Mentoring Program: Models of Coaching Practice

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Theory of Learning
Mentoring Program Design
Reference List

Introduction

One of the leading models of coaching, which is designed to ensure the achievement of personal and professional goals, is called GROW. As Warner and Budd (2018, p. 78) state, this name is an abbreviation “originally designed by Graham Alexander and then further developed by John Whitmore”. It stands for the following: G – goal, R – reality, O – options, W – will (Stout-Rostron, 2018). The model identifies the key points that are necessary for a person to pass with a coach. Each of the above points contains a list of questions that the coach asks, and by successfully completing each stage, a person trains and acquires the necessary skills and abilities. According to Stout-Rostron (2018), this model is a good tool to set up a goal-setting process to highlight the key factors to take into account and the objectives to be pursued. As a result, GROW’s strength lies in its step-by-step coaching process with a focus on the individual’s objectives and aims.

The GROW model provides a useful, practical framework for coaching people so that they can independently find solutions to problems. This methodology helps release new ideas and creates a special way of thinking that propels the employee towards achieving the desired goals (Warner and Budd, 2018). In addition, the model contributes to seeing one’s problem more clearly. By asking coaching questions from the GROW tool, people can make sure they do not need to be experts on the topic at hand to be useful in their field. However, the model has not only advantages but also disadvantages that deserve mentioning.

Firstly, this framework cannot be called a uniquely structural model. Stout-Rostron (2018, p. 146) argues that “GROW is confusing as it has been described as both a model and a question framework”. Despite a step-by-step algorithm, this methodology offers more reflective solutions based on personal aspirations and interests rather than a clear plan. Secondly, according to Warner and Budd (2018), the argument that portrays GROW as underperforming is that the nature of the goals the employee sets with the coach does not allow for philosophical exploration. For this reason, the model is applied only in areas that are focused on achieving measurable goals, for instance, business, but cannot be utilised effectively in humanitarian fields. These gaps are essential to take into account to implement a convenient and effective coaching methodology that can address the required goals productively.

Ken Wilber’s Model

Learning to manage a structured organisational system made up of groups of individuals working together to achieve agreed goals is a valuable skill. In the 1970s, Ken Wilber, the American researcher, created an approach that would allow one to see the whole integrity of the multiple aspects of reality, which were found in all situations and events, in their interconnection (Stout-Rostron, 2018). Subsequently, this method was called the integral approach that, according to Abravanel and Gavin (2021), initially found its application in psychology due to the fact that this framework considered the internal motives and drivers inherent in each person. The model that had gained wide popularity represents four sectors that describe individual internal and external perceptions, as well as collective internal and external ones.

One of the benefits of integral coaching is working towards a holistic lifestyle change. As Stout-Rostron (2018) notes, transformations occur through a sequence of insights and outsights in relation to internal (oneself, one’s group identity) and external (objective reality, independently existing social environment) aspects. This methodology allows creating a holistic picture of a particular person’s perceptions and his or her social circle to determine the optimal steps to acquire new knowledge and skills. In addition, from an organisational perspective, due to this approach, the coach can develop an accurate map of the employee’s strengths and weaknesses (Abravanel and Gavin, 2021). Since human development is uneven, the individual aspects of personal and professional growth are compared with internal and external criteria, which makes it possible to identify the most powerful and significant drivers. As a result, accurate information about the factors of influence and motives of behaviour is studied, thereby allowing the coach to choose an individual approach to the employee.

Nevertheless, despite a wide range of advantages, one can highlight some disadvantages of Wilber’s model. The psychological nature of this framework is a convenient tool to assess potential behavioural stimuli and perceptions, but from a work perspective, little data is addressed about the factors that determine the direction of professional development. In addition, Abravanel and Gavin (2021) remark that Wilber’s model is associated with bias caused by an employee’s subjective views of his or her internal and external motives. Therefore, the analysis of this framework requires a comprehensive evaluation of the considered criteria of personality not only from an individual’s subjective position but also based on an objective third-party assessment.

