Developing a coaching and mentoring pathway: promoting purpose and performance

The turmoil of the last few years has not only impacted companies’ individual learning and development strategies but has fundamentally reshaped the broader corporate landscape, accelerating digital transformation and challenging prevailing operational orthodoxies.

Along the way, professional development has become, simultaneously, more personal (and personalised) and more operationally important, cementing itself as an existential issue for businesses looking to survive and thrive in a world where change is the only constant.

L&D fundamentals have shifted. As teams are increasingly tasked with collaborating productively across extended cultural and geographical boundaries, the cultivation of so-called ‘soft skills’ has become a vital component in the race to meet the needs of a workplace revolutionised by automation, AI, big data and the rise of novel industries.

While the right formal qualifications still hold sway for graduates looking for a first foothold on the career ladder, as well as for gaining sector-specific advancement further down the line, the transition towards lifelong learning is the new goal for employers and employees alike.

Building a coaching and mentoring culture

This employment evolution demands a corresponding change in company culture. It triggers a move towards a more agile and responsive leadership and talent development framework, an approach that empowers individuals to reflect on – and take greater responsibility for – their own actions, allowing them to:

• Set, and work towards, specific goals
• Communicate and collaborate effectively
• Give and receive feedback
• Stress-test ideas
• Optimise performance

From an organisational perspective, a coaching culture is one that’s defined by the values, behaviours and practices that underpin day-to-day activity; it resides in a mindset that’s an integral part of the company’s identity, affecting and enhancing relationships at every level.

And, while coaching primarily targets the steps necessary to enhance job performance, mentoring focuses on helping employees to move forward on their career path. Both are important for driving organisation-wide transformational change, increasing employee engagement and creating a diverse talent pipeline.

One of the main benefits of adopting a coaching and mentoring culture is that it creates an environment of psychological safety that encourages experimentation without the overwhelming pressure to succeed at all costs; the risk of failure is accepted as the price of unlocking performance. It offers organisations the opportunity to foster engagement and to facilitate personal and professional development within a mutually supportive environment.

How do you develop a coaching/ mentoring pathway?

Lead from the front

Embedding a coaching and mentoring culture starts at the top. Leaders who model EQ and embody desired workplace behaviours inspire and motivate employees to bring their best and most authentic selves to work.

Turn theory into practice

Leaders can then begin to cascade the coaching and mentoring culture through one-on-one and team meetings, as well as via two-way performance conversations that encourage constructive Q&A. This exercise should inform goals and action plans.

Assign responsibility

Establishing a feedback-enabled cycle of recognition and appreciation for employees fosters a collaborative coaching culture and underpins the development of stronger, more resilient teams.

Taking an organisational approach

Establishing an effective coaching culture isn’t a walk in the park, especially as more managers are operating in a hybrid environment and against a backdrop of omnipresent global ambiguity.

Although the business benefits of coaching have been widely espoused – including by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt – some leaders still see it either as the exclusive preserve of the C-suite or as a remedy for failure.

To establish an effective coaching/mentoring pathway requires that the approach be embedded within a wider culture change movement that will regard it as a prerequisite for creating a high-performance workplace and not as an optional extra or as a perk reserved for members of the senior leadership team. Coaching culture thrives in companies where opportunities for growth arise during every interaction and conversation – not just those within the bench.

However, unless organisations invest in training, as well as in the process of acquiring and maintaining the necessary competence in coaching and mentoring, creating a new pathway is likely to remain an unrealised pipedream.

Crucially, in the spirit of what-gets-measured-gets-done, coaching behaviours and outcomes need to be rooted in an organisation’s performance management system, with rewards for managers who successfully engage, coach and retain their teams. Any business impacts and outcomes can also feed into a continuous improvement cycle, enabling everyone to learn from good practice.

Sharing purpose and performance

Those organisations that do invest in creating robust coaching/ mentoring pathways can look forward to better performance (individually and corporately), as well as improved employee retention and engagement – and the establishment of a valuable leadership pipeline.

By integrating coaching and mentoring practices into an organisation’s DNA, leaders can not only accelerate learning and performance, but also drive revenue growth and create a powerful competitive advantage.

Further rewards lie ahead. When leaders dedicate themselves to building and fostering a positive coaching culture, they are creating a formula for organisational strength and resilience that will provide a compelling blueprint for future growth and prosperity.