Marked expressions of aggression

against management occurred, such as conflict with the methods engineer,…hostility toward the

supervisor, deliberate restriction of production, and lack of cooperation with the supervisor. There were

17% quits in the first 40 days. Grievances were filed about piece rates; but when the rate was checked, it

was found to be a little ‘loose.’”

28

• Total-participation groups—In contrast with this record, Groups #3 and #4 showed a smaller initial

drop in output and a very rapid recovery not only to the previous production rate but to a rate

that exceeded the previous rate. In these groups there were no signs of hostility toward the staff

people or toward the supervisors, and there were no quits during the experimental period.

Appraisal of results: Without going into all the researchers’ decisions based on these experiments, it can

be fairly stated that they concluded that resistance to methods changes could be overcome by getting

the people involved in the change to participate in making it.

This was a very useful study, but the results are likely to leave the manager of a factory still bothered by

the question, “Where do we go from here?” The trouble centers around that word “participation.” It is

not a new word. It is seen often in management journals, heard often in management discussions. In fact,

the idea that it is a good thing to get employee participation in making changes has become almost

axiomatic in management circles.

But participation is not something that can be conjured up or created artificially. You obviously cannot

buy it as you would buy a typewriter. You cannot hire industrial engineers and accountants and other staff

people who have the ability “to get participation” built into them. It is doubtful how helpful it would be

to call in a group of supervisors and staff people and exhort them, “Get in there and start participation.”

Participation is a feeling on the part of people, not just the mechanical act of being called in to take part

in discussions. Common sense would suggest that people are more likely to respond to the way they are

customarily treated—say, as people whose opinions are respected because they themselves are

respected for their own worth—rather than by the stratagem of being called to a meeting or being asked

some carefully calculated questions. In fact, many supervisors and staff have had some unhappy

experiences with executives who have read about participation and have picked it up as a new

psychological gimmick for getting other people to think they “want” to do as they are told—as a sure way

to put the sugar coating on a bitter pill.

So there is still the problem of how to get this thing called participation. And, as a matter of fact, the

question remains whether participation was the determining factor in the Coch and French experiment

or whether there was something of deeper significance underlying it.

Resistance to what?

Now let us take a look at a second series of research findings about resistance to change… While making

some research observations in a factory manufacturing electronic products, a colleague and I had an

opportunity to observe a number of incidents that for us threw new light on this matter of resistance to

change.2 One incident was particularly illuminating:

29

• We were observing the work of one of the industrial engineers and a production operator who

had been assigned to work with the engineer on assembling and testing an experimental product

that the engineer was developing. The engineer and the operator were in almost constant daily

contact in their work. It was a common occurrence for the engineer to suggest an idea for some

modification in a part of the new product; he would then discuss his idea with the operator and

ask her to try out the change to see how it worked. It was also a common occurrence for the

operator to get an idea as she assembled parts and to pass this idea on to the engineer, who

would then consider it and, on occasion, ask the operator to try out the idea and see if it proved

useful.

A typical exchange between these two people might run somewhat as follows:

Engineer: “I got to thinking last night about that difficulty we’ve been having on assembling the x part in

the last few days. It occurred to me that we might get around that trouble if we washed the part in a

cleaning solution just prior to assembling it.”

Operator: “Well, that sounds to me like it’s worth trying.”

Engineer: “I’ll get you some of the right kind of cleaning solution, and why don’t you try doing that with

about 50 parts and keep track of what happens.”

Operator: “Sure, I’ll keep track of it and let you know how it works.”

With this episode in mind, let us take a look at a second episode involving the same production operator.

One day we noticed another engineer approaching the production operator. We knew that this particular

engineer had had no previous contact with the production operator. He had been asked to take a look at

one specific problem on the new product because of his special technical qualifications. He had decided

to make a change in one of the parts of the product to eliminate the problem, and he had prepared some

of these parts using his new method. Here is what happened:

• He walked up to the production operator with the new parts in his hand and indicated to her by

a gesture that he wanted her to try assembling some units using his new part. The operator picked

up one of the parts and proceeded to assemble it. We noticed that she did not handle the part

with her usual care. After she had assembled the product, she tested it and it failed to pass

inspection. She turned to the new engineer and, with a triumphant air, said, “It doesn’t work.”

The new engineer indicated that she should try another part. She did so, and again it did not work. She

then proceeded to assemble units using all of the new parts that were available. She handled each of

them in an unusually rough manner. None of them worked. Again she turned to the engineer and said

that the new parts did not work.

The engineer left, and later the operator, with evident satisfaction, commented to the original industrial

engineer that the new engineer’s idea was just no good.

30

Social change:

What can we learn from these episodes? To begin, it will be useful for our purposes to think of change as

having both a technical and a social aspect. The technical aspect of the change is the making of a

measurable modification in the physical routines of the job. The social aspect of the change refers to the

way those affected by it think it will alter their established relationships in the organization.

We can clarify this distinction by referring to the two foregoing episodes. In both of them, the technical

aspects of the changes introduced were virtually identical: the operator was asked to use a slightly

changed part in assembling the finished product. By contrast, the social aspects of the changes were quite

different.

In the first episode, the interaction between the industrial engineer and the operator tended to sustain

the give-and-take kind of relationship that these two people were accustomed to. The operator was used

to being treated as a person with some valuable skills and knowledge and some sense of responsibility

about her work; when the engineer approached her with his idea, she felt she was being dealt with in the

usual way. But, in the second episode, the new engineer was introducing not only a technical change but

also a change in the operator’s customary way of relating herself to others in the organization. By his

brusque manner and by his lack of any explanation, he led the operator to fear that her usual work

relationships were being changed. And she just did not like the new way she was being treated.

The results of these two episodes were quite different also. In the first episode there were no symptoms

of resistance to change, a very good chance that the experimental change would determine fairly whether

a cleaning solution would improve product quality, and a willingness on the part of the operator to accept

future changes when the industrial engineer suggested them. In the second episode, however, there were

signs of resistance to change (the operator’s careless handling of parts and her satisfaction in their failure

to work), failure to prove whether the modified part was an improvement or not, and indications that the

operator would resist any further changes by the engineer. We might summarize the two contrasting

patterns of human behavior in the two episodes in graphic form; see Exhibit I.

31

Exhibit I Two contrasting patterns of human behavior

It is apparent from these two patterns that the variable which determines the result is the social aspect

of the change. In other words, the operator did not resist the technical change as such but rather the

accompanying change in her human relationships.

Confirmation:

This conclusion is based on more than onecase. Many other cases in our research project substantiate it.

Furthermore, we can find confirmation in the research experience of Coch and French, even though they

came out with a different interpretation.

Coch and French tell us in their report that the procedure used with Group #1, i.e., the no-participation

group, was the usual one in the factory for introducing work changes. And yet they also tell us something

about the customary treatment of the operators in their work life. For example, the company’s labor

relations policies are progressive, the company and the supervisors place a high value on fair and open

dealings with the employees, and the employees are encouraged to take up their problems and grievances

with management. Also, the operators are accustomed to measuring the success and failure of themselves

as operators against the company’s standard output figures.

Now compare these customary work relationships with the way the Group #1 operators were treated

when they were introduced to this particular work change. There is quite a difference. When the

management called them into the room for indoctrination, they were treated as if they had no useful

knowledge of their own jobs. In effect, they were told that they were not the skilled and efficient

operators they had thought they were, that they were doing the job inefficiently, and that some “outsider”

(the staff expert) would now tell them how to do it right. How could they construe this

experience except as a threatening change in their usual working relationship? It is the story of the second

episode in our research case all over again. The results were also the same, with signs of resistance,

persistently low output, and so on.

Now consider experimental Groups #3 and #4, i.e., the total-participation groups. Coch and French

referred to management’s approach in their case as a “new” method of introducing change; but, from the

point of view of the operators it must not have seemed new at all. It was simply a continuation of the way

they were ordinarily dealt with in the course of their regular work. And what happened? The results—

reception to change, technical improvement, better performance—were much like those reported in the

first episode between the operator and the industrial engineer.

So the research data of Coch and French tend to confirm the conclusion that the nature and size of the

technical aspect of the change does not determine the presence or absence of resistance nearly so much

as does the social aspect of the change.

Roots of trouble

The significance of these research findings, from management’s point of view, is that executives and staff

experts need not expertness in using the devices of participation but a real understanding, in depth and

detail, of the specific social arrangements that will be sustained or threatened by the change or by the

way in which it is introduced.

32

These observations check with everyday management experience in industry. When we stop to think

about it, we know that many changes occur in our factories without a bit of resistance. We know that

people who are working closely with one another continually swap ideas about short cuts and minor

changes in procedure that are adopted so easily and naturally that we seldom notice them or even think

of them as change. The point is that because these people work so closely with one another, they

intuitively understand and take account of the existing social arrangements for work and so feel no threat

to themselves in such everyday changes.

