The value of coaching and or mentoring to the individual

Abstract

This paper aimed to critically discuss the value of coaching and mentoring to the individual. It also intends to reflect my development as a coach and mentor. It has been found that mentoring involves a process of communicating, counselling and learning from a role model or leader. The mentorship relationship is formed based on goals and activities done and must not necessarily be formal. In the mentorship process, the mentor facilitates an individual or a group he or she is working with over some time (Baran, 2017). According to Baran (2017), the main agenda of mentoring is to change a person during the period. Mentoring aims at building an individual or group’s wisdom or the ability to use experiences, knowledge and skills in new processes or situations (Baran, 2017). On the other hand, the paper has found that coaching is training individuals to help them develop certain skills that can enhance their performance. Individuals under coaching often go through short-term training programs compared to mentoring that lasts much longer (Baran, 2017). In both mentoring and coaching, the individual or group undergoing either mentoring or coaching develop knowledge or skills and learn to do something excellently or behave in a certain desired way (Baran, 2017).

The Value of coaching or mentoring to the individual

The value of coaching

Summerfield (2020) claims that coaching training helps hone a person’s existing potential and leadership. According to this author, a well-organised training program is the difference between learning and attending from a participant's perspective. Therefore, it is vital to ensure that the process of training is systematic, strategic and made of deliberate activities that can develop an individual’s skills or knowledge (Coaching and Columbus, 2018). In research conducted by Coaching and Columbus (2018), when managers are passed through the conventional programs of managerial training, productivity can increase by a significant percentage. However, these authors note that when the same managers are taken through coaching and training, this can increase productivity by a much higher margin than the conventional training alone. These researchers argue that laser-focused hands-on coaching is a powerful driving force to push production. This is because coaching is both for the individuals who wish to develop their leadership abilities and who want to improve specific areas of their performance or skills (Coaching and Columbus, 2018).

Through partnership and strategic planning, for instance, in an individual’s career planning, a firm can prepare itself for future and unseen changes. Offering coaching alongside training can help it hold on it the highly skilled or most important employees. For managers planning to retain employees or go through with the succession plan, coaching enables them to establish sustainability and availability of skilled and capable employees who can assume critical roles (Lim et al., 2019). The relationship established in the coaching program is often focused on enhancing performance by focusing on what learners wish to learn. Therefore, it is usually crucial to match the organisation’s leadership, for instance, a manager with a particular coach with the expertise in the required areas (Lim et al., 2019). The coach then focuses entirely on the assigned task and develops desired skills in the employees or individuals who are to undergo the coaching process (Lim et al., 2019).

In coaching, feedback is vital to improve an individual’s performance in the areas of interest (De Haan and Gannon, 2017). According to Steelman and Wolfeld (2018), this feedback can be acquired through questioning regarding the person’s thinking process and decision making, while a coach encouraging the individual to consider other perspectives that can be beneficial to understanding how to behave or act in certain situations, with the expert or coach acting as the source of the sound ideas. Steelman and Wolfeld (2018) claim that coaching concentrates more on mentoring and the current issues of performance. Coaching tends to build an individual’s career prospects by enhancing the person’s long-term skills. This, according to Steelman and Wolfeld (2018), trickles down the organisation or company, benefiting the firm in terms of improved organisational performance and bottom line.

In coaching, collaboration plays a key role (Van Wyk, Odendaal and Maseko, 2019). These authors points out that it is important for a coaching process to be supported by all leaders in the firm, for instance, middle managers and senior managers, to work collaboratively with junior employees. According to Van Wyk, Odendaal and Maseko (2019), informal and formal training, mentoring and coaching are part of a scheme to have a constant supply of knowledgeable and skilled employees who can occupy open positions in the company and exceed the expectations in terms of what is required of them in those positions. Coaching particularly provides a cadre of skilled and capable individuals who can assume different leadership roles when asked (Van Wyk, Odendaal and Maseko, 2019).

The value of mentoring

Milner, McCarthy and Milner (2018) claim that mentors carry out four basic roles, including being advocates and facilitators, to perform excellently on their duties, unlike coaches who focus on training individuals on specific areas to improve their skills and knowledge to perform excellently on their duties. As advisors, mentors use a two-way feedback and communication model to help protégées with their performance and career goals (Milner, McCarthy and Milner (2018)). While acting as a coach, a mentor helps an individual by clarifying to them their developmental needs. They also recommend different training opportunities and teach behaviours and skills (Milner, McCarthy and Milner (2018)). As a facilitator, a mentor assists protégées to establish their professional contacts and identify or find the necessary resources for career progression and problem-solving (Milner, McCarthy and Milner (2018).

