Explaining the relevance and importance of mentoring and counselling roles in the workplace - Essay Example

? Explaining the relevance and importance of mentoring and counselling roles in the workplace Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Differences between Coaching and Mentoring 3 Training and Consultancy 5 The Mentoring Process 5 Benefits of Mentoring 6 Benefits to the Learner 6 Benefits to the Mentor 7 Benefits to the Company and other Employees 7 Desirable Qualities of a Mentor 8 Practical Examples of Mentoring and Counselling in workplace 9 Effectiveness of Counselling and Mentoring 10 Mentoring and Managing 10 Conclusion 11 References 11 Introduction Counselling as well as mentoring is being progressively used for the professional advancement. It is a way in which an affirmative change in the employees are brought about and thereby transfer of valuable knowledge takes place from the mentor or the guide to the particular employee. Both Companies and their management find that this method is extremely favourable for the employees in terms of career growth (Robbins, 2003, p.56). Thus every organisation tries to implement this process in their day to day operations. In every workplace, the management feels that it is necessary for the employees to boost their potential and enhance their skills so that they can deliver better performance and can in turn increase the productivity of the company. It often happens that the employees have a lot of hidden potential. It is just that they need to be upgraded with certain skills. Often they have to be groomed according to the organisation culture and several issues relating to performance needs to be solved by the management. If the management feels that a particular employee requires this kind of grooming or training his areas have to be assessed and the company would recommend him for mentoring programme. The mentors would generally be someone from the managers or the supervisors of any team who would have prior experience about the work and how it should be done. Each department may also have a special coach delegated for that department. Differences between Coaching and Mentoring Applications of Coaching and mentoring are varied over different areas of business. Though the goals of both coaching and mentoring are the same that is to maximise the potentials of the employees for the benefit of the organisation, yet there is a subtle difference between the two. The chief aim of coaching is to improve the performance of the employees. The final performance is of utmost importance. On the other hand, mentoring is more inclined to grooming of an individual in a personalised way and it is more inclined towards personality development of the individual. The person who coaches a team has a definite agenda in his mind while undertaking the process (Bachkirova, Jackson and Clutterbuck, 2011, p.187). The mentor on the other hand would behave like a facilitator who would mould the individual in the way he wants to but there is no specific agenda that the person will remain confined to. Coaching in a workplace is related more to productivity at work and the career growth of the employees. Mentoring on the other hand stresses more on self reflection of the individual employees. Hence the bonding with the mentor is even better defined. The duty of coaching is generally assigned by the organisation to someone who holds much a higher position like a manager. The mentor is someone who would be able to influence the mentee in a deeper way and the person who is being mentored has to treat the person as a guide and have to have a personal acceptance in the matter. Coaching is provided to the employees so that enhances in individual performance would help in the growth and the development of the organisation. The mentor often looks forward for feedback from the employees which may contribute to the development of the employee as well. Hence the mentor has a scope of getting personal returns as well. There is a prospect of mutual knowledge exchange in this context. The system of coaching is mainly applicable to a team development in an office and a handful of people may come under the activity of a single coach. On the other hand, mentoring is done on a one to one basis and there is a personal emotion attached in that process. Coaching is provided for a shorter period of time has a time boundary. The relationship with the coach most often is restricted to the time through which the coaching is provided. Often people get mentors who continue to retain their relationship for lifetime and there is no specific time period. Training and Consultancy There are two other areas which are close to counselling and mentoring and that are Training and Consultancy. In case of training the employees are supported with a completely latest set of skills which are more related to the technical aspects of the operations of an organisation. These kinds of skills may not be applicable at later stages of the careers of the employees. However, in case of mentoring the newly occurred development in the personality of the individual would be retained by the individual for lifetime. On the other hand the main focus of consultancy is to go for the development of the organisation in from of the improvement in system, structure, practices or the processes. There is very little individual aspect to this and it is company specific. The Mentoring Process There are lot of activities that take place in a mentoring process. The mentor or the counsellor usually has a