October 2004

Senior Management Coaching - Business Benefit Or Ego Trip?

With the growth in organisations operating with reduced hierarchies and flatter management structures, the need for good business coaches and mentors has risen dramatically. Unfortunately the roles of the coach and mentor are often misunderstood and what starts out as a good idea fades away as the relationships crumble.

Although there are some key differences between coaching and mentoring, the edges are undoubtedly blurred. Mentoring is often referred to as the 'transfer of wisdom'. It is the process by which an individual learns from someone who has worn the same shoes and travelled the same path, someone metaphorically older and wiser. Often the mentor will work in the same organisation. Coaching, on the other hand, concerns itself with amplifying the individual's own knowledge and thought processes. It is about creating a supportive environment in which to challenge and develop critical thinking skills, ideas and behaviours.

Whilst the strength of mentoring lies in the mentor's specific knowledge and wisdom, in coaching it lies in the facilitation and development of personal qualities. The coach brings different skills and experience and offers a fresh perspective - a different viewpoint. In both cases one-to-one attention is the key. The development of the one to one relationship and the agreement of realistic objectives is the key to successful mentoring and coaching.

Whilst many organisations recognise the advantages of coaching, the realities of cost-cutting and rationalisation have limited the time individual managers can invest in their people. The introduction of external coaches can be effective alternative, enabling the company to adopt the coaching model over a period of time with support from an experienced team of facilitators. This is an alternative that is being adopted by many companies to support the development of their middle and senior managers. The benefits are gained from working with an individual who is highly skilled as well as experienced in managing such relationships.

Benefits for the company

There are a number of benefits to be gained from a successful caching and mentoring scheme, examples include:

Improved employee retention.
Reduced learning curves.
Helps manage organisational change.
Bridges competency gaps, especially in the soft skills.
Rejuvenates mid career managers.
Aids the conversion of ideas into actions.
Encourages personal individual growth.

By providing the external influence and an outside view, the external coach will provide the opportunity for managers to grow within their roles.

Once seen as no more than a senior executive ego trip, individual development plans and coaching are now regarded as essential for the development of a strong management team and the use of external coaches and mentors can be a very effective way of delivering the benefits.

For more information on one to coaching or for help in establishing an in house coaching / mentor programme please contact Steve Stones via email or on 024 76 279000.