Theory of Learning

The adult learning process is based on certain psychological and pedagogical concepts that are adapted to specific cases and implemented through appropriate educational frameworks. As one of the relevant concepts used for these purposes, one can single out the transformative learning theory that, according to Gloss (2012, p. 4), is the process aimed at “effective change in a frame of reference”. In other words, this methodology implies stimulating a change in the learner’s opinions on individual aspects about which he or she has developed corresponding ideas and views. The transformative learning theory is relevant in adult education; moreover, its use to achieve successful mentoring relationships is justified by the specifics of the interaction between mentors and mentees, which is realised through flexible communication.

For transformational learning, this is essential to not only provoke new meanings and interpretations in the subject by activating a critical reassessment of his or her past experience but also to promote actions of the individual in accordance with these new meanings and interpretations. The learning process begins with an internal contradiction or paradox faced by the learning subject (Zanchetta et al., 2017). The task of the mentor, in this case, is to direct the respective interests and goals of the mentee in the right direction for the former to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills. At the same time, as Zanchetta et al. (2017) note, the subject should have some freedom for learning so that he or she can revise their beliefs, explanations and meanings, thereby coming to the right thoughts not only through the mentor’s tips but also independently. This is also important for on-the-job training and during refresher courses.

In the context of establishing mentoring relationships, this concept is relevant as a framework that offers clear motives for change but through flexible tools of influence, for instance, continuous communication and the analysis of past experiences together with the mentee. Misawa and McClain (2019) state that people often need to reflect on their experiences, and to accomplish this, the mentor can apply the transformative learning theory to steer the mentee’s thinking back on track. In the process of mentoring, the subject of learning, as a rule, chooses one’s goals individually. Nevertheless, the mentor challenges the mentee, which can expand, deepen and modify these goals. Reflecting on the results achieved is one of the practices that bring the two sides of the learning process closer together, which, according to Gloss (2012), is one of the strengths of this concept from a mentoring perspective. As a result, the necessary incentives that the mentee learns are the product of close work with the mentor.

The very concept of mentoring can be seen as a transformational learning process. The mentor creates an environment that stimulates the mentee to acquire knowledge and skills, thereby overcoming barriers and achieving new goals (Gloss, 2012). By creating a culture of support, mentorship can build an environment for transformational learning. As a result, the learning system can be viewed as a two-way process where both the mentor and the mentee acquire valuable knowledge due to constant communication. Unlike other forms of educational collaboration, such as teaching or coaching, mentoring combines different formats of interaction (Gloss, 2012). Thus, the mentor remains flexible and responds to the request of the mentee with specific suggestions and advice that may relate to various aspects of development, but without exception, all tips address the task of professional and/or personal growth. In such an environment, the mentee gains valuable skills in decision-making, problem-solving and other crucial attainments that may be of good use regardless of the area of activity.

Flexible communication, as one of the tools used in the transformative theory, is a significant instrument utilised for mentoring tasks. Schornack and Beck (2002) emphasise the importance of two-way communication and argue that this practice is a means of increasing the mentee’s trust in the mentor and the former’s confidence in the quality of the work performed. In addition, flexible two-way communication is a factor that contributes to maintaining confidentiality as an important property to be followed in view of respect for the learning subject and his or her individual outcomes (Schornack and Beck, 2002). According to Zanchetta et al. (2017), by constantly interacting with the mentor, the mentee not only develops critical thinking but also adopts individual communication patterns, which is valuable in the context of further independent work. Therefore, the considered concept offers flexible interaction practices, despite the fact that the learner’s initial views and opinions are transformed under this theory.

Given the aforementioned features of the transformative learning theory, one can argue that this concept is a suitable framework for achieving successful mentoring relationships. Productive communication helps change the mentee’s views on individual aspects. Establishing trusting interaction is a means of creating a productive environment to acquire new knowledge and skills. The mentor, in this case, is close to the mentee, which has a positive impact on the final learning outcomes.

Mentoring Program Design

The organisation viewed as a company for the implementation of the mentoring program has been operating in the healthcare sector for many years. Its budgetary base is stable and sufficient to acquire the necessary equipment and finance employee training abroad. However, one of the issues that the organisation has faced lately is the excessive number of older employees (about 50%). Due to rumours about a possible increase in the retirement age to 65, a large proportion of staff may continue working in the organisation. In addition, although the employment policies are followed, the current socio-economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the policy to reduce healthcare costs are the factors that affect the efficiency of healthcare professionals. New hires coming to the organisation are often inadequately trained from a professional perspective, exacerbated by a lack of experience. To address the existing age crisis in the company in question, one of the potentially effective measures is creating a mentoring program in which older employees can be involved as mentors to pass on valuable lessons learned to young colleagues and preserve employment opportunities since, at present, the retirement age is 55.

