Coach or Mentor?

The institute of coaching cites that over 70% of individuals who receive coaching benefited from improved work performance, relationships and communication skills. This scores very highly in relation to other forms of personal development. However, to many people the terms coaching and mentoring are interchangeable and here we set out the important differences and how individuals can benefit from both.

The international coaching federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential”. It is therefore aimed at unlocking a person’s potential, helping them to learn rather than teaching them.

This is very different from mentoring. Mentoring is described as “help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking” (Megginson and Clutterbuck 1995).

In a five year study of 1000 employees (Gartner 2006):

• 25% of employees who enrolled in a mentoring programme had a salary uplift compared to 5% who did not participate
• Mentees are promoted five times more often than those not being mentored.
• Retention rates were far higher for both mentees and mentors than for employees who did not participate in a programme

Both coaching and mentoring have their place in the organisation.

So, whereas a coach may work on a specific problem with a coachee, using their skills to help an individual think through a particular problem and come to a solution themselves, a mentor can bring in a range of interventions to help the individual including Teacher, Advisor, Coach, Critical Friend and Consultant.

So, should I choose a Coach or a Mentor programme for my organisation?

This really depend upon what your objective is. Do you want to help individuals address a particular business issue and give them support in doing so? Do you want to develop their individual problem-solving skills and develop a culture around individuals prepared to solve their own problems? If this is the case then developing a cadre of coaches to help support your staff may be the answer. If on the other hand you wish to develop staff over the long term, to use the experience of the existing team to help develop others and think about some of the longer-term benefits such as retention and career development then developing a mentor programme may be the way forward.

Whichever approach you choose; both will have a significant impact upon your organisations culture. They should lead to improved performance, longer term commitment from team members and more motivated staff.

Of course, you could always do both!