By contrast, management actions leading to what we commonly label “change” are usually initiated

outside the small work group by staff people. These are the changes that we notice and the ones that

most frequently bring on symptoms of resistance. By the very nature of their work, most of our staff

specialists in industry do not have the intimate contact with operating groups that allows them to acquire

an intuitive understanding of the complex social arrangements which their ideas may affect. Neither do

our staff specialists always have the day-to-day dealings with operating people that lead them to develop

a natural respect for the knowledge and skill of these people. As a result, all too often the men behave in

a way that threatens and disrupts the established social relationships. And the tragedy is that so many of

these upsets are inadvertent and unnecessary.

Yet industry must have its specialists—not only many kinds of engineering specialists (product, process,

maintenance, quality, and safety engineers) but also cost accountants, production schedulers, purchasing

agents, and personnel people. Must top management therefore reconcile itself to continual resistance to

change, or can it take constructive action to meet the problem?

I believe that our research in various factory situations indicates why resistance to change occurs and

what management can do about it. Let us take the “why” factors first.

Self-preoccupation:

All too frequently we see staff specialists who bring to their work certain blind spots that get them into

trouble when they initiate change with operating people. One such blind spot is “self-preoccupation.” The

staff specialists get so engrossed in the technology of the change they are interested in promoting that

they become wholly oblivious to different kinds of things that may be bothering people. Here are two

examples:

• In one situation the staff people introduced, with the best of intentions, a technological change

which inadvertently deprived a number of skilled operators of much of the satisfaction that they

were finding in their work. Among other things, the change meant that, whereas formerly the

operators’ outputs had been placed beside their work positions where they could be viewed and

appreciated by everyone, they were now being carried away immediately from their work

positions. The workers did not like this.

The sad part of it was that there was no compelling cost or technical reason why the output could not be

placed beside the work position as it had been formerly. But the staff people who had introduced the

change were so literal-minded about their ideas that when they heard complaints on the changes from

the operators, they could not comprehend what the trouble was. Instead, they began repeating all the

logical arguments why the change made sense from a cost standpoint. The final result here was a chronic

restriction of output and persistent hostility on the part of the operators.

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• An industrial engineer undertook to introduce some methods changes in one department with

the notion firmly in mind that this assignment presented her with an opportunity to “prove” to

higher management the value of her function. She became so preoccupied with her personal

desire to make a name for her particular techniques that she failed to pay any attention to some

fairly obvious and practical considerations which the operating people were calling to her

attention but which did not show up in her time-study techniques. As could be expected,

resistance quickly developed to all her ideas, and the only “name” that she finally won for her

techniques was a black one.

Obviously, in both of these situations the staff specialists involved did not take into account the social

aspects of the change they were introducing. For different reasons they got so preoccupied with the

technical aspects of the change that they literally could not see or understand what all the fuss was about.

We may sometimes wish that the validity of the technical aspect of the change were the sole determinant

of its acceptability. But the fact remains that the social aspect is what determines the presence or absence

of resistance. Just as ignoring this fact is the sure way to trouble, so taking advantage of it can lead to

positive results. We must not forget that these same social arrangements which at times seem so

bothersome are essential for the performance of work. Without a network of established social

relationships a factor would be populated with a collection of people who had no idea of how to work

with one another in an organized fashion. By working with this network instead of against it,

management’s staff representatives can give new technological ideas a better chance of acceptance.

Know-how of operators overlooked:

Another blind spot of many staff specialists is to the strengths as well as to the weaknesses of firsthand

production experience. They do not recognize that the production foreman and the production operator

are in their own way specialists themselves—specialists in actual experience with production problems.

This point should be obvious, but it is amazing how many staff specialists fail to appreciate the fact that

even though they themselves may have a superior knowledge of the technology of the production process

involved, the foreman or the operators may have a more practical understanding of how to get daily

production out of a group of workers and machines.

The experience of the operating people frequently equips them to be of real help to staff specialists on at

least two counts: (1) The operating people are often able to spot practical production difficulties in the

ideas of the specialists—and iron out those difficulties before it is too late; (2) the operating people are

often able to take advantage of their intimate acquaintance with the existing social arrangements for

getting work done. If given a chance, they can use this kind of knowledge to help detect those parts of the

change that will have undesirable social consequences. The staff experts can then go to work on ways to

avoid the trouble area without materially affecting the technical worth of the change.

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Further, some staff specialists have yet to learn the truth that, even after the plans for a change have been

carefully made, it takes time to put the change successfully into production use. Time is necessary even

though there may be no resistance to the change itself. The operators must develop the skill needed to

use new methods and new equipment efficiently; there are always bugs to be taken out of a new method

or piece of equipment even with the best of engineering. When staff people begin to lose patience with

the amount of time that these steps take, the workers will begin to feel that they are being

pushed; this amounts to a change in their customary work relationships, and resistance will start building

up where there was none before.

The situation is aggravated if the staff specialist mistakenly accuses the operators of resisting the idea of

the change, for there are few things that irritate people more than to be blamed for resisting change when

actually they are doing their best to learn a difficult new procedure.

Management action

Many of the problems of resistance to change arise around certain kinds of attitudes that staff people are

liable to develop about their jobs and their own ideas for introducing change. Fortunately, management

can influence these attitudes and thus deal with the problems at their source.

Broadening staff interests:

It is fairly common for staff members to work so hard on an idea for change that they come to identify

themselves with it. This is fine for the organization when the staff person is working on the idea alone or

with close colleagues; the idea becomes “his baby,” and the company benefits from this complete

devotion to work.

But when, for example, a staff member goes to some group of operating people to introduce a change,

his very identification with his ideas tends to make him unreceptive to any suggestions for modification.

He just does not feel like letting anyone else tamper with his pet ideas. It is easy to see, of course, how

this attitude is interpreted by the operating people as a lack of respect for their suggestions.

This problem of staff peoples’ extreme identification with their work is one which, to some extent, can

only be cured by time. But here are four suggestions for speeding up the process:

1. Managers can often, with wise timing, encourage the staff’s interest in a different project that is just

starting.

2. Managers can also, by “coaching” as well as by example, prod the staff people to develop a healthier

respect for the contributions they can receive from operating people; success in this area would, of course,

virtually solve the problem.

3. It also helps if staff people can be guided to recognize that the satisfaction they derive from being

productive and creative is the same satisfaction they deny the operating people by resisting them.

Experience shows that staff people can sometimes be stimulated by the thought of finding satisfaction in

sharing with others in the organization the pleasures of being creative.

4. Sometimes, too, staff people can be led to see that winning acceptance of their ideas through better

understanding and handling of human beings is just as challenging and rewarding as giving birth to an

idea.

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Using understandable terms:

One of the problems that must be overcome arises from the fact that most staff people are likely to have

the attitude that the reasons why they are recommending any given change may be so complicated and

specialized that it is impossible to explain them to operating people. It may be true that the operating

people would find it next to impossible to understand some of the staff specialists’ analytical techniques,

but this does not keep them from coming to the conclusion that the staff specialists are trying to razzle-

dazzle them with tricky figures and formulas—insulting their intelligence—if they do not strive to their

utmost to translate their ideas into terms understandable to the operators. The following case illustrates

the importance of this point:

• A staff specialist was temporarily successful in “selling” a change based on a complicated

mathematical formula to a foreman who really did not understand it. The whole thing backfired,

. however, when the foreman tried to sell it to his operating people. They asked him a couple of

sharp questions that he could not answer. His embarrassment about this led him to resent and

resist the change so much that eventually the whole proposition fell through. This was

unfortunate in terms not only of human relations but also of technological progress in the plant.

There are some very good reasons, both technical and social, why staff people should be interested in

working with the operating people until their recommendations make “sense.” (This does not mean that

the operating people need to understand the recommendations in quite the same way or in the same

detail that the staff people do, but that they should be able to visualize the recommendations in terms of

their job experiences.) Failure of the staff person to provide an adequate explanation is likely to mean

that a job the operators had formerly performed with understanding and satisfaction will now be

performed without understanding and with less satisfaction.

This loss of satisfaction not only concerns the individual involved but also is significant from the standpoint

of the company that is trying to get maximum productivity from the operating people. People who do not

have a feeling of comprehension of what they are doing are denied the opportunity to exercise that

uniquely human ability—the ability to use informed and intelligent judgment on what they do. If the staff

person leaves the operating people with a sense of confusion, they will also be left unhappy and less

productive.

Top line and staff executives responsible for the operation should make it a point, therefore, to know how

the staff person goes about installing a change. They can do this by asking discerning questions about staff

reports, listening closely to reports of employee reaction, and, if they have the opportunity, actually

watching the staff specialist at work. At times they may have to take such drastic action as insisting that

the time of installation of a proposed change be postponed until the operators are ready for it. But, for

the most part, straight forward discussions with the staff specialist evaluating that person’s approach

should help the staffer over a period of time, to learn what is expected in relationships with operating

personnel.

