MSL665FINALMENTORINGandCOACHINGintheWorkplace.docx

Running head: COACHING OR MENTORING 1

Coaching or Mentoring in the Workplace

Team Genesis:

Joy Alexander

Sheveeta Gayles

Octavia Nelson

Christina Wilburn

Belhaven University

MSL665

October 27, 2014

Charles Adams

COACHING OR MENTORING 2

Coaching or Mentoring in the Workplace

Coaching and mentoring are different ways to promote self-growth and productivity.

Though they seem similar, they are different in method and nature. Organizations must

determine whether coaching or mentoring would be the best, effective method for their type of

businesses. When determining a method, organizations must decide if they are focusing on

different factors such as individuals or performance, specific agendas or no agendas, and whether

the focus is life related or task related. Matt M. Starcevich, Ph.D. sums up the difference

between coaching and mentoring in the web article “Coach, Mentor: Is there a difference?” He

states that, “A mentor is like a sounding board, they can give advice but the partner is free to

pick and choose what they do. The context does not have specific performance objectives. A

coach is trying to direct a person to some end result, the person may choose how to get there, but

the coach is strategically assessing and monitoring the progress and giving advice for

effectiveness and efficiency (Starcevich, Ph.D., 2009).” We have observed our respective

organizations and found that two of our group members’ workplaces utilize coaching strategies,

one of our members’ workplace uses a mentor strategy, and one of the member’s organizations

uses a combination of both mentoring and coaching strategies.

Gregory Pennington, PH.D is a managing partner of Pennpoint Consulting Group, LLC. The

mission of this firm is a simple promise. That promise is to develop more leaders and better

leaders. Dr. Pennington was honored as mentor of the month by the Society of Consulting

Psychology, and he is also well known for effectively coaching senior leaders. When asked how

diversity and multiculturalism played a role in his coaching engagements, he responded by


saying they are his frame of reference, his client’s frame of reference, and his reasons for

referrals.

Dr. Pennington knows himself which is an important factor to be an effective coach. Through

our research, we have found that you have to have the confidence to embrace and utilizer your

accomplishments. Because everyone is not coachable, Dr. Pennington shares that is important to

know when a client or prospective client is resistant to coaching. People may initially be

reluctant, but that sense of hesitation can be conquered. Goodness of fit and strength of

relationship are key variables in successful coaching. Therefore, we have to recognize that our

culture or ethnicity may be a factor.

In Joy’s workplace, a communications company, coaching is a norm. Managers learn to

coach employees on how to be successful, and it is mandatory. Diversity is not considered when

coaching is involved so the employees do not have a choice on what coach they are assigned.

Unlike Dr. Pennington’s findings, in Joy’s organization, it does not matter if it is a good fit. The

strength of the relationship is also not considered in her company. The coaches in this

communications business have a specific goal of getting its employees to comply with the

objectives of the coach.

The coaching strategy in her workplace is effective for this type of company. Monthly, they

see their objectives and are coached on how to make the “numbers.” Her first coach was very

aggressive. However, she was taught very early in training to make the numbers, and she has not

forgotten. Today, she is now leading and teaching teams how to successfully meet their

objectives because it is fundamental for the organization.


In the banking industry, Octavia’s organization, mentoring is not used as a tool for

developing productive employees. The company uses coaching techniques because the industry

is performance driven and the goal is to get a forecasted, desired result. The cultural behavior

presents a teamwork and performance based environment because of the competitive nature of

the organization. We find that coaches are also more relevant in this industry because there are

agendas and quotas that the bank must meet to continue operating successfully. Unlike mentors,

coaches in the banking industry train by using procedures instead of giving advice that can be

optional to use by the receiving party. For example, the loan operations department consists of

processors whose job is to correctly code loans according to state and federal guidelines to insure

that the bank can continue to allocate funds and loan funds in different areas of banking such as

real estate, construction, farming, and even unsecured. The coaches or trainers have the

responsibility of creating and encouraging a teamwork atmosphere according to procedures used

to input the codes. Upon an audit review, the bank was prohibited from lending to specific areas

of real estate because of the processing errors found during a routine bank audit.

According to the Institute of Management Accountants, the same coaching principles

apply in the world of business. In the article “Coaching for Success,” the author refers to trainers

and instructors as coaches just as they do in the banking organizations. The article also defines

the goal of coaching as the outcome result to “move people from where they are to where they

want or need to be (McNally, 2013).” In the Octavia’s organization, they view the coaching

process as a return on investment, which means the time trainers spend coaching employees is

returned through excellent work with few or no errors. We find that it is important to invest

proper training in the employees in the banking organization so they can produce quality work


for the bank, and they can also explore other opportunities and personal growth within the bank.

As a group, we concluded that Octavia’s workplace operates effectively by choosing a coaching

strategy for the banking industry because it is more focused performance, teamwork, and

completing agenda tasks.

While both Joy and Octavia’s organizations use coaching strategies, Sheveeta’s

organizations uses a mentoring strategy to motivate their employees. Mentoring has become a

very good successful tool in many organizations. In fact(Olya,p.47) more than 70 percent of

fortune 500 companies and private organizations use mentoring to attract, develop, retain, and

boost productivity. As part of Hertz Corporation training seminars, employees are assigned a

mentor the first week of management training as part of the leadership development program.

She was assigned a mentor which was part of the LIFT Program, which stands for Leadership,

Influence, Focus and Teamwork (Olya p.47). This program allows participants to explore their

leadership skills in a work environment supportive of their development and commitment for

success. It helps her organization’s senior leaders to help with growing others in the company

into a higher senior level position. Mentoring is critical to an organization who wants a more

rewarding and fulfilling challenge. It can also help to inspire others, build skills and confidence

to endure any obstacle or barrier, and continue to grow. At Hertz, taking the time to have

someone in your corner and placing them there early can give employees a great advantage.

Even though the term “mentor” originated from the Greek Methodology (Journal of

Vocational Behavior 1997) it has only been about ten years of research conducted on mentoring

in organizations. At the Hertz Corporation mentors serve as a career function to facilitate and

enhance the advancement of the protégé. At Hertz, the mentor provides the protégé with


sponsorship, exposure, visibility, protection and challenging assignments, and it serves to help

strengthen the protégés’ competence, friendship and role modeling (Journal of Behavior 1997).

According to the Journal of Behavior, mentoring has four phases. The relationship begins

at the initiation period, around six to twelve months. Hertz starts at the beginning of the first

training week to match its employees with a mentor because the company wants its employees to

stay focused. After that, there is the cultivating stage. After this time the mentor and the protégé

usually break apart (1997 p.2), and the relationship is defined by a separation phase which occurs

over six to twenty four months. Usually in this stage the protégé and mentor enters into a

redefinition phase and the relationship advances from a mentorship to a more peer-like

relationship.

Sheveeta’s Organization has recognized the importance of mentorships and has

implemented these relationships as part of normal career development. For junior manager and

professionals, our workforce today expects organizations to provide opportunities to help foster

career development within the organization. Interpersonal exchange that characterizes in

mentorship can be expected (1997) to result in rewards for the protégé, mentor, the organization,

and its culture. We agree that mentoring in Sheveeta’s organization helps her improve and

always work towards acknowledging her strengths and weaknesses.

St. Catherine’s Village, where Christina is employed, interestingly uses a combination of

both mentoring and coaching. It is an inclusive retirement facility that specializes in caring for

people with respect for their own worth and dignity, grasp each individuals physical, spiritual,

emotional and social needs (St. Catherine Village). The organization is not only responsible for


their residents, but they are also responsible for their employees and making sure they are

properly trained. In order for the residents to be in good care the employees has to be properly

trained. Her organization has different ways of coaching and mentoring their employees. St.

Catherine Village realizes that their employees learn differently, so they created different types

of coaching and mentoring techniques to train their employees.

Through coaching, supervisors at St. Catherine’s respond to problems as soon as they

occur. The supervisors can get notices about a problem concerning an employee indirectly or

directly, and they are coached to effectively take a call to action.

Nursing is one of the largest departments at St. Catherine Village. The nursing

department employee a variety of workers such as: CNAs, LPNs, RNS, and nursing assistants.

The nursing department at St. Catherine Village had sophisticated caregivers and life savers.

The sophisticated caregivers, the veteran nurses and nursing assistants, and the life savers help

the supervisor with the mentoring and coaching process. These are the people who advise and

motivate the employees. The sophisticated caregivers have been with the organization ten years

or more; they are savor to the company. Every new employee is given a life saver because they

teach and usher the employees throughout their training periods.