role in guiding the employee or the team and in showing the right direction of work or their personal goals. They guide how the desired goals can be achieved by moving in the right direction and the ideal state of work can be achieved. If necessary the mentor would try to equip the employee with new set of skills or would encourage him to acquire so. There is also an aspect of mental grooming whereby the mentor would encourage the employee to be optimistic in the thought process. He would also assist the employees in the improvement of cognitive skills and talent which could be of benefit in the personal lives of the employees. The person can also share his personal issues with the mentor and it might help the employee change certain aspects of his personality for the better. They often use the techniques like questioning for understanding the employees and monitor them thoroughly. They are proactive enough to bring a change in the professional as well as the personal lives of the employees (Huczynski and Buchanan, 1991, p.169). They often act as a role model to the junior employees who derive inspiration and motivation from their fellow mentors. Benefits of Mentoring Mentoring in workplace can lead to mutual benefit for the Mentor as well as the Learner which in turn benefits the organisation holistically. Benefits to the Learner Mentoring enhances the self esteem of the employees of an organisation which in turn helps them to regain the confidence in their work and thus improves their individual performance. It enhances the skills of the employees who have the potential to absorb additional knowledge and competencies. Since it is often like a grooming session, the fragile areas of the personality of the employees are identified and corrected which leads to future growth and success. The problem solving and decision making ability of the employees improves. Thus professional growth of the person becomes inevitable. With the relation that is developed in due course of time with the mentor, the individual learns the art of dealing with people and blend with the organisation culture. Interaction with other employees improves and it leads o a healthier working environment. If the employee is going through any time of crisis then interaction with a mentor who would listen to his needs may diminish his frustration and emotions of low self worth. There arises ample opportunity for the employee to look out for a better career option and the employee becomes more attentive towards the professional training process. Benefits to the Mentor The mentor plays a pivotal role in the process in terms of transfer of knowledge to the employees and in the process of being a guide there are a lot of benefits that the Mentor also gains. The job satisfaction for the mentor gets increased as the leadership qualities of the mentor gets pronounced. While providing the employee with new knowledge the mentor also learns a lot of new aspects of the job and it is a big source of value addition for the mentor (Garvey, Stokes and Megginson, 2008, p.168). The trainer gets practiced with brainstorming and strategic thinking exercises. Thus the mentor gets blessed with newer sets of skills. The decision making and problem solving abilities of the mentor improves. Benefits to the Company and other Employees The bonding that is created due to the mentorship scheme leads to the benefit of the organisation in a number of ways. Since the employees develop a sense of attachment with the organisation, the retention rate improves. It gives competitive advantage to the employees who are endowed with more skills and perform better. Thus, the skills of the different departments of the organisation increase with the knowledge level of the constituent employees. The communication across the different levels of hierarchy in the organisation also increases. Thus manpower in the company is utilized at its maximum capacity. Thus the chances of attaining organisation goals increase and the individual goals of the employees become aligned with the goals of the company (Harris and Hartman, 2001, p.72). The company ethics and culture gets strengthened in turn. Desirable Qualities of a Mentor The mentor should possess certain qualities that are necessary for carrying out the job of a role model or a guide. In order to be effective in the work he delivers he must have the following characteristics. A mentor has to be a patient listener because he has to understand the problems and requirements of the mentee. The person should have high degree of emotional quotient because there is a personal theme attached to this process. A mentor has to motivate the employees to do work better and should try to bring out the best out of his pupil. He has to inspire the employee in a variety of way to get the best performance and he should have the ability to influence in a positive way. The mentor should have a practical and realistic style of dealing with things. He should be an open-minded person and should be accessible by the employees in times of their needs. The mentor should have a respectable position in the organisation because unless that happens, the employees would not look up to him as a mentor who would guide them. The mentor should have the interest to help his juniors and should ask the right questions to the employees. Practical Examples of Mentoring and Counselling in workplace It is often seen that the employees of a company look forward to their seniors or mentors for guidance on their career development. The seniors often