Developing a mentoring program requires identifying clear perspectives to achieve the desired outcomes. According to Choi et al. (2018), these activities tend to focus on the career development of less experienced employees. Unlike coaching aimed at achieving specific results in a narrow field, mentoring offers more general assistance. For the mentor oneself, working with the mentee is no less important since, for the former, this activity helps deepen their understanding of an individual path and find new insights. When the mentor talks about one’s experience and work challenges, he or she integrates that experience into one’s personality and develops oneself. Therefore, when designing a specific program, this is crucial to focus on the skills that are well developed in the mentors and can help address current gaps in the performance of young colleagues. These may include building effective communication, acquiring leadership skills and increasing productivity.

Defining the Boundaries

While analysing the contextual factors of the organisation in question, particularly the lack of professional knowledge and skills in young employees and poor mentoring experience among older personnel, goals for both parties involved should be set. Since the organisation is in a transitional period, the morale of young professionals who perform their immediate responsibilities poorly is weak. Chanchlani et al. (2018) confirm that routine has a negative impact on young staff’s productivity. Therefore, to address the needs of both parties, the goal of the mentoring program will be to preserve jobs for older employees and improve professional skills and psychological resilience for young ones. The initial stage of work will include the following steps:

An introductory meeting with the team.
Filling out a form for a mentor/mentee.
An introductory meeting with the mentors and compiling a list of program participants.

Preparing Teaching Materials

Since senior staff have little or no experience in mentoring, some auxiliary instructions and aids may be helpful to them. According to Stanulis et al. (2018, p. 569), “planning is an essential component of effective instruction in learning to teach”. Therefore, before embarking on direct interaction with mentees, the selected mentors should receive all the necessary instructions and have a set of documents to refer to so as not to miss the critical stages of work. For mentees, there are also special instructions, and the entire documentation set will include the following samples:

A brochure for mentors reminding them of the goals and objectives. It helps prepare for set-up and regular meetings with the other mentors and conduct mentoring sessions with colleagues.
A mentee brochure that explains why mentoring is needed and how to formulate a request.
A mentoring diary that helps both parties structure notes and ideas as they interact.

Program Announcement

Due to political pressure the organisation has faced recently, announcing the program and reporting to the appropriate oversight bodies is a must. An orientation session with representatives of the Department of Health will be held to inform higher authorities about the goals of the planned mentoring program. In addition, due to the lack of a culture of innovation in the organisation, older employees may find it difficult to use convenient digital tools to teach and communicate with mentees. In this regard, to build a sustainable mentoring regime, representatives of the local administration can assist in opening courses for mentors aimed at increasing computer literacy. The organisation has technical resources, but additional training costs may require extra funding. Therefore, interaction with the community and oversight boards is an important aspect of establishing a reliable and justified mentoring program.

Interaction Mode

After identifying the organisational factors, establishing mentors’ work with mentees should be the next step. As mentees, employees will be recruited who have worked for less than one year in the organisation. The responsibility of the mentors involved, in this case, is to supervise the performance of their peers and provide the necessary advice on how to optimise individual work aspects. The current bureaucratic style of management is a negative factor that hinders the promotion of talented young employees and evaluates the qualifications of subordinates based on their positions rather than real productivity. Thus, one of the mentors’ tasks is to create a learning environment in which the mentees can fulfil their professional ambitions and utilise the methods of working with patients, which will be the most effective.

In this regard, in addition to young employees’ theoretical training, their practical skills should be addressed. The experience of the organisation’s mentors, in this case, is a crucial criterion for success since knowledge sharing, as a tool for enhancing team productivity, is one of the key components of the mentoring program in question. Summing up the interim results of work with the mentees and drawing up plans for subsequent joint work are also parts of the range of the mentors’ responsibilities.

