Abstract
The purpose of the paper is to discuss coaching, mentoring and counseling as the approaches taken by managers in order to benefit in the future. It was found that in any system of activity evaluation the result includes both a feedback on the performance of the work and development plans aimed at improving the individual employee in the future. There are three related roles, in which the manager may be involved in the feedback process and the development, namely coaching, counseling and mentoring. Every method was briefly described. Much has been written about coaching, and review of the literature shows that, in different contexts and cultures, this phenomenon is seen in different ways. In general, it is the most promising method of motivation. Counseling was explained as the ability of listening to the individual employee and allowing him/her to find ways to solve or reduce anxiety in important areas for him/her. Mentoring is the main tool, when working with newcomers or trainees. In conclusion section all methods were compared and coaching was defined as the most universal.
Introduction
The problem of motivation and motives in the activities is one of the central issues being studied not only in developing countries, but also in developed countries. Time changes, so the business does. People within companies, their way of thinking and perception of the world also change. Companies realize that under adverse conditions only those survive, who can motivate the staff of the company to an active and creative work and begin to adapt quickly to the continuous growth of change. However, paradoxically, most managers run the same way as decades ago, resorting to such methods as threats, the method of “carrot and stick” or higher wages. Nevertheless, there are other, more advanced, leaders who are trying to increase the motivation of staff through various training and innovation in personnel management (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2012).
The relevance of this work lies in the fact that modern business has reached such a degree of specialization of managerial work that human resource management has become an independent and very important for the success of a business specialty. Knowledge of techniques and methods of work with the staff can significantly improve business performance, both in a stable external environment and in their sudden change (Lawler III and Boudreau, 2012).
Thus, the purpose of personnel management of any company is the comprehensive development of employees (as a result – increase in motivation and qualification), a decrease of control over the work process and the delegation of responsibility for the timely and effective execution of the job. This, in turn, allows moving the time and attention of the head to the fulfillment of strategic objectives (Northouse, 2007).
Coaching, Counseling and Mentoring
Modern approaches to the management of human resources are based on the achievements of psychology and sociology of work, use new technologies of staffing companies, development and consolidation of regulatory rules of intra-corporate interaction, detection of procedures to determine the needs of employees. The result is the achievement of efficiency of interaction between the organization and its members (Lawler III and Boudreau, 2012).
The main condition for the effective implementation of all functions of the corporate culture is the presence in the organization of performers, who may be to some extent subjects of influence in an organization. If considering the possible performers and guides of corporate culture, then the most influential in the organization employees, besides the management and top management, may become them. They are more fully integrated into existing socio-psychological organization relationship, value and normative space, have a long experience of work in the company and enjoy the confidence of the leadership of the organization. It is about a coach, a mentor and a counselor (Griffin, 2008).
Coaching
Coaching is the most promising method of motivation, characterized by a social technology of the partnership in the development and correction of professional, personal and behavioral competence of all employees and the company as a whole to form motivation and corporate behavior. Coaching management is aimed at detecting current needs and forming motivation on the active and creative work (Stone, 2007).
Coaching as a new form of consulting support appeared in the early 1980s. At first, this term meant a special form of training of athletes competing for outstanding results. Then successful and budding businessmen, politicians, public figures and stars of show business began to seek coaching as an effective method of achieving serious personal goals. In the 1980s, coaching began to play an important role in business, but has long been the privilege of the senior level. Soon, the effectiveness of coaching has become known throughout the world. However, the serious attitude towards the role of coaching in organizational development has been prepared by situational leadership works, where the coaching is considered as a style of management, aimed at the development of initiative and independence of subordinates (Stone, 2007).