As advocates, mentors also represent their protégées’ concerns to top leadership levels about certain issues; arranging for their participation in projects with high visibility and act as the protégées’’ role models. In contemporary society, mentorship is looked at as communication, counselling and learning from a role model or leader (Picariello et al., 2021). It is said that mentoring is something, which is beneficial to an individual and the firm they work for (Picariello et al., 2021). According to Picariello et al. (2021), mentoring is a valuable tool and proven approach that leaders can use to change the behaviour of individuals or their way of doing things. Picariello et al. (2021) say that mentoring happens when a caring individual that can provide friendship, advice, constructive examples and support that can make other people successful is present.

According to Bailey (2003), mentoring can be the difference between failure and success. Bailey (2003) says that mentoring comprises a process of supporting a person to realize their true potential in whatever they are pursuing. This can be in achieving their relational, organisational, vocational or spiral goals. The foundation of mentoring is similar to a covenant association between different individuals, two or more, with strong commitment and mutual trust (Bailey, 2003). Also important to succession plans, mentoring is an excellent method for an organisation to make sure that it retains highly experienced and knowledgeable individuals (Bailey, 2003).

In a mentoring process, individuals are often paired with experts with more experience to learn the firm’s environment (Masalimova and Nigmatov, 2015). During this paring, the mentee and mentor discuss the problems experienced, career opportunities, and job considerations, enabling the mentee to learn how to succeed in certain areas of interest (Masalimova and Nigmatov, 2015). Unlike coaching, which is task-oriented, the mentoring process concentrates on the growth of the whole person and values acquisition (Masalimova and Nigmatov, 2015). Using the example of the church ministry, mentoring, which can also entail coaching, is a one-on-one provision that makes it possible for a person to use his or her talents and gifts to minister (Bower, 2018). This author claims that mentoring allows an individual to gain wisdom by tapping into other people’s experiences. According to Bower (2018), everyone has a mentor, the individuals they emulate and learn from. This researcher further opines that mentoring comprises a lifelong association or relationship that allows a mentor to assist a protégé to reach their God-given potential.

The key in mentoring is developing the desired type of leader (Erhabor, 2018). According to Erhabor (2018), a highly effective method of developing quality leaders who have reached their true potential is establishing this mentoring relationship. This author highlights that a mentor is like a brain that one can pick and is a shoulder that one can lean and cry on. According to Williams (2005), there are about seven main competencies, which are important today. These include a closer engagement, integrity, goal orientation, resonant communication, a strong personality, resilient resourcefulness and excellent perception. Williams (2005) claims that flexibility and remaining consistent in the ground rules and values are key to having credible professional leaders. This author claims that these are the factors that are an important source of leadership and influence and things that must be seen in a good mentor.

Another important thing in mentoring is goal orientation, which entails concentrating on important goals and mobilizing and directing individuals to pursue their goals (Walsh and Money, 2018). It is also important to have clear values and transparent integrity. According to Walsh and Money (2018), mentors or leaders have to remain glued to such principles to be influential. In daily activity, particularly under pressure to deliver good results, sound relationships and close engagement while maintaining or retaining one’s professional individuality are important in mentoring. In a good mentor, the skills required include coaching, mentoring, giving feedback, influencing and being a keen listener (Walsh and Money, 2018). According to Walsh and Money (2018), the cornerstone of a good leader and a mentor is having emotional intelligence. The other things that are important in a good mentor and leader include emotional synergy, emotional competence, emotional integrity and emotional awareness (Walsh and Money, 2018). It is important for the mentor to practice self-control and have the ability to establish mutual trust.

Lancer, Clutterbuck and Megginson (2016) say that mentoring is a powerful tool in shaping a business, a family, the church, a country or even the entire world. In research conducted in the United States, Lancer, Clutterbuck and Megginson (2016) found that mentoring is highly beneficial, as shown by the outperformance of individuals who went through the program compared to those who have not. These authors claim that mentoring has gone beyond the numerous informal relationships which happen as ambitious managers and employees and would-be entrepreneurs seek new ways of being successful through the support and help of experienced advisors. More and more organisations today have formal mentoring frameworks as they seek how to shorten their learning programs, speed up the advancement of their managerial skills, and build future leaders (Lancer, Clutterbuck and Megginson, 2016).

Many more organisations have realised that mentoring initiatives are both beneficial to the mentors and the mentors because the latter also grow their counselling and coaching skills and expand access to relevant information. They also grow or expand their contacts and sense of caring and well-being from expending or sharing their knowledge and skills (Poulsen, 2013).