Evaluating the Program’s Sustainability

One of the important conditions for maintaining the sustainability of the planned program is the choice of an optimal evaluation framework. For this purpose, while considering the specifics of the organisation and the type of mentoring practice applied, the Corus approach is a convenient methodology. Carter (2006) defines this framework as a system that distinguishes two critical tasks. The first task is to assess whether the program in question is acceptable for the target group of employees involved in mentoring. The second one is to identify the potential profit that the organisation will gain from implementing a corresponding optimisation initiative. Analysing both criteria can help determine if the proposed program is effective and relevant.

While considering the first task and taking into account the current issues and needs of the organisation, one can note that the planned mentoring work is important for young employees involved as mentees. According to Prendergast et al. (2019), essential metrics to assess when evaluating a mentoring program are employee satisfaction and performance. If mentees confirm the value of participating in this project and prove the growth of professionalism in practice, this will be proof of the success of the program and its relevance to the organisation. Regarding the task of increasing profits in accordance with the Corus approach, the budget growth can be assessed from the standpoint of the interest of higher healthcare authorities. Prendergast et al. (2019, p. 602) cite “federal and foundational grant funding” as a potential opportunity to benefit from a performance improvement program. Other organisations may be interested in adopting this experience and implementing the mentoring program in their workflow. Therefore, proposals for the dissemination of the results of targeted work with personnel and the provision of all the necessary resources for this activity may confirm the value of the activities performed.

Based on the work done, the employees’ KPIs will be measured to determine real change before and after the implementation of the mentoring program. According to the Supreme Council of Health (2020), one of the significant organisational metrics would be the return of investment, or ROT, which represents the outcomes of strategic goals and interventions from a financial perspective. If the investment in staff training and the costs of mentoring work are justified and lower than the real profit obtained through the implementation of the mentoring program, this will prove the reliability of the project and will be an incentive to propose the program for consideration to higher healthcare authorities.

Reference List

Abravanel, M. and Gavin, J. (2021) ‘An integral quadrants perspective of coaching presence: a qualitative study of professional coaches’, International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching & Mentoring, 19(2), pp. 38-53.

Carter, A. (2006) Practical methods for evaluating coaching. Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies.

Chanchlani, S. et al. (2018) ‘The value of peer mentoring for the psychosocial wellbeing of junior doctors: a randomised controlled study’, Medical Journal of Australia, 209(9), pp. 401-405.

Choi, A. M. et al. (2018) ‘Developing a culture of mentorship to strengthen academic medical centers’, Academic Medicine, 94(5), pp. 630-633.

Gloss, E. J. (2012) ‘A hint of this and a pinch of that: theories that inform coaching and consulting’, Graduate Studies Journal of Organizational Dynamics, 2(1), pp. 1-13.

Misawa, M. and McClain, A. (2019) ‘A mentoring approach: fostering transformative learning in adult graduate education’, Journal of Transformative Learning, 6(2), pp. 52-62.

Prendergast, H. M. et al. (2019) ‘Evaluation of an enhanced peer mentoring program on scholarly productivity and promotion in academic emergency medicine: a five-year review’, Journal of the National Medical Association, 111(6), pp. 600-605.

Schornack, G. R. and Beck, C. E. (2002) ‘Mentorship theory and current practice: a study of executives in the greater Denver region’, International Business & Economics Research Journal, 1(12), pp. 15-26.

Stanulis, R. N. et al. (2018) ‘Mentoring as more than “cheerleading”: looking at educative mentoring practices through mentors’ eyes’, Journal of Teacher Education, 70(5), pp. 567-580.

Stout-Rostron, S. (2018) Business coaching international: transforming individuals and organizations. 2nd edn. New York: Routledge.

Supreme Council of Health (2020) A revised Target Operating Model for SMC for its back-office functions. Manama: KPMG.

Warner, N. and Budd, M. (2018) ‘The impact of peer-to-peer coaching on self-esteem, test anxiety and perceived stress in adolescents’, The Coaching Psychologist, 14(2), pp. 69-92.

Zanchetta, M. S. et al. (2017) ‘Mentors’ and mentees’ intellectual-partnership through the lens of the Transformative Learning Theory’, Nurse Education in Practice, 25, pp. 111-120.

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