The main core of coaching as a management style is the creation of an effective system of non-financial motivation of employees. Currently, almost all the leaders do not deny the need for selection, development and training of staff for the development of the organization and business as such. Coaching involves rapid learning “on the job”. It significantly improves the interpersonal relationships in the team, creates flexibility and adaptability of both individual employees and the team as a whole to changes in the organization. The secret of coaching job is simple – the coach believes in people. It is the most important. Gradually this belief, confirmed by personal experience, growing together with knowledge, is transformed into a formula: “I believe that I can” = “I know that I can”. The philosophy of coaching comes from the fact that person is by nature infinitely talented and has a huge potential that is not realized to the full and that everyone already has all the resources required to achieve the goals and teaches to be ready to set audacious goals. The task of a coach is to help formulate the problem, define the goals, ways and means of achieving them (Armstrong, 2006).
Coaching is a synthesis of business consulting, training, psychological counseling, aimed at the formation of the desired corporate behavior. However, coaching is the independent method with its own philosophy, technology and regulations. Its adequate application provides with a new quality of activities that are not available to other methods. The coach is not an expert on the product, but is an expert on the process. His/her main task is to organize the process in such a way that the person (group) independently answers the questions which he/she (it) arises. In the process of interaction, the coach and the client or clients clarify the purpose and structure. During the dialogue coach makes a positive creative environment in order to define and clarify the core values of the client, on the basis of which the work with the goals will be done. After determining the goals and needs, strategies and approaches are developed, which work the best specifically for that particular person or organization, all internal resources are mobilizes and internal barriers are eliminated, individual coaching tools are selected (Stone, 2007).
The basic structure of coaching includes awareness and responsibility. The first key element is the awareness that becomes a result of increased attention, concentration and clarity. Awareness is not only the need to watch and listen at the workplace, but also the ability to select and clearly perceive the relevant facts and information, determining their importance. Responsibility is also important for highly efficient performance. Responsibility adopted by the person him-/herself is significantly different from the responsibility entrusted to him/her from the outside. When the employee sincerely and consciously accepts responsibility for his/her thoughts and deeds, his/her devotion to them is increased, and with it the efficiency and performance. If the employee is forced to take the responsibility, the effectiveness of performance does not increase at all (Armstrong, 2006).
It should be noted that coaching is the most in demand in dynamically developing companies, regardless of the scope of business, especially when the company experiences a period of intensive growth, develops new markets and / or creates new products and the like (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2012).
Counseling
Individual counseling is listening to the individual employee and allowing him/her to find ways to solve or reduce anxiety in important areas for him/her. In the context of the organization it is likely that any subject of concern to subordinate will also be of some concern for the manager. Therefore, counseling work is usually more prescriptive than in other contexts (Stone, 2007).
Counseling is a process of awareness of the needs of the individual employee and individual provision of opportunity to him (her) to explore ways to meet those needs. Apparently, it meets the requirements of counseling as a part of performance evaluation and development process, as clarifies the task of understanding, as well as providing the opportunity to explore ways to meet those needs (McWilliams and Beam, 2013). Awareness of the needs of the individual employee is an understanding of all the factors and interference occurring in a particular situation that allows focusing on the skills, necessary to achieve this. Similarly, the provision of opportunity to explore ways to meet these needs is the consideration of factors and disturbances taking place in a particular situation or activity of the employee, and thinking about how to achieve the desired results (Stone, 2007).
Counseling goals are attained by conducting one of the specified counseling functions, namely instruct, support, converse, release of sensitive pressures, elucidated thinking, and, reorientation. Skills that help understanding comprise of listening, analysis of the situation, a sensitive formulation of the question, the ability to probe public opinion and not to get involved emotionally. Skills to help thinking about the ways to achieve the desired results are the ability to prompt assistance in the birth of ideas, the ability to conduct discussions, tact and diplomacy. There are, of course, the real limitations as the manager responsible for the activity of the employee, he/she advises: any arising in the course of action plans should be acceptable to the employee, the manager and the organization. Thus, the manager may make recommendations to the employee on the admissibility of certain proposals. Therefore, other skills as the ability to allow employees to understand that the most desired good results may be unacceptable from a financial point of view or from the standpoint of the interests of the organization at this time are involved (Armstrong, 2006).