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New look at resistance:

Another attitude that gets staff people into trouble is the expectationthat all the people involved will resist

the change. Its curious but true that the staff person who goes into a job with the conviction that people

are going to resist any new idea with blind stubbornness is likely to find them responding just the way the

staff specialist thinks they will. The process is clear: whenever the people who are supposed to buy new

ideas are treated as if they were bullheaded, the way they are used to being treated changes; and

they will be bullheaded in resisting that change!

I think that staff people—and management in general—will do better to look at it this way: When

resistance does appear, it should not be thought of as something to be overcome. Instead, it can best be

thought of as a useful red flag—a signal that something is going wrong. To use a rough analogy, signs of

resistance in a social organization are useful in the same way that pain is useful to the body as a signal

that some bodily functions are getting out of adjustment.

The resistance, like the pain, does not tell what is wrong but only that something is wrong. And it makes

no more sense to try to overcome such resistance than it does to take a pain killer without diagnosing the

bodily ailment. Therefore, when resistance appears, it is time to listen carefully to find out what the

trouble is. What is needed is not a long harangue on the logics of the new recommendations but a careful

exploration of the difficulty.

It may happen that the problem is some technical imperfection in the change that can be readily

corrected. More than likely, it will turn out that the change is threatening and upsetting some of the

established social arrangements for doing work. Whether the trouble is easy or difficult to correct,

management will at least know what it is dealing with.

New job definition:

Finally, some staff specialists get themselves in trouble because they assume they have the answer in the

thought that people will accept a change when they have participated in making it. For example:

• In one plant we visited, an engineer confided to us (obviously because we, as researchers on

human relations, were interested in psychological gimmicks!) that she was going to put across a

proposed production layout change of hers by inserting in it a rather obvious error, which others

could then suggest should be corrected. We attended the meeting where this stunt was

performed, and superficially it worked. Somebody caught the error, proposed that it be corrected,

and our engineer immediately “bought” the suggestion as a very worthwhile one and made the

change. The group then seemed to “buy” his entire layout proposal.

It looked like an effective technique—oh, so easy—until later, when we became better acquainted with

the people in the plant. Then we found out that many of the engineer’s colleagues considered her a phony

and did not trust her. The resistance they put up to her ideas was very subtle, yet even more real and

difficult for management to deal with.

Participation will never work so long as it is treated as a device to get other people to do what you want

them to. Real participation is based on respect. And respect is not acquired by just trying; it is acquired

when the staff people face the reality that they need the contributions of the operating people.

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If staff people define their jobs as not just generating ideas but also getting those ideas into practical

operation, they will recognize their real dependence on the contributions of the operating people. They

will ask the operators for ideas and suggestions, not in a backhanded way to get compliance, but in a

straightforward way to get some good ideas and avoid some unnecessary mistakes. By this process staff

people will be treating the operating people in such a way that their behavior will not be perceived as a

threat to customary work relationships. It will be possible to discuss, and accept or reject, the ideas on

their own merit.

The staff specialist who looks at the process of introducing change and at resistance to change in the

manner outlined in the preceding pages may not be hailed as a genius, but can be counted on in installing

a steady flow of technical changes that will cut costs and improve quality without upsetting the

organization.

Role of the administrator

Now what about the way top executives go about their own jobs as they involve the introduction of

change and problems of resistance?

One of the most important things an executive can do, of course, is to deal with staff people in much the

same way that the staff members should deal with the operators. An executive must realize that staff

people resist social change, too. (This means, among other things, that particular rules should not be

prescribed to staff on the basis of this article!)

But most important, I think, is the way the administrators conceive of their job in coordinating the work

of the different staff and line groups involved in a change. Does an administrator think of these

duties primarily as checking up, delegating and following through, applying pressure when performance

fails to measure up? Or does the executive think of them primarily as facilitating communication and

understanding between people with different points of view—for example, between a staff engineering

group and a production group who do not see eye to eye on a change they are both involved in? An

analysis of management’s actual experience—or, at least, that part of it which has been covered by our

research—points to the latter as the more effective concept of administration.

I do not mean that executives should spend their time with the different people concerned discussing the

human problems of change as such. They should discuss schedules, technical details, work assignments,

and so forth. But they should also be watching closely for the messages that are passing back and forth as

people discuss these topics. Executives will find that people—themselves as well as others—are always

implicitly asking and making answers to questions like: “How will she accept criticism?” “How much can I

afford to tell him?” “Does she really get my point?” “Is he playing games?” The answers to such questions

determine the degree of candor and the amount of understanding between the people involved.

When administrators concern themselves with these problems and act to facilitate understanding, there

will be less logrolling and more sense of common purpose, fewer words and better understanding, less

anxiety and more acceptance of criticism, less griping and more attention to specific problems—in short,

better performance in putting new ideas for technological change into effect.

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To devise an implementation plan

Implementation plan to install coaching programs within an organization Before creating your training program, it is important for you as the trainer to do your homework and

research your company’s situation thoroughly. By gathering information in several key areas, you better

prepare yourself to create a relevant and customized training plan for your company. This article shows

you how to accomplish several objectives in order to plan an effective program:

• Objective 1: Determine what training is needed.

• Objective 2: Determine who needs to be trained.

• Objective 3: Know how best to train adult learners.

• Objective 4: Know who your audience is.

• Objective 5: Draw up a detailed blueprint.

First, we’ll explain how to conduct a needs analysis by researching and identifying training needs

throughout your company. Taking this step is the best way to get your training off on the right foot by

immediately saving your company from wasting valuable time, money, and energy on unnecessary

training.

Next, we’ll look at how to determine which affected employees will need which specific training. Certain

training, such as harassment or evacuation, applies to all employees. But training on specific equipment

or software applies only to employees who use those tools. It’s important to know who needs what so

that you can customize your program accordingly.

After you’ve identified what and who, we’ll show you how to train adult learners, who have different

learning styles than school-age students. Furthermore, you need to know your audience for each training

session in order to further tailor the style and substance of your program. Once you’ve gathered all this

information, you’re ready to draw up a detailed blueprint for your training program. We’ll explain how to

do this.

Determine Training Needs

You can use many different company resources to help you determine your company’s training needs.

• Company goals. Refer to your company’s stated goals to help you define overall training program

goals. Align your training objectives with company goals in such a way that when the workforce

meets your objectives, they will also be meeting the company’s goals. This process starts with

new employee orientation training.

• Job descriptions. Include stated job requirements as your base for needed training.

• OSHA 300 log. Review this document to identify specific safety needs in your company. Use these

injury statistics to identify areas where more safety training is needed.

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• HR complaints. Review employee complaints to prioritize training on discrimination, harassment,

overtime versus compensation time, and other employee issues.

• Legal obligations. You must ensure that your training program encompasses all required training

to meet government and legal obligations, such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration

(OSHA) requirements, Department of Labor requirements, state-specific requirements, and

others.

Determine Affected Employees

Once you’ve compiled the subjects on which you need to train, you need to figure out which employees

need which training. Use other company resources to help you determine who needs

training.

• Company policy. For certain areas or subjects, your organization’s policies may spell out who is

to be trained, in what, and on what frequency. Use these instructions to start your list of affected

employees.

• Employee records. Review for safety violations or accidents to determine if employees may need

more safety training; for harassment or discrimination complaints, which may indicate the need

for more sensitivity training; or for performance reviews that indicate employees may need—or

may have requested—more skills training.

• Performance data. Review this information to identify weaknesses in performance that may

require refresher training in how to use equipment and machines more efficiently or in how to

use more productive procedures. You can also develop your own methods for determining which

employees need training, ranging from informal to formal.

• Observations. Keep your eyes and ears open in your workplace and you may identify employees

who need training in specific areas.

• Informal discussions. Talk with employees, supervisors, and managers to get candid information

about areas where people feel well-equipped to do their jobs and areas where they are

uncomfortable.

• Focus groups. This method involves selecting a group of hand-picked employees and asking them

designed questions regarding training. This activity gives you the opportunity to gather data from

a few people in a short period of time. Focus groups are good for brainstorming, which can be a

valuable source of information. Make sure the selected members are outspoken. A quiet

participant may be hesitant to contribute.

• Interviews. Personal interviews can be very effective for discovering what training employees

want, but it can also be very time-consuming. This method is best for specialized training that

affects a small percentage of the workforce.

• Questionnaires. Compose a few questions specific to training you are planning. This method is

effective for elective training or for new training areas in which you want to begin programs. Keep

answers confidential so employees feel comfortable submitting their input.

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• Skill tests or demonstrations. Give written tests or have employees perform demonstrations on

certain equipment to determine who needs additional training.

Know How to Train Adult Learners

Most adults are self-directed learners: They want to learn what they want, when they want, and how they

want. Adult learners have their own style of learning that includes four key elements, discussed below.

