What are the benefits of coaching and mentoring in the workplace?

What are the benefits of coaching and mentoring employees?

Coaching and mentoring an employee makes them more valuable to your organisation by developing and enhancing their skills—both professionally and personally.

By being interested in the growth of your staff, you're showing them that you care about their progress. And this can increase their loyalty to you.

Some businesses coach and mentor. Some choose one method over the other.

So what's the difference?

Generally in the workplace, coaching an employee is a shorter, more specific affair.

For example, you might be coaching a group of trainees on how to make sales calls in line with your company's tone and strategy. This requires the passing on of particular knowledge—so who better than a confident speaker who has an expertise of the skill?

The benefits of mentoring in the workplace

Mentoring is a longer process than coaching.

A senior employee will attach to one or a group of junior employees, and have frequent one-to-one sessions to monitor progress over, say, a six-month period. During this time, they'll concentrate on a range of skills—both soft and hard skills.

The mentor will form a relationship with their mentees, be available for any queries, and report to you with each employee's progress.

Observing your employees as they grow over a long period can help you make crucial business decisions, such as aligning the career path of an employee with their strongest skills for your business.

Staff with better training perform better. They bring in more revenue and make it easier for your business to pay for coaching overheads.

The benefits of coaching in the workplace

Having trained coaches in your business is a no-brainer.

A trained coach can:

• Teach new skills with a clear learning plan in place.

• Help staff to solve problems in new ways.

• Answer questions that someone might have if they become confused during the coaching session.

When staff commit to learning new skills, they're recognising that they can increase their value to their employer.

They're working hard to become a better employee. If they're looking to pass their probation, earn a salary increase, and progress their career, this is a great way to go about it.

By recognising their value and their ability, they gain more confidence. This can lead to a strong and competitive workplace culture.

Are coaching and mentoring just for new or junior employees?

Coaching and mentoring are great for helping staff to learn new skills or enhance current skills while increasing their confidence, too. It doesn't matter who the employee is, there's something they can learn.

You might be thinking that only new recruits need coaching—but what about when you or one of your other senior employees needs to learn how to use that smart new piece of technology? It might be the latest tablet, or it could be a piece of software like BrightHR's absence management system.

Managers are senior employees, but seniority doesn't give them a free pass for knowing how to do or use something.

It might sound clichéd, but everyone in your business still has learning opportunities ahead of them. And who better to teach you than a trained coach or mentor?

That's why we make sure that all of our staff know how to use BrightHR's desktop and mobile app before we show anyone else how to use it.