Mentoring
In modern conditions, with the introduction of new systems of effective human resources management, mentor can be a guide of values and norms of the organization. Since his/her activity is based primarily on a system of authoritarian power and control, it is the most effective, when mentors begin to transfer their knowledge and skills to the most promising employees of the company, as well as young professionals motivated by an accelerated career advancement. As a result, mentors begin to form a semantic field, creating and recreating the communication network, quantitatively and qualitatively expanding the value-regulatory organization of the space, forming a unified culture (Lawler III and Boudreau, 2012).
Mentoring is the main tool, when working with newcomers or trainees, the purpose of its application is the training of employees to the level adopted by the company’s standard. In fact, it is the transfer of knowledge about how, for example, the store works, which range of goods is represented, what a disciplinary offense is, what attitude should be demonstrated to customers, what service standards include, etc. (Stone, 2007).
Mentoring is necessary in order to support and encourage the implementation of employee training, transfer the knowledge gained in the organization and rules of conduct adopted by the company and unlock the potential of trainee. The advantage of mentoring is the possibility of mentorship training directly in the workplace. This method is generally more individualized, but often requires more time and effort (DeMik, 2007).
Mentoring is the most direct method of training and staff development, which in addition to a positive side has a negative one. The main disadvantages of this method include the reduction in job security for older categories of staff, out of whom the majority of the mentors is selected; applying this method in the business, as increasing the flexibility of the domestic labor market entails, first of all, the reduction of the motivation and loyalty to the instructors of the program; thirdly, criticism of mentoring relates to its limits in the natural socialization and intergenerational continuity at the present stage. The feature of the ability to captivate and motivate the student is equally important in mentoring, which eventually significantly raises motivation and the effectiveness of the learning process. After all, even after the learning process the student can at any time refer to the teacher, who, in turn, is able to help. At the same time, the main task of a mentor is being in constant proximity with the student to maintain his/her own example to demonstrate the right approach (Blundel and Ippolito, 2008).
Conclusions
In conclusion, it should be noted that currently there are many styles of motivation. Each of them has its own effective consequence and, of course, has a right to exist. However, it is necessary to recognize that in an increasingly competitive market, technological innovation, economic uncertainty and social instability with every day the need for better methods of motivation will only continue to grow even more (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2012).
Thus, using one or another method of training into practice, the organization must first identify the needs, the goals of needs, determine the content of programs, and then determine which method is appropriate in a given situation. So, counseling is needed, when the problem is the “area of expertise” and cannot be effectively resolved within the organization (lack of time, knowledge, and it is cheaper to buy a decision outside). The costs must be carefully calculated. Counselors must be able to effectively manage. As a rule, it does not occur (or there is limited) increase in the competence of the client on how to solve the problem. Mentoring is important, when the organization has staff competent in solving various issues, and where the transfer of accumulated experience within the organization from more experienced to less experienced staff is necessary. Basically “ready” solutions are transferred. This rarely contributes to the development of new initiatives. Regarding coaching, it is used when the case is critical to the success of an employee’s ability to innovate and a sense of personal responsibility for the result. It requires special skills of coach. The organization should encourage the independence, responsibility and entrepreneurship of employees (Armstrong, 2006; Stone, 2007; Lawler III and Boudreau, 2012).
For example, the higher the expert climbing the career ladder in this regard management gives him/her more freedom in decision-making, the more urgent the method of coaching becomes. If it concerns a working specialty, such as an industrial plant turner, the main factor in choosing a method of teaching in the first place will be training at the workplace.
Thus, as can be seen from a comparison of mentoring, coaching and counseling, coaching includes and complements each of them, being task-oriented, performance-driven and considering the manager as critical partner (Management Mentors, n.d.). All these advantages give coaching a big advantage over other training programs and it is the perfect tool for creating innovative motivation of the personnel of modern companies.
References
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