What is Coaching & Mentoring?

Everybody can benefit from having a mentor in their lives…

Blog Revisited 30th August 2021

Here at C&E HR Consultancy we offer a range of different Coaching & Mentoring packages to suit everybody’s needs. One of my first clients in this business told me that she didn’t even know she needed Mentoring until she did it! She then went on to do personal wellness coaching and follow up Mentoring sessions! This is not an unusual thing to think at the beginning but the vast majority of us would benefit greatly from having a Mentor in our lives, both personally and professionally.

In very simple terms:

What is Mentoring?

The word Mentoring originates from the Greek myth where Odysseus entrusts this education of his son to his friend Mentor.

 A mentor usually focuses with the mentee on motivations, ability, competencies, and on creating opportunities to enable the mentee to achieve their full potential. 

C&E HR Consultancy offer mentoring programmes which can be tailored to the workplace and /or personal circumstances. 

We use a hybrid approach which means we encourage the mentee find solutions to particular issues themselves therefore encouraging enabling skills whilst also utilizing a facilitative approach which means offering directive instruction and advice. We use a number of tools to help the mentee to understand themselves and their goals as well as offering personal coaching in specific areas, recommended reading and goal-oriented success. The final stage of the mentoring programme will be to complete a 5-year plan. Often the act of having somebody with whom to talk over thoughts and feelings, to realize that they have goals and ambitions in life, however big or small and that they can achieve things is hugely liberating for people.  

What is Coaching?

For us coaching is one or several sessions with a Coach who focuses on a specific area of expertise as opposed to the Mentoring programme which usually lasts for 3 months or more. It was always my hope that we could build up a ‘bank of knowledge’ in the form of Coaches who have very focused specialties. If you scroll over to the ‘Library of Minds’ at the top of the page you will find only some of the Coaches we work with and their specialize biographies. In recent months I have referred most people to Wellness and Integrated Health Coaches, and we have regular blogs from our Library of Minds team.

What are some of the tools you use?

SWOT Analysis - the most common staple…

We use a range of tools in the Mentoring Toolkit which you might expect to find such as a personal SWOT Analysis. At C&E HR consultancy we use a basic SWOT analysis template for use by those giving feedback. Using a SWOT analysis gives a structured approach to feedback and can also be effective is gaining contributions from a range of people.  

However, our approach is very much tailored to the needs of our mentees and we could end up doing Stakeholder Analyses for example and employing a range of expert tools and techniques. One such tool is the 360 Degree Feedback Tool: 

360 Degree Feedback:

This is a process most commonly used by HR departments for Performance Appraisal purposes. It can be, however, a very useful tool to use within a Mentoring programme in order to give your mentee greater perspective. 

The process of 360 Degree Feedback needs to be carried out sensitively and fairly with the individual remaining in control of the process. Those giving feedback are encouraged to do so in an objective, positive way using examples to back up perceived opinion, and respecting confidentiality of all participants at all times. 

The contributions will be analyzed, and significant points used to create personal goals for the mentee. 

Most recent Mentoring Sessions have centered around changing career paths as a result of Covid 19 as well as helping students and school leavers to find their paths in life. I have personally spent a long time finding what I wanted to do in life. I have been on a long personal journey which meant I gained invaluable skills and experience. I do wish, however, that I had had somebody who could have directed me better when I was younger. I want to be able to do for others what I never had available to me. I want to be able to help people find their career paths and help to open up their horizons. This is where the concept of C&E came from.

If you think that Mentoring might be something you would be interested in hearing more about, please do not hesitate to get in touch and I would be happy to tailor a package to suit your needs.