Page 90 - DMGT517_PERFORMANCE_MANAGEMENT_SYSTEM

Unit 8: Mentoring and Coaching

8.2.3 Learning to Coach Notes

The value of coaching is that it establishes an effective and dynamic working relationship in

difficult and changing situations.
In many cases, managers are encouraged to coach by ‘manager as coach and developer’
initiatives. Theses may take the form of workshops or of elements of management development
programmes. As training and development responsibilities are being developed more and more
to line managers, the pressure on them to work in this way increases. Lack of time or other
priorities often get in the way, with the widespread feeling that in current working conditions
it’s quicker just to tell someone how to do things or, alternatively, to let them get on with their
job, rather than taking time to coach. Because of this, there is often a certain amount of resistance
to adopting a coaching style of management in the fi rst instance; this resistance may also be in
reaction to the hype that is in some cases connected with approaches to coaching.
Resistance may be overcome by starting the coaching from the top. The managers who are
expected to move to a coaching style may themselves need to be coached. This experience helps

them to understand the value of coaching at first hand, and to get an intuitive sense of how to
do it themselves.
8.3 Ongoing Mentoring and Protégé Development

The concept of mentors and protégés traces its origin to Greek mythology. Odysseus left for the
Trojan War and put the care of his household and his son Telemachus in the hands of his friend
Mentor. He believed Mentor could and would live up to his expectations. These expectations
were justified as Odysseus discovered on his return. Again, the combination of expectations and

action based on these expectation resulted in a self-fulfilling prophecy. While mentoring has

existed in business for many years on an informal basis, only recently has it become formally
entrenched in the corporate realm.
Mentoring is a dynamic and reciprocal relationship in a work environment between a manager
(mentor) and an employee (protege) aimed at promoting the career development of both. Reesa
Staten of Robert Half International (2007) says that mentoring is a key practice for transferring
wisdom, fostering talent, and promoting best practices within a firm or department. It is also one

of the most effective ways to develop new leaders.
Strategic succession planning: The practice entails the assignment of a junior member of staff or
a recently recruited graduate known as the protégé to a senior seasoned manager or executive
known as the mentor. A mentor who knows about a subordinate’s skills and talents can help that
person reach his or her career goals.

Note Mentoring is a typical example of the Pygmalion effect in business.
The relationship of a mentor to a protégé is that of a staff capacity as opposed to a line capacity.
The mentor provides advice and shares his or her experience with the protégé. The mentor
must constantly act as a positive Pygmalion to make the process effective.

8.4 Mentoring

Mentoring has something in common with coaching but, at its best, has a different emphasis. The
mentor has less of a vested interest in the mentee’s performance results – the mentee’s results
don’t directly have an effect on the mentor’s business performance. This makes it easier for the

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