By developing future leaders, the commitment of mentors offers important instructive information to make clear what the responsibilities of a good leader are. A mentor also counsel’s their protégé concerning ethical conduct, integrity and values. Additionally, they show their mentees about problem-solving and the paths to avoid. Finally, mentors support the protégées to recognise the results of their plans and actions (Peiser et al., 2018). According to Peiser et al. (2018), mentors offer the knowledge, abilities and skills, as well as a wider view for the mentee in the respective sector. Through forward-thinking, companies or organisations have started developing leadership development programs to mentor future leaders. Examples of the companies that have started mentoring and coaching as a means of creating highly skilled, knowledgeable and wise leaders, according to Laabs (2000), include Motorola, Citicorp, Ernst & Young and IBM. According to Laabs (2000), these firms have, so far, reported growth and positive results from the programs they created. This author claims that these organisations have also experienced increased revenue, market share and productivity. They have also experienced increased employee retention.

Coaching and mentoring is vital for the development of future leaders. While coaching comprises a training program that takes a shorter time to develop an individual in certain areas to improve their performance. Mentoring aims to change behaviour and ensure that an individual gains knowledge and wisdom through a constructive relationship with a mentor. A mentor can also be a coach who builds one character and guides one towards achieving one’s goals, be it career or relationship goals.

References

Baran, M., 2017. The Importance of Mentoring in Employee Work Engagement–based on research of company employees in Poland. International Journal of Contemporary Management, 16(2), pp. 33-56.

Bower, B.D., 2018. Catalysing Soul Care Mentoring among Young Leaders in France (Doctoral dissertation, Nyack College, Alliance Theological Seminary).

Bailey, P.H., 2003. Mentoring makes a difference. Air & Space Power Journal, 5, pp.1-10

Coaching, L. and Columbus, G.A., 2018. Using Coaching Skills to Lead. From the Editor Diane M. Wiater, 6(1), pp. 102-107.

De Haan, E. and Gannon, J., 2017. The coaching relationship. The SAGE handbook of coaching, pp. 195-217.

Erhabor, N.I., 2018. Developing leaders through mentoring in environmental education. Electronic Green Journal, 1(41).

Heinz, H.J., 2003. Mentor program guidelines. Retrieved January, 29, p.2010.

Lim, D.H., Oh, E., Ju, B. and Kim, H.N., 2019. Mediating role of career coaching on job-search behaviour of older generations. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 88(1), pp. 82-104.

Lancer, N., Clutterbuck, D. and Megginson, D., 2016. Techniques for coaching and mentoring. Routledge.

Laabs, J., 2000. Need Peak HR Performance? Consider a Coach. Workforce, 79(10), pp.132-134.

Milner, J., McCarthy, G. and Milner, T., 2018. Training for the coaching leader: how organizations can support managers. Journal of Management Development.

Masalimova, A.R. and Nigmatov, Z.G., 2015. Structural-functional model for corporate training of specialists in carrying out mentoring. Rev. Eur. Stud., 7, p.39.

Picariello, M., Angelle, P.S., Trendafilova, S., Waller, S. and Ziakas, V., 2021. The Role of Mentoring in Leadership Development: A Qualitative Study of Upper Administration Women in the National Basketball Association. Journal of Global Sport Management, pp.1-21.

Poulsen, K.M., 2013. Mentoring programmes: learning opportunities for mentees, for mentors, for organisations and for society. Industrial and commercial Training.

Peiser, G., Ambrose, J., Burke, B. and Davenport, J., 2018. The role of the mentor in professional knowledge development across four professions. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education.

Summerfield, M., 2020. Leadership: Three key employee-centered elements with case studies. Xlibris Corporation.

Steelman, L.A. and Wolfeld, L., 2018. The manager as coach: The role of feedback orientation. Journal of business and psychology, 33(1), pp.41-53.

Van Wyk, R., Odendaal, A. and Maseko, B.M., 2019. Team coaching in the workplace: critical success factors for implementation. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(1), pp.1-11.

Williams, M., 2005. Leadership for Leaders. Google Books. Available at: [Accessed 27 June 2021]

Walsh, B. and Money, J., 2018. About you as a mentor. In Mentoring Physical Education Teachers in the Secondary School (pp. 37-48). Routledge.

Weiss, J.A. and Merrigan, M., 2021. Employee Coachability: New Insights to Increase Employee Adaptability, Performance, and Promotability in Organizations. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching & Mentoring, 19(1).

Introduction

I have had the opportunity, on several occasions been a mentor to young individuals with career dreams and other people just wishing to learn from my experiences and skills and be able to behave professionally and carry themselves with high esteem. These opportunities have enabled me to shape the behaviour of many young people, influence their character and enhance their skills to perform better in different positions. In this paper, am going to reflect on my practice as a mentor and a coach to young people seeking to develop themselves in different ways.