Even if you structure your training program to meet these elements, however, you may still run into

reluctant learners. We also provide seven rules for training reluctant or resistant learners.

The Four Elements of Adult Learning

1. Motivation. To motivate adult learners, set a friendly or open tone to each session, create a

feeling of concern, and set an appropriate level of difficulty. Other motivators for adult learners

include:

o Personal achievement—including attaining higher job status or keeping up with or

surpassing competitors

o Social well-being—including opportunities for community work

o External expectations—such as meeting the expectations of someone with formal

authority

o Social relationships—including opportunities to make new friends that satisfy people’s

desire for association

o Stimulation—that breaks the routine of work and provides contrast in employees’ lives

o Interest in learning—which gives employees knowledge for the sake of knowledge and

satisfies curious minds

2. Reinforcement. Use both positive and negative reinforcement to be successful in training adult

learners. Use positive reinforcement frequently, such as verbal praise, when teaching new skills

in order to encourage progress and reward good results. Use negative reinforcement, such as

negative comments on a performance review, to stop bad habits or performance.

3. Retention. Adults must retain what they’ve learned in order to realize benefits on both the

personal and company-wide levels. Achieve great retention rates by having trainees practice their

newly acquired skills again and again until they are familiar and comfortable enough to ensure

long-term success.

4. Transference. Adults want to bring what they learn in training directly to the workplace. Positive

transference occurs when adults are able to apply learned skills to the workplace. Negative

transference occurs when learners can’t—or don’t—apply skills to the workplace.

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Seven ‘Laws’ for Training Adult Learners

Adults typically bring a broad sense of experience to training sessions, to which they can attach new ideas

and skills. At the same time, however, these learners are sometimes reluctant to accept new ideas and

methods of working. Trainers may sometimes need to overcome this resistance before learning can take

place.

Sivasailam Thiagarajan, president of Workshops by Thiagi and author of many training games and

simulations, recommends following these seven “laws” when you train reluctant learners:

1. Law of previous experience: Tie all new learning to and further build upon the prior experiences

of learners.

2. Law of relevance: Effective learning must be relevant to learners’ lives and work.

3. Law of self-direction: Many adults prefer to learn on their own at their own pace.

4. Law of expectation: Adult reactions to training sessions are often shaped by the expectations they

have tied to content area, training format, fellow participants, and trainers.

5. Law of self-image: Adults have set notions of the best way they learn. These notions may either

interfere with or enhance the learning experience.

6. Law of multiple criteria: Adult learners base the quality of the learning on accomplishments and

learning experiences.

7. Law of alignment: In successful learning, objectives, content, activities, and assessment

techniques must all be aligned.

Once you are familiar with the overall needs of adult learners, you need to further customize your training

plan by getting to know the specific makeup of the employees in your company.

Know Your Audience

In order to make every training session as effective as possible, you need to analyze the participants in

each group. Gather the following information about group members:

• What is their background?

o How much training have they had on this topic?

o Why does management think they need more training?

o Do any trainees have any relationship with the trainer (acquaintances, jobs are related)?

o Do any trainees have high levels of responsibility or authority in the organization?

• What are the demographics of the group?

o How many trainees are in the group?

o What is the average age?

o What is the ratio of men to women?

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• What is their educational level?

o What is their level of expertise?

o How much prior knowledge do they have about the session topic?

o Do some know more than others?

• What is the overall attitude of the group?

o Is this voluntary or required training?

o Do they want to be here?

o What do they think of the subject matter?

o What do they think about the trainer?

o Are they a friendly group?

• What are their expectations?

o Can the trainer meet their needs?

o Will the training benefit the participants?

o Will the training benefit the trainer? The organization?

o Could there be disadvantages as a result of the training session?

You also need to know what kind of learners trainees are. In general, people learn in one of three ways:

• Visual—These learners receive information best through seeing or reading it. Their brains process

the information and retain it once they see it. These learners benefit from written instructions,

diagrams, handouts, overheads, videos, and other visual information.

• Oral—Oral learners receive information best when they hear it. They respond best to speakers,

audioconferences, discussion groups, Q & A sessions, and other oral information.

• Kinesthetic or tactile—These learners learn by touch and feel. They will benefit from show and

tell where equipment is available to handle. They also respond well to demonstrations of new

procedures and in having the chance to practice themselves. You will inevitably have all three

kinds of learners in every training session. It’s important, therefore, that you program a

combination of teaching styles into your training. We will discuss blended learning in detail in

Chapter 3.

When Training Isn’t the Answer

Once you’ve gathered all the pertinent information identified above, it’s time to analyze and confirm the

data to determine what training needs exist. Remain open to the idea that training may not always be the

answer in every case. Use these guidelines to determine if another approach might work best:

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• In cases where the overall size or difficulty of the skill or procedure is complex or where only one

employee is having trouble, coaching or other one-on-one job aids may be better than a training

session.

• Qualified training is not enough. You must also make sure to motivate participants to learn and

perform. If you’ve already conducted training, you may not need more sessions; you may instead

need to recommend ways to change the working environment in order to encourage better job

performance.

• If previous training hasn’t met its goals, find out why it failed. Was there too much down time

between the session and performance? Was the session held under ideal conditions or was there

a poor training environment? All these factors must be taken into consideration before any

decisions are made. The solution may be as simple as revising an old program.

Draw Up a Detailed Blueprint

You’ve done your homework and know what your training needs are, who needs to be trained, and how

best to train them. Now you need to develop a plan. Here’s how:

1. Set specific goals to meet each training need you’ve identified.

o Use quantifiable measurements for the accomplishments you want employees to achieve

after training, such as an increased production quota or decreased injury rates.

o Use charts, graphs, and tables wherever possible to show management specific numbers

and trends that your training program will achieve. For example, chart the increased

productivity curve you plan to reach with your training or graph the injury rate you hope

to achieve.

o Set realistic targets that are achievable, but not necessarily easily. Know your trainees

well enough to know how to challenge them to reach for more effective performance.

For example, look at the highest production peak employees have ever achieved, even if

it was only one time, and set your target slightly above this point. Employees know they

can achieve it because they already have. But they also know it’s challenging to

accomplish.

2. List everyone who needs to be trained in each topic area.

o Use these lists to help you customize your training to your audience.

o Prepare trainees by communicating before sessions with prequizzes, agendas, or requests

for specific areas trainees want addressed in the training.

3. Set up a training schedule.

o Make a master schedule of all the training you want to conduct for this month or this

year.

o Within the master schedule, set specific dates for each session.

o Include makeup dates for trainees who cannot attend scheduled sessions.

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o Use a logical progression for multi-part training; make sure sessions aren’t too far apart

that trainees forget the first training or too close together that trainees suffer information

overload. Also allow time for trainees who want more training in the first session to

receive it before the next session is held.

4. Choose the appropriate method(s) for each group of trainees in each topic area.

o Plan to use more than one training method for each topic to ensure that you reach all the

types of learners in the session.

o Plan flexibility into your use of materials so that you are prepared for technical difficulties

or other problems.

o List the materials and methods you plan to use in each session.

Once you have all of this information collected and organized, you are in great shape to begin developing

the specifics of your training sessions. The next chapter covers a comprehensive range of training styles

and materials and helps you decide which methods are best to use when—and how to combine methods

to present an effective blended learning approach.

Implementation plan to install mentoring programs within an organization Looking to start a mentoring program? That’s great. Mentoring is a proven approach to drive rich learning

and development for both mentees and mentors. Mentoring also benefits the sponsoring

organization. For employers, mentoring increases retention, promotion rates, and employee satisfaction.

At universities, student mentoring is proven to improve student retention, boost job placement rates, and

increase alumni engagement when tapping alumni as mentors.

A thriving, impactful mentoring program is within your reach. But great mentoring programs don’t just

happen. They are built through thoughtful planning and sustained commitment to guiding participants

through the mentoring process while continually improving the program. Read on to learn the five-step

process to create a high-impact mentoring program.

STEP 1

Design Your Mentoring Program

The starting point for any mentoring program begins with two important questions:

1. Why are you starting this program?

2. What does success look like for participants and the organization?

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To answer these questions you will need to dive deep to understand your target audience. Make sure you

understand who they are, where they are, their development needs, and their key motivations to

participate. Translate your vision into SMART objectives: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and

time-bound. Objectives provide direction to program participants, establish program key performance

indicators (KPIs), and help organizational leaders understand why they should offer their support.

Successful mentoring programs offer both structure and flexibility. Structure provides participants a

mentoring workflow to follow and is critical to help participants achieve productive learning that reaches

defined goals. Similarly, flexibility is essential to support varying individual mentoring needs across specific

learning goals, preferences, and learning style.

Key design decisions include:

• Enrollment – is it open, application, or invite only?