The life savers also coach the nurses and nursing assistants. The employee who is being

coached, the supervisor, and the life saver come up with a plan to solve problems. When the final

decision is made, the supervisor gives the life saver further instructions. All third participants in

the coaching all sign off on the final decision. A follow up is then conducted to monitor if the


decision yields progress. The life savers job is to also remind the employee about their

responsibility as an employee at St. Catherine Village.

Coaching can lead to additional training that leads to mentoring. When an employee at St.

Catherine gets coached for something that was taught during orientation or training, the

supervisor will offer additional training to limit misunderstandings during orientation or during

the training process. This is when mentors are assigned.

When mentors are assigned in her organization, the evaluation process begins. This

process allow the employees and mentors to focus on the areas of improvement and allow them

to develop methods of improvement. They also help employees become more productive,

promotable employees.

As a group, we found that while coaching and mentoring are effective strategies for

creating positive work cultures, developing employee skill, and offering positive advice, it is

important to know which strategy works in particular organizations. Our organizations utilized

coaching in the communications and banking industries, but mentoring was found to be more

effective in the automobile rental company.

As a group, we found that while coaching and mentoring are effective strategies for creating

positive work cultures, developing employee skill, and offering positive advice, it is important to

know which strategy works in particular organizations. Our organizations utilized coaching in

the communications and banking industries. Mentoring was found to be more effective in the

automobile rental company. Both coaching and mentoring worked very effectively in the St.

Catherine Villages. It is interesting that some organizations choose to find a mentor for the


employees. The protégé usually should seek out a mentor. However, the need for mentoring

has outweighed the normal practice. In addition, as a group we agree that coaching can be

fundamental to developing the drive and ability to exceed objectives and commitments in some

industries. Both mentoring and coaching are successful ways to steer the organizations in a

successful and highly productive path.

As a group, we also recognize that mentoring is the key to the success of many employees.

An organization like Sheeveta’s pays close attention to the great need of helping employees be

trained and be successful. The bible supports both coaching and mentoring in Proverbs 22:6

where it states “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart

from it.” (Holy Bible, 2013) Therefore, Hertz understands the need for employee to be mentored

when initially employed. In addition, Christiana’s organization see the need to improve an

employee though a mentoring program. The evaluation of an employee begins when the mentors

are assigned. Her organization finds a need for an employee to be around someone who is wise

and knowledgeable. Proverbs 13:20 states “whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the

companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Holy Bible, 2013)

We all agree that Jesus is the Master Coach because his life gave so much insight and wisdom

to the world. We also agree that the Holy Spirit is a mentor and a coach that we all must

recognize and respect. John 14:26 confirms our beliefs by saying, “But the Counselor, the Holy

Spirit, whom the Father will send Him in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you

of everything I have told you (Holy Bible , 2013).” The Holy Spirit will teach as a mentor.

However, the Holy Spirit will remind us of what God wants instead of the world. As a group, we

are thankful for these teachings and reminders. In addition, our Master Coach has left us


instructions and a guide on how to live successful lives. Our Master Coach has given us the play

book which gives us insight on how to be a team, how to defend ourselves, how to obtain and

utilize our resources, and how to get the ultimate win.

References

Adams, M. Danielle; Russell, E, .A. Joyce, Journal of Vocational Behavior 51, 1-14 (1997).

Article no. vb971602. The Changing nature of mentoring in Organizations: An introduction to the special issue on mentoring in organizations. Department of Management, the University of Tennessee.

(2004). Know When and When not to Coach. In Coaching and Mentoring (p. 51). Boston:

Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation.

Kovnatska, Olya. Strategic Finance. Say Yes to Mentoring, May 2014. Volume 96 Issue 5,

p47-51. 5p

McNally, J. (2013). Coaching for Success. Strategic Finance, 95 (6), 13-69. (2004).

Know When and When not to Coach. In Coaching and Mentoring (p. 51). Boston:

Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation.

Starcevich, Ph.D. (2009). Coach, Mentor: Is There a Difference?

http://www/coachingandmentoring.com/Articles/mentoring.html


n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2014, from St. Catherine Village:

http://www.stcatherinesvillage.com/our-mission

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MSL665FINALMENTORINGandCOACHINGintheWorkplace.docx