advise them how they can improve their skill sets either by joining any training programme or by development of their personality through counselling. This kind of guidance is provided especially because the mentor himself had the in hands experience on the matter before or he might have had a problem which he does not want his junior to face. Such examples are also abundant in schools or colleges where senior students often mentor their juniors on group projects or undertaking. Such an exercise helps enhance the mentors decision making abilities, the planning capabilities and also to deliver things on time. In a similar situation of group presentation of a project on Organisation Culture, I was assigned with the task of making a research on the culture of a specific organisation, along with a team of 5 more members (Kinicki and Kreitner, 2009, p.56). Since I am a good team player and have developed leadership skills I guided the rest of the team members how to approach the project, how they should start and what are the key areas where the research would be carried out. Since a few members of the group were shy and I had to mentor them by motivating them. I encouraged them to carry out the assignments and tried to find out the areas where they were having difficulties. I allocated the work equally among the employees so that everyone feels equally important and they are involved in the process. I ensured participation of all the students. Thus I acted like a mentor to my during my class project. Effectiveness of Counselling and Mentoring There is a lot of positive effect of mentoring for the company. The process leads to an atmosphere of collaboration and knowledge sharing which leads to the increase in productivity of the employees. The employees also are willing and committed to improve and nurture themselves. The management understands the requirements of the employees for professional training that would raise the working standards of the organisation. For achieving this, the company often arranges for programmes that would teach the employees the standard processes and the right set of process to carry out the activities. The job roles that the employees are offered are thereby reformed. For mentoring programmes, the employees get help for a regular basis and it is a process of continuous development. The employees can understand the need for this development and better working relations are developed. Along with that the personal issues of the employees are also addressed which leads to better mental peace and stability for the employees. For successful running of the mentoring programmes regular meetings with the higher management id essential and the discussion about how the process is being carried out have to be understood. This leads to sustainability of the organisation. Mentoring and Managing In most of the formal organisations, the mentors are not necessarily the supervisors of the individuals. But it would generally not lead to any conflict of position because if the goals and the roles of the individuals are well defined, then they would not fall in to such confusion (Clutterbuck, Poulsen, Poulsen, and Kochan, 2012, p.21). The role of the manager in the life of an employee is vital and it is in no way comparable to that of a mentor who is more of a friend and a guide. Thus the outlook towards the manager should not get changed due to the influence of a mentor. Mentoring is supplementary to the scope of action of the managers. Managers have a direct authority towards the employees and helps in the capacity building of the employees. The mentor on the other hand shows a direction to the mentee about their future personal and career goals. An efficient and open minded manager would always acknowledge the necessity of a mentor in an employee’s life. Conclusion The task of selecting a mentor should lie with the employees themselves. The employees should have acceptance regarding the credibility of the person. However in today’s organisation, the employees often are assigned mentors selected by the management to guide them from the very first day of their work lives. But these kinds of situations often lead to clashes because the employees are not free to choose the people they like and thus they are forced to be on the mentorship of person assigned to them by the organisation with whom their mental wavelength may not match. Despite all this the importance of a mentor in the workplace cannot be denied and the people who are blessed with good mentors can have the advantage of discovering a lot of opportunities in life. References Robbins, S.P., 2003. Organisational Behaviour: Global and Southern African Perspectives. Cape Town: Pearson South Africa. Bachkirova,T., ? Jackson, P. and Clutterbuck, D., 2011. Coaching and Mentoring Supervision: Theory and Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill International. Garvey, B., Stokes, P. and Megginson, D., 2008. Coaching and Mentoring: Theory and Practice. London: Sage Publications. Clutterbuck, D., Poulsen, K. A., Poulsen, K.M. and Kochan, F., 2012. Developing Diversity Mentoring Programmes: An International Casebook. New York: McGraw-Hill International. Kinicki, A. and Kreitner, R., 2009.Organizational Behavior. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Harris, O.J. and Hartman, S. J. 2001. Organizational Behavior. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Huczynski, A. and Buchanan D.A. , 1991. Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text. London: Prentice Hall. Read More