• Mentoring style – can be traditional, flash, reverse

• Connection type – possibly 1:1, group, or project

• Connection duration – typically weeks or months, or perhaps even just a single session

• Community/social aspects beyond formal mentoring, tracking and reporting needs.

A good idea is to create a program workflow diagram to explain each step of your program. You can

provide details such as key actions, timeframes, support resources, and criteria for moving to the next

phase. Mark areas that will require some flexibility to support user needs.

Mentoring software allows you to deliver a wide-variety of mentoring programs. Regardless if a small or

large program, mentoring software is easy to configure and will save you time and cost in getting your

program started and running smoothly.

STEP 2

Attract Participants for Your Mentoring Program

The best designed mentoring programs won’t get far without effective program promotion, mentor

recruitment, and training.

When new mentoring programs are introduced in organizations, there is generally natural enthusiasm.

Yet this enthusiasm doesn’t always translate into high participation rates. A common reason is the

absence of effective promotion. Don’t assume potential mentors and mentees understand the benefits.

For many, this will be their first opportunity to participate in mentoring. You will need to convince them

that participating is worth their time and effort. Beyond participants, key leaders and stakeholders will

need to be educated on the benefits of the program and strategic value to the organization.

Consider the needs of mentors. Building a solid base of mentors can be a challenge. It is important to

understand the positive and negative factors that impact mentor participation. Once you have identified

them, look for creative ways to reinforce positive drivers and lower the hurdles of negative ones

throughout the mentoring process. For example, mentors are often busy people with limited time to

spend. How can you help mentors be more efficient with the time they have to dedicate to mentoring?

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Also consider recognition and reward strategies. Formally recognizing mentor involvement can be very

motivating and help attract additional mentors to the program.

Lastly, productive mentoring doesn’t just happen. Provide training to mentors and mentees regarding the

program’s goals, participant roles, mentoring best practices, and your mentoring process. Help mentors

and mentees clarify their own objectives. The need for training and guidance doesn’t end after the initial

orientation. Provide tips and best practices throughout the mentoring program to help participants stay

on track and get the most out of the program.

• Promote the benefits to participants and stakeholders

• Consider recognition and rewards for participation

• Provide training and reinforcement throughout the program

STEP 3

Connect Mentors and Mentees

A productive mentoring relationship depends on a good match.

Matching is often one of the most challenging aspects of a program. Participants will bring various

competencies, backgrounds, learning styles and needs. A great match for one person may be a bad match

for another.

Matching starts by deciding which type of matching you’ll offer in your program: self-matching or admin-

matching. Consider giving mentees a say in the matching process by allowing them to select a particular

mentor or submit their top three choices. Self-matching is administrative light, which in larger programs

can be a huge plus.

For more structured programs, such as large groups of new students at universities, or groups of new

corporate employees, you may want to get the program started by bulk, or admin-matching. Evaluate

various match combinations before finalizing as ensuring quality mentors for hard-to-match mentees can

be challenging.

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• 3 Steps to Successful Mentor Matching

• Create user profiles with rich data like gender, college, interests, and job function

• Decide on your method: self-matching or admin-matching

• Intelligently match based on profiles, improving match quality while saving time through software

Matching best practices start with a solid profile for all participants (mentors and mentees). Critical profile

elements include development goals, specific topical interests, location, experiences, and matching

preferences. Think about how you’ll want to match people, or if you’ll want them to save time by having

them match themselves. For example, you may want to match female leaders with younger female

employees, or experienced sales personnel with new recruits. For self-matching, perhaps participants

might like to connect with someone from the same previous employer, or the same college. The more you

know about your participants, the better chance your participants will have for a great fit and a happy,

productive mentoring outcome.

STEP 4

Guide Mentoring Relationships

Now that your participants are enrolled, trained, and matched, the real action begins.

It is also where mentoring can get stuck. Left to themselves, many mentorships will take off and thrive.

But some may not. Why? Because mentoring is not typically part of one’s daily routine. Without direction

and a plan, the mentoring relationship is vulnerable to losing focus and momentum. That is why providing

some structure and guidance throughout the mentorship is vital to a successful mentoring program.

One best practice is to ensure all mentorships have goals and action plans. This serves two purposes. First,

it brings focus at the onset, which helps a mentorship get off to a good start. Second, it adds accountability

to accomplish something.

Provide all mentoring relationships with timely and relevant “help resources” (topical content, mentoring

best practices, etc.) throughout the mentorship. Chunk-sized content delivered at key points is ideal.

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As a mentoring connection progresses, establish checkpoints where mentorships report on their progress.

Even if your organization doesn’t choose to formally track the details, just the act of reporting progress

helps mentors and mentees stay productive.

Lastly, have a formal process that brings closure to the mentoring experience. Within this process, provide

an opportunity for both the mentor and mentee to reflect upon what was learned, discuss next steps for

the mentee, and provide feedback on the benefits of the program and process.

STEP 5

Measure Your Mentoring Program

Understanding how your program measures up to expectations may well be the most important phase of

all.

Mentoring is a significant investment when you consider program management, infrastructure, and the

valuable time of participants. Articulating the impact is essential to secure ongoing funding and support.

In addition, the measure phase is also focused on assessing program health to identify trouble spots and

opportunities.

Mentoring programs should be tracked, measured, and assessed at three altitudes: the program, the

mentoring connection, and the individual. To be effective you need the ability to capture metrics and

feedback throughout the program lifecycle.

At the program level, build metrics around defined business objectives. For example, in a diversity

mentoring program you may want to compare promotion rates of program participants to non-

participants. Also track “funnel” conversion metrics, which show the progress participants make at each

step of the mentoring program starting at enrollment. Conversion metrics provide essential insight into

program health.

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For mentoring connections, you want to understand mentorship behavior to identify roadblocks and

opportunities. Common questions you will want to ask are: Is the mentoring timeframe too long, too

short, or just right? Are mentorships getting off to fast starts or lagging? Are participants leveraging

content resources you have provided?

For participants, you want to understand the impact of mentoring in terms of outcomes while acquiring

program feedback. One of the easiest ways to capture outcome and feedback is through surveys. Ask

participants and stakeholders how well the mentoring program met their goals and the goals of the

organization. Also ask them for their ideas for improving the program.

In Conclusion

Mentoring is an impactful strategy to develop, engage and retain your people. But running an effective

mentoring program goes way beyond just matching people up. For true impact on your organization, it

takes effort, resources, and know-how. While it is no easy task to build a mentoring program from scratch,

following the five step process will put you on the right path to successfully achieve your organization’s

learning goals.

Evaluate the impact of the coaching and mentoring plan

The impact to an organization of establishing coaching culture There are considerable business benefits to developing a coaching culture within an organization as well

as providing career progression opportunities for employees. Coaching targets high performance and

improvement at work and usually focuses on specific skills and goals.

To develop a coaching culture this approach becomes the basis of an on-going management style. It can

result in higher employee engagement, improved communication, and increased innovation, as well as

helping to attract, retain and develop top talent.

A coaching culture will look different in every organization as it will be developed to complement the

overall culture of the business, it’s history, values, and strategies. While the end results may look different,

there are strategies and considerations to developing and sustaining a coaching culture which will be

relevant to organizations of all sizes and sectors.

Start at the top

Developing a coaching culture and sustaining it over time requires support, commitment, and buy-in from

senior leaders. It’s worth considering not only if your senior leadership team has had training and

experience in coaching others, but also if they have direct experience of being coached themselves?

Experiencing the benefits of coaching first hand is the best way to fully appreciate the benefits it can bring.

Through our Executive search division, we provide Executive coaching services as it supports senior team

members in developing their thinking and producing realistic and effective strategies for them and their

organization. Introducing Executive coaching could be an appropriate first step, adding the benefit of

supporting leaders to shape business strategies as well as developing a leadership team dedicated to

championing coaching within the organization.

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Equip managers with coaching skills

While senior leadership support is integral, managers are well placed to embed coaching into day-to-day

business life. Invest in supporting managers to develop coaching skills and empower them to adopt the

approach of supporting team members to develop their own strategies rather than telling them what to

do.

Coaching can be used in one-to-one’s, performance reviews, and day-to-day interaction to develop and

progress talent. It can also be used to tackle any elements of poor performance, by coaching employees

to understand and solve performance problems. The aim is to create an environment where coaching is

used as the main method of management.

An additional benefit of this approach is that managers will feel more equipped to coach team members

through tasks. In turn, they will be encouraged to delegate more, freeing up their time for higher-level

tasks as well as developing up-and-coming talent.

Involve everyone in the journey

Despite the logical approach of starting from the top, it’s still important to consider how everyone can be

involved in developing a coaching culture from the outset. Maintain open communication with all

employees about the process and ideas being put in place. Share the ambition to develop a coaching

culture, explain how coaching works and how it will help them to fulfill their potential as well as bringing

wider benefits to the business. If people don’t understand they could be resistant. They may feel that

coaching is something being ‘done’ to them, rather than with them.

It could be extremely confusing for team members if their manager suddenly starts responding differently

to the communication style they’ve always known. The desired outcome is a collaborative approach to

creating a culture in which every member of the organization recognizes the benefits of coaching,

understands how to respond to coaching techniques and actively demonstrates coaching skills and

behaviors themselves.

Integrate coaching into inductions

Including coaching within employee inductions not only reinforces a coaching culture from the outset, it

can also have a huge impact on the effectiveness of the individual in their new role. We provide coaching

for candidates we’ve placed into new organizations and it can really help them to explore the ways things

work, build more effective relationships and prioritize task and actions to have a positive and immediate

impact.

Adopting a coaching approach to inductions helps to ensure the new colleague feels more involved. They

share the responsibility for their own learning rather than feeling like they are waiting for information to

be passed to them.

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Look for external coaching opportunities

While the focus is on developing an internal coaching culture, opportunities for external coaching

opportunities shouldn’t be overlooked. Coaching from outside of the business can further enhance a

coaching culture by providing fresh perspectives, objectivity, and different experiences. Actively support

and encourage employees to become part of any local business or industry networks which offer coaching

opportunities.

For example, many of the initiatives we’ve put in place to help support businesses in our region include

career coaching and forums where like-minded professionals can get together to share experiences. This

is because we recognize the critical role a wider support network can have in assisting ambitious

individuals to reach their full potential, in turn helping to develop a wider talent pool for employers.

Embed and reward

Finally, consider how you can demonstrate an ongoing commitment to sustaining a coaching culture.

Champion it within the organization’s values and business plans. Look for ways to reinforce the

development of the culture you are working to achieve by recognizing and rewarding people’s

contribution and their involvement in activities designed to share knowledge and coach others.

The impact to an organization of establishing mentoring culture Organizations and businesses of all types and sizes have latched on to the idea of mentoring for their

employees—and for good reason. Mentoring impacts employee retention, productivity, engagement,

leadership abilities, skill development, and morale. It really shouldn’t be a question of why a company has

a mentoring program, but more a question of why an organization doesn’t have one.

Yet implementing a mentoring program is a far cry from creating a mentoring culture. A true mentoring

culture mindset begins to emerge in an organization only when mentoring takes root as a personal and

professional development best practice. It can’t be seen as a “program requirement” or an item to check

off a list so that talented people will apply for jobs at your company. Mentoring must truly be part of the

overall organizational culture, which typically takes time, intentional planning, and supportive leadership.

Too often, we’ve seen companies say they want a mentoring culture, but then relegate mentoring to only

those small, exclusive, high-level programs that impact leaders but few others. With this approach,

mentoring becomes seen as an activity of the elite to be used only after much training and careful

matching. This is not to suggest that mentoring should not be leveraged in such programs, but rather that

mentoring should not be limited to them. Those lucky enough to be involved may feel like the organization

has a mentoring culture, but no one else does.

The other extreme is no better when it comes to creating a mentoring culture. In an attempt to send the

message that mentoring is a best practice that anyone can and should be involved in, some organizations

have launched very open, enterprise-wide mentoring initiatives. While we applaud this attitude that

mentoring should impact the masses, a come-one-come-all approach still doesn’t hit the mark for creating

a mentoring culture. Just because everyone can be involved doesn’t mean the mentoring program is an

integral part of the organizational culture.

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Our decades of experience in helping organizations tackle mentoring have shown us that a more careful,

phased approach is needed to build a mentoring culture. Here are three steps you can take to get started

on creating a mentoring culture in your own organization.

1. Leverage What Is Already in Place

Most organizations already have leadership development initiatives and performance development

processes in place for their employees. Integrate your mentoring programs with these existing initiatives

to take advantage of well-established programs where mentoring fits in naturally.

To help you envision the possibilities, consider what other organizations have done in this regard. We had

one client that had people use River to find a mentor after they completed their required leadership

development courses. Another organization had mentees set up relationships so that they could work on

their performance development goals. Yet another organization used River to set up mentoring groups

that employees used after their training courses to help reinforce their learning as they applied it on-the-

job.

Some other ideas for leveraging what you already have in place:

• Use existing communities of practice as launch pads for deeper learning through group mentoring,

and for individual mentoring relationships with peers.

• Incorporate mentoring with your new-hire orientation to introduce new employees to mentors

and to the role mentoring plays in your organization.

• Integrate mentoring with your overarching diversity and inclusion initiatives to bring more

visibility and opportunities to a diverse employee population.

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3. Think Up, Down and Sideways

Too often, mentoring dies a slow death in organizations because it is cast in an exclusive, hierarchical

mold. To stave off this premature departure of mentoring, try a multi-pronged approach to push your

program forward (and up and down and sideways). Encourage mentoring that allows for traditional

advocacy relationships where mentors sponsor mentees and help them navigate career choices, while

also encouraging peer-to-peer mentoring and information sharing relationships.

And don’t overlook reverse mentoring, which is when a more senior employee seeks a mentor who is

his/her hierarchical and/or generational subordinate. For example, in a reverse mentoring relationship, a

V.P. may seek a mentor who is three pay grades down because the V.P. wants to learn about a new

management process that the selected individual knows and uses. Or maybe an older executive is

mentored by a younger employee to learn about the latest social media and how to use it.

By opening mentoring up to all of these possibilities, you can create an environment where everyone has

something to share and something to learn!

4. Decide on a Rollout Strategy that Fits Your Culture

There are three basic approaches you can apply to expand the use of mentoring in your culture:

• From the top-down. This describes mentoring that cascades from the senior level of the

organization downward. Top-down strategies include securing executive endorsements,

testimonials and participation in your mentoring initiatives.

• From the middle-out. This describes mentoring that starts at the mid-level and radiates out.

Middle-out strategies include diversity development initiatives, high-potential programs,

leadership development programs, and personal development initiatives (as a part of the

performance management process).

• From the bottom-up. This describes mentoring that starts at the lower levels of the organization

and moves upward. Bottom-up strategies include new-hire orientation programs, supervisory

training programs and on-the-job training programs.

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Each of these approaches has strengths and weaknesses. We suggest that you pick two of the three and

focus your efforts there. For example, in a middle-out strategy, you can recruit and equip mentoring

process champions at the departmental/business unit level of the organization, connecting you with

individuals who will work to instill mentoring in their part of the organization. To choose the approach

that is best for you, reflect on your specific needs and culture situation.

For a true mentoring culture to emerge in a natural and vital way, people involved in each critical part of

the employee development process must come to see mentoring as a way to enhance both professional

and personal growth. Developing a phased approach to integrate mentoring into these core development

processes provides both momentum to grow the use of mentoring beyond small, exclusive programs, and

security to avoid the pitfalls of large programs that are disconnected from the organizational culture.

How to develop skills as a leader in coaching and mentoring

Current skills of communications and people development to support personal practice

of coaching Do you remember leaving school or university and thinking that exams and assessments would be a thing

of the past? It doesn’t take long to realise that the workplace can be an equally intense and competitive

learning environment.

Whether we like it or not, employees are constantly being judged on their capabilities and benchmarked

against their peers. And, unlike studying for a qualification, the goalposts in the workplace keep moving.

This might be because of new technology, customer demand, legislation or simply because there is a new

chief executive with a different vision. All these changes invariably have implications for the staff.

Some organisations are good at providing learning opportunities when they can see a direct benefit to the

organisation. What’s offered, however, may not always be in line with what you really want or need for

your career. So, if you want to protect your employablity, you need to take charge of your personal

development.

Advertisement

According to the 2012 Learning Survey by Niace, the adult learning organisation, there’s a strong

correlation between learning and sustained employment. Staff who undertake learning activities are more

able to adapt to the changing requirements of an organisation and gain a competitive edge in the job

market. Candidates who demonstrate that they’re conscientious about their personal development are

likely to be seen as highly motivated and engaged. Their openness to learning also suggests they’re

flexible, adaptable and will bring a continuous improvement ethos to the workplace – all of which is

appealing to an employer.

So, with this in mind, here are some ways to start thinking about your own learning and development.

Enhancing your performance

What areas of your job do you find most difficult or want to improve? For ideas, look at past performance

reviews or talk to your manager, colleagues or HR department. Seek advice from those whose skills or

career you wish to emulate.

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Improving the areas you identify may mean going on a course or workshop, or you may find that

mentoring, guided reading, work-shadowing, or online study is more relevant. For instance, if you know

that negotiation skills are an increasingly important part of your job, perhaps your manager could arrange

for you to shadow someone with exceptional skills in this area, or even coach you themselves through

your next negotiation skills project.

Benchmarking the job market

When you’re busy at work it’s easy to lose sight of the changing needs of the job market. Periodically

check out adverts and person specifications for roles that are either similar to yours or are in line with the

role you’re looking for next. Do you have everything they’re looking for? For instance, are your IT skills up

to scratch? Could the lack of a professional qualification be an issue if every employer seems to be asking

for it?

Knowledge updating

Some professions require a certain amount of professional development every year to retain your status.

Whether this is a requirement or not, make sure you’re up-to-date with what’s happening in your field,

or you could lose credibility and potentially expose your company to risks. You can keep updated by

reading professional journals or trade press, attending industry events, conferences, workshops or your

own research. The rise of webinars, e-newsletters and online forums means it’s easier than ever to

participate in learning from your office desk or at home.

Softer skills

Every role requires soft skills to some degree, whether it’s communication skills or handling emotion and

conflict in the workplace. If you’re looking to climb the career ladder, then developing people

management skills should be an absolute priority. Practical training and coaching are particularly effective,

especially if the learner is supported when they come to apply those skills, either through one-to-one

coaching or via a supervised network.

Different routes to personal development

Although many people equate learning and development with professional qualifications, there are lots

of other routes. For instance, voluntary work can be a great way to develop additional skills. I coached an

IT technical professional who was keen to move into management. I recommended that he join the charity

committee to widen his exposure to strategic and operational management activities. This experience

proved to be instrumental in persuading his organisation of his ability to jump from a technical route to a

management career.

Here are some other professional development ideas:

• Reading professional journals, books, research papers, articles etc

• Coaching, mentoring, training courses, academic study, conferences and webinars

• Voluntary work, fundraising and event management

• Research activities, blogging and publishing articles

• Training others and giving presentations or speaking at a conference

• Spending time with other departments, customers, suppliers, trade bodies or stakeholders

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• Joining committees, professional associations, campaign groups and participating in industry

forums

• Apprenticeships, internships, work shadowing and secondments

• Applying for industry awards or scholarships

Learning and development takes time and energy, and it will sometimes take you out of your comfort

zone. If you can keep the learning habit throughout your career, however, you’re far more likely to extend

your career longevity, mitigate any risks and improve your employability.

Current skills of communications and people development to support personal practice

of mentoring Do you want to move your career forward? Would you like to develop your leadership skills as well as

help others learn, grow, and improve their skills? Or would you like to find someone who can help you do

these things? You can. Through a mentoring partnership.

More professionals these days are actively pursuing mentoring to advance their careers. And whether

you're on the giving or receiving end, these types of partnerships can benefit your career.

A mentoring partnership can be rewarding to both people, personally and professionally. It's an

opportunity to develop communication skills, expand your viewpoints, and consider new ways of

approaching situations. And both partners can advance their careers in the process.

In this article, we'll look at what mentoring is, and discuss the reasons why you might enter into a

mentoring partnership. Should you offer to help others, or ask for help from someone – or both? We'll

also explain how mentoring differs from other types of professional career development relationships.

What Is Mentoring?

Mentoring is a relationship between two people with the goal of professional and personal development.

The "mentor" is usually an experienced individual who shares knowledge, experience, and advice with a

less experienced person, or "mentee."

Mentors become trusted advisers and role models – people who have "been there" and "done that." They

support and encourage their mentees by offering suggestions and knowledge, both general and specific.

The goal is help mentees improve their skills and, hopefully, advance their careers.

A mentoring partnership may be between two people within the same company, same industry, or same

networking organization. However the partners come together, the relationship should be based on

mutual trust and respect, and it typically offers personal and professional advantages for both parties.

Mentoring and Other Professional Relationships

Coaches, trainers, and consultants can all help you learn and grow professionally. Mentoring is a unique

combination of all of these. Let's explore some of the similarities and differences between mentoring and

these other professions.

• Coaches help you to explore where you are in your career, where you want to go, and how you

might get there. A coach will also support you in taking action to move toward your goal.

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Coaches and mentors differ in three main ways. First, a coach is generally paid, whereas your mentor will

usually be making a voluntary commitment. This means that you can start working with a coach straight

away, and that you can rely them not to cancel sessions because "Something urgent's come up". Finding

a mentor can take longer, and even when you do, your mentor may find it harder to keep space in their

day for your mentoring appointment.

Second, while coaches tend to guide you in mapping out your future, mentors actually suggest several

paths you might take, although the choice of where to go next remains yours.

Beyond that, of course, good coaches are professionally trained and qualified, so you can rely on getting

a high-quality service from them. They also bring their experience of helping other people with career and

life issues similar to those that you're facing.

• Trainers help you learn and develop specific skills and knowledge. They typically set the topic, the

pace, the goals, and the learning method. While you will obviously choose courses that match

your requirements as closely as possible, training courses, by their nature, start with their own

agendas rather than with your situation.

Mentoring, however, can be tailored to your needs. While training is often best suited for gaining

knowledge and skills, mentoring can also help you develop personal qualities and competencies.

• Career Consultants or Career Counsellors mostly work with people in transition between jobs,

rather than helping you develop your skills when in a particular role. And, again, your relationship

will often be a commercial one.

Benefits to the Mentor

Becoming a mentor can enrich your life on a personal and professional level by helping you do the

following:

• Build your leadership skills – It helps you develop your ability to motivate and encourage others.

This can help you become a better manager, employee, and team member.

• Improve your communication skills – Because your mentee may come from a different

background or environment, the two of you may not "speak the same language." This may force

you to find a way to communicate more effectively as you navigate your way through the

mentoring relationship.

• Learn new perspectives – By working with someone less experienced and from a different

background, you can gain a fresh perspective on things and learn a new way of thinking – which

can help in your work life as well as your personal life.

• Advance your career – Refining your leadership skills can strengthen your on-the-job

performance, perhaps helping you get that promotion to higher management – or into

management in the first place. Showing that you've helped others learn and grow is becoming

more and more essential to advancement in today's business world.

• Gain personal satisfaction – It can be very personally fulfilling to know that you've directly

contributed to someone's growth and development. Seeing your mentee succeed as result of your

input is a reward in itself.

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Benefits to the Mentee

A trusted mentor can help you do the following:

• Gain valuable advice – Mentors can offer valuable insight into what it takes to get ahead. They

can be your guide and "sounding board" for ideas, helping you decide on the best course of action

in difficult situations. You may learn shortcuts that help you work more effectively and avoid

"reinventing the wheel."

• Develop your knowledge and skills – They can help you identify the skills and expertise you need

to succeed. They may teach you what you need to know, or advise you on where to go for the

information you need.

• Improve your communication skills – Just like your mentor, you may also learn to communicate

more effectively, which can further help you at work.

• Learn new perspectives – Again, you can learn new ways of thinking from your mentor, just as

your mentor can learn from you.

• Build your network – Your mentor can offer an opportunity to expand your existing network of

personal and professional contacts.

• Advance your career – A mentor helps you stay focused and on track in your career through

advice, skills development, networking, and so on.

Mutual Mentoring

It's often the case that, within an organization or a network, there are more people looking for a mentor

than there are those offering to be one. A practical solution to this is "mutual mentoring".

Although it is probably useful to have a mentor who has "been there, and done that", you might have to

wait a long time for such a person to come along. Instead, why not try working with a less-experienced

but willing person, who will still be able to encourage you to think about what you want from your career,

challenge you to commit to goals, and help you to review your progress towards them?

If you do the same for them, you have the basis for a strong and mutually-benefical relationship.

Key Points

Mentoring partnerships can be mutually beneficial and rewarding – on both professional and personal

levels. Mentors can develop leadership skills and gain a personal sense of satisfaction from knowing that

they've helped someone.

Mentees can expand their knowledge and skills, gain valuable advice from a more experienced person,

and build their professional networks. And both partners can improve their communication skills, learn

new ways of thinking, and, ultimately, advance their careers.

Mentoring relationships can be mutual, or two-way, with each person being both the mentor of and

mentee of the other person. Alternatively, they can be one way only, although an individual may have his

or her own mentor while also acting as mentor for others at the same time.

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Develop opportunities to meet personal skills needs and to develop own practice What is it that truly differentiates one candidate from another during the application process? Whether

we are talking about the stage involving the vetting of resumes or the interview stage, certain qualities

are increasingly taking centre stage in the mind of recruiters. They are looking for such qualities in

potential hires.

For jobseekers who want to remain a step ahead of the pack, it’s important to know what the most wanted

skills are in today’s workplace.

Research on what HR experts believe are the most important skills indicates that we are moving away

from a mind-set that potential employees should have the technical know-how and the right academic

qualifications. Even though the latter is an inevitable prerequisite, the emphasis has shifted.

In today’s world, employers and recruiters have realised that it is much easier to train smart individuals

how to perform the specifics of any role. This is as long as they have already acquired a much harder-to-

teach skill set. This skill set comprises the likes of critical thinking, soft skills, and some basic competency

in a few areas of expertise.

