HR Definitions

Coaching is a training and development intervention, conducted by a subject matter expert.

A coach works closely with a person, or group of people, to develop a particular aspect of performance.

In the workplace there is a growing presence of coaching for a variety of issues, especially in Executive development.

We need to differentiate between coaching and mentoring in the context of the workplace.

Coaching refers to close training advice provided by a professional with either formal, or experiential skills in the particular topic area.

At HRworkbench we refer to:

• A coach as a subject matter expert who provides close instruction to a person or group of people on a particular aspect of behaviour, skill, or knowledge



• A mentor as a type of coach who has actually experienced the workplace situations that the person seeking mentoring is engaged in, and they become a trusted advisor who counsels and becomes the source of wisdom

Coaching can be used to improve performance in the workplace by developing particular behaviours, skills, or knowledge.

It can be used cost effectively for development of:

• Executives
• Senior Managers
• Mid-Level Managers
• Front Line Managers
• High Potential Sales People

Coaching is high cost as the ratio of coaches to trainees is very low, usually one-to-one.

For this reason, coaching is applied to situations where the investment in the person at this level of intensity will result in bottom line gains of a large magnitude.

Best practice in coaching involves setting formal goals for achievement and periodic measurement against those goals.

HRworkbench provides this facility within its Performance Management Online Platform.

Corporate Coaching
Mentoring
Performance Appraisal
Performance Management