Investing in the growth of your staff is an invaluable asset for any organization. By taking an interest in the development of your employees, you are demonstrating that you care about their progress and increasing their loyalty to you. An effective coaching and mentoring process allows employees to become more confident in their roles, to be more aware of themselves and to be able to solve problems. Traditional leadership styles are often authoritarian and transactional, with a clear hierarchy and duties outlined.
This approach can become harsh, and unrealistic expectations can damage employee morale. The coaching and mentoring style is a more friendly approach that allows you to create successful teams. Although there should always be a clear chain of command, coaching helps foster employees' skills, and mentoring prepares them for higher-level responsibilities. The main benefits are that employees increase their performance and self-confidence, gain skills and knowledge, and sometimes develop a different attitude towards their organizations and careers.
Advised employees typically receive the most benefit. Mentoring and coaching increase the confidence and interpersonal skills of both the mentor and mentee. Coaching and mentoring provide new employees with a hands-on training program to learn from and help them understand defined job expectations. Rather than placing a new employee directly in the position, the employee must have a support system and an interactive learning environment that can build trust at work through professional advice and mentoring.
The result is a more motivated staff, with members who also end up training each other in many cases, sharing tips and tricks that are taught to them. For this style to be successful, the coach must not only criticize mistakes or deficiencies, but also be willing to point out successes. Employees also find training for future responsibilities to be one of the most attractive benefits of being trained. The coach's job is to ensure that team members have the right tools, resources, and skills to achieve their goals, and the same goes for business coaches.
Mentoring and coaching offer many advantages for employees who receive it, for people doing it, and for the organization itself. Coaching helps employees by providing them with someone with more experience to connect with on a regular basis. Spending time training and mentoring employees helps prepare them for future leadership roles in your organization. In addition, coaching is a way for employees to gain information on areas of growth or to receive training on skills they lack.
Rather than spending time and money on external hires, coaching offers an excellent opportunity for internal promotions. The company usually delegates a coach for a particular department or for the entire organization. Employees who need to strengthen their skills, errors in work behavior, and problems with performance are trained under the supervision of a coach or mentor. When employees know that you are truly investing in them and in their future in the company, they will be more eager to participate in the training process and bring value to the company.
Rather than offering advice or telling employees what to do, coaches ask probing questions, provide feedback, and discuss options to help employees clarify their ideas and find their own solutions.