If you want to get the job of your dreams therefore, or excel in the career you are already following, have

a look at the skills below, assess where you stand, and find a way to polish the areas you are not doing so

well in.

1 COMMUNICATION SKILLS (LISTENING, SPEAKING AND WRITING)

Communication skills are perhaps the first set of skills that potential employers will notice. From the initial

moment you get in touch with them, the employer will be scrutinising the way you behave.

Be it the way you talk over the phone, the way you give them information on email, your resume and

cover letter, or the way you carry yourself during the interview, they will be assessing whether you have

polished communication skills.

Make sure that you proof read any form of written communication you send them, and take your time to

listen to what they ask you (or read their instructions carefully), and answer in well-thought out,

grammatically correct sentences. The way you communicate your thoughts should be impeccable, as this

is the way they expect you to communicate with colleagues and clients alike throughout your tenure in

their organisation.

2 ANALYTICAL AND RESEARCH SKILLS

As much as you think a question/problem presented to you is a piece of cake, be very wary of giving a

rushed answer. Take the time to analyse the situation, think of all possible scenarios, and if possible ask

for some time to go and do some research to find out more.

Being analytical, but also having strong research skills, differentiates one employee from the other. It

demonstrates your determination, your ability to assess different scenarios, and your commitment to be

100% sure before giving an answer to your employer. It could mean the difference between a badly

thought out idea and something that may gain the company a huge profit!

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3 FLEXIBILITY/ADAPTABILITY

An ability to manage multiple assignments at the same time, and being flexible enough to work under

ever changing conditions, management, environment and rules is highly appreciated.

In today’s world, a job description is very fluid, and can change shape at any time. An employee that is

willing to work under a multitude of changing circumstances is highly sought after.

Being able to adapt from one working environment to the next, or even from one type of assignment to

another, is a big advantage. It demonstrates the individual’s commitment to the organisation, and will

influence their career progression.

4 INTERPERSONAL ABILITIES

“No man is an island”. So the saying goes. Increasingly in the workplace, we all have to work with others

in order to complete a project.

Be it working in a team, or dealing with clients or suppliers, interpersonal abilities is a definite advantage

and something employers always look for.

The ability to build relationships with those around you under any circumstances, and the ability to inspire

them to do what needs to be done is essential.

5 ABILITY TO MAKE DECISIONS AND SOLVE PROBLEMS

Decision making and problem solving is another skill that is high in demand. The ability to identify complex

problems and review related information in order to develop and evaluate options and implement

solutions, can distinguish one employee from another. The ability to use critical thinking to rationalise a

decision will set an individual apart.

6 ABILITY TO PLAN, ORGANISE AND PRIORITISE WORK

Simple as it may sound, an individual that can show that he/she has been able to plan and organise their

work is very valuable. Pay special attention to the way you plan your tasks, and ensure you keep up with

all the deadlines you are given.

An employee that can stick to assigned timelines and can provide pieces of information with ease and

speed indicates that he/she remains on top of things and can always be expected to deliver the required

task or information. Similarly, knowing which tasks to prioritise and which ones to leave for later is an

important skill.

7 ABILITY TO WEAR MULTIPLE HATS

Theoretically, when someone is offered a job, there is a job description included in the contract. In reality

however, employees are not expected to stick to only what is under their job description.

On the contrary, they are expected to get involved in other areas of the business, understand all the

different steps, and offer help where necessary. At the end of the day, employers look for someone willing

to try out different things, and wear multiple hats at the same time, deal with different projects and

individuals, and provide more than one sole contribution at a time to the company.

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8 LEADERSHIP/MANAGEMENT SKILLS

The ability to manage people is a very powerful skill. Not only can you inspire individuals to do what is

right, you can guide them along the way, and you can monitor their progress in every step. Being able to

lead a group and manage these individuals in a way that does not impede their progress and insult their

judgement is highly desirable in today’s workplace.

With Gen Yers taking over the work place, and their strong desire to be left alone to do what they have to

do, it is essential to have managers that know how to lead and manage their teams in a way that leaves

all employees room to come up with their own ways of doing things. Exhibiting strong

management/leadership skills is therefore a big advantage in today’s working world.

9 ATTENTION TO DETAIL

Even though many may think that the bigger picture is more important than the tiny details, attention to

detail is what will make someone stand out at what they do. Paying attention to detail may save the

company a lot of hassle and possibly keep the distance from a catastrophic outcome.

10 SELF-CONFIDENCE

Being self-confident exudes an aura that can convince those you work for (or with) that you know what

you are doing. If you do not believe in yourself, your skills and abilities, then you cannot expect anyone

else to believe in you. You need to be confident with yourself and ensure everyone sees you as someone

that has the ability to pull through whatever situation comes your way.

11 PUBLIC SPEAKING

Why is it that those that are brilliant at memorising information, solving complex mathematical problems,

or reciting Shakespearean plays do not always do well in the business space? Why is it that if they have to

stand in front of a crowd and argue a case, they tend to flush and lose it?

Public speaking is a very crucial skill to have, which requires a lot of self-confidence, practice, and analysing

of your audience. Even though it comes naturally to some people, it is definitely a skill that can be

acquired, and it is a skill sought after by employers.

After all, when you meet clients, you represent the company as a whole. It is only fair that they would

rather hire someone that can carry themselves well while expressing the values and products of the

company.

12 TACTFULNESS

Being tactful is necessary in many situations, when dealing with clients, as well as colleagues.

No matter how much you believe you are right about something, or that it may be more useful for your

colleague to know exactly what you think, realise that not everyone reacts the same way to different

styles of confrontation.

It is important for individuals to know how and when to deal with various issues that may crop up in the

working environment, whether they are dealing with clients, colleagues, or supervisors.

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13 CREATIVITY

Being creative can be beneficial to any role you may have in the workplace. It involves the ability to find

solutions to problems using creativity, reasoning and past experience, coupled with information and

resources.

Using innovative ways to improve workflows and processes in the work place, or finding a new way to

process a piece of work can change the company’s dynamics, save time and cost, and even improve the

quality of products/services.

14 ETHICS AND INTEGRITY

Integrity and well-founded moral values should be highly-respected in the work place. Even though many

scandals appear with black sheep here and there, it is essential for employees to maintain their values

and integrity at all costs. Honesty and sticking to your values will definitely repay in the long run. An

untainted reputation after all is what will help you move up the career ladder.

15 STRONG WORK ETHIC

Employers always look for employees that are passionate about what they do and are very committed to

their assignments. They need to be assured that their employees will keep at a problem until it is solved,

and they will do what is necessary to complete all tasks.

Arriving at work on time and willingness to work and take responsibility are basic indicators of an

employee’s commitment. These factors can show whether an employee is cut out for a specific role.

16 ABILITY TO ACCEPT AND LEARN FROM CRITICISM

If a person demonstrates an attitude that is appreciative of feedback, it can be deduced that he/she is

willing to learn. Irrespective of age and experience, everyone is constantly learning at the workplace, and

one should always remain open to new information that can enhance their skills and abilities.

Jobs are constantly changing and evolving, and employees of all ranks should show that they are open to

growing and learning, either by experiencing new situations, by training, or even by listening and learning

from criticism.

17 SALES AND MARKETING

Knowledge of the principles and methods of promoting, presenting and selling products and services is

essential, no matter what your role is in a company. At any given point in time, you might be faced with

an opportunity to promote your company and its products or services to people you meet.

It could be simply promoting these to a friend or acquaintance, or it could be in a more formal

environment where you are pulled in for a meeting or project. Knowledge of at least basic marketing

strategy as well as a range of sales techniques and sales control systems may come in handy.

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18 COMPUTER AND ELECTRONICS SKILLS

Almost all jobs nowadays require some basic understanding of computers and electronics in general. As

we move to rely more on technology to help us conduct our daily tasks, be it communicating, writing,

calculating, presenting, drawing, creating sound, and many others, we may need in the work place, we

are being pushed towards the need to understand circuit boards, processors, electronic equipment and

computers.

19 MATHEMATICS

Even if your job has nothing to do with mathematics, arithmetic, geometry, algebra, calculus, and

statistics, basic knowledge of these may become necessary at some stage.

Refreshing your knowledge of mathematics often is an essential part of keeping your competitive

advantage in the job market. Statistics in particular may come in handy, as many a time you might need

to produce some graphs and figures by analysing quantitative data.

20 PROGRAMMING

Computer programming may be seen as a skill that only needs to be mastered by the few IT experts in an

organisation. However, knowledge, even at a basic level of computer programming may come in handy if

you are trying to develop a new programme that you hope may help your department in the way you

process information.

Imagine, for example, that you are working in the HR department of the company and want to come up

with a system that monitors and evaluates the progress, performance and salaries of all employees.

Knowing even basic computer programming could help you realise what is possible and how you can get

started on this project, putting you in a better position to collaborate with the IT department of the

company in order to produce a more advanced system catering to your needs.