The challenge of change and the need for coaching and mentoring

I have realised and even read in literature how contemporary organisations, global or local, small or large, are immune-deficient to change. This view is true according to Herrero (2008), who says that the new normal for many organisations involves staying ahead of change. To efficiently manage the competitive, economic and technological forces today, many leaders in almost all sectors are always looking for new ways to alter their operations. Fundamentally, the mission of many organisations is to drive innovation and change with the help of strategically developed plans that must be assessed aggressively. However, evidence suggests that many leaders continue to be eluded by successful change management (Herrero, 2008). The disruptive change and innovation continue to charge different leaders in all organisations to find new methods of growing their employees beyond the ordinary sequence and scope of business (Herrero, 2008). The disruptive change that many organisations continue to experience has forced leaders to create or develop new organisational capabilities and capacity to result in continuous innovation with ready and well-prepared workers to excellently complete their assignments even amidst the changes (Herrero, 2008).

Anthony et al. (2008) point out that the disruptive innovation problems continue to challenge leaders to create team charters, which spell out the organisation’s milestones, assumptions, freedom levels and objectives. Choosing workers for such a team is often supported by team leaders who can expand the commitment and awareness about innovation by building the knowledge and skillsets of the workers (Anthony et al., 2008). It is important for workers to know what is expected of them and achieve or do their duties successfully (Skarzynski and Gibson, 2008). These authors also note that employees usually like to remain engaged in their work. According to Levy (2021), this is where coaching and mentoring come in for firms that badly want to pursue their objectives and goals. According to Levy (2021), the work is learning, and a leader must ensure the workers' continuous integration and use of known concepts and the identification of new information necessary for improvement and innovation. These two items allow such organisations to learn new ways of bettering themselves in their respective sectors.

My coaching experience

Alley (2010) claims that both coaching and mentoring helps to support organizational learning and knowledge acquisition in workers. Both coaching and mentoring have been useful in promoting change in the organization by altering people’s thinking concerning how they do their jobs and having an innovative and creative perspective. As a result, they can generate solutions and tackle emerging workplace challenges (Aldeman, 2011). Researchers like Van Dinther, Dochy and Segers (2011) have reported that personal values and beliefs, showing as self-ability or efficacy, are important in learning and good performance. According to these researchers, self-efficacy predicts one’s performance and higher self-efficacy results in better outcomes.

Increasingly, leaders in organizations understand that coaching and mentoring improve performance, facilitate professional and personal development, and increase motivation and commitment to one’s duties (Joo, Jeung and Yoon, 2010). Coaches today are shifting their conventional focus from function and task engagement to empowering people through mentoring (Joo, Jeung and Yoon, 2010). Coaching is also considered a positive aspect of leadership (Joo, Jeung and Yoon, 2010). Coaching specifically allows the worker and coach to unlock the individual potential to maximize or enhance their performance and development (Joo, Jeung and Yoon, 2010). The goal is to support individuals to develop the ability to find their solutions to dilemmas, tasks and challenges in the workplace.

As a coach, my primary duty has been to enhance the skills and capabilities of others to enable them to reach their true potential in respective professions and areas that require improvement. My role as a coach has been to offer support, concentrating on the situation with commitment and consideration like no other. My role has been to help individuals successfully change to a level they wish or take their desired direction. As a coach, I am used to offering support to individuals at all levels to become who they wish to become. I am also needed certain skill sets and relevant goals as a coach. According to Al Hilali et al. (2020), a coach is like a teacher, teaching students different subjects, showing them how to carry themselves around and behave.

In several mentoring and coaching sessions, I have acted as a trainer, an advisor and an energizer. During these occasions, I have acted as an important source of motivation and development for the individuals under my leadership. To lead effectively and coach and mentor, I have been forced to develop a certain array of skills, specifically those needed to manage change, locality limitations and strengths, and outline the right strategy. Additionally, it became clear that doing my duties as a coach and mentor effectively needed the ability to coordinate resources and effort to achieve the set goals, be able to optimize an individual’s performance, increase satisfaction, stay accountable, evaluate current performance, evaluate performance in general, design effective and proper learning, as well as establish a balance in both my life as a coach or mentor and the individual under my guidance. These are the skills that Ladyshewsky and Litten (2021) also believe are important for every mentor or coach.

It is about two years since Organisation Y asked me to coach a team of recruits finding difficulty performing to the expected levels to help them identify and achieve their personal and organisational goals and develop their career. After being put to task by the organisation’s top leadership, I considered and was interested in the firm's future and its employees. My focus was on what they could achieve together in the future rather than old history. We, therefore, embarked on finding solutions on how their careers and job performance could be improved, with all of us suggesting many options. My job was to help the team think of things and develop a suitable structure or foundation for work. I also needed to monitor their progress and help them remain on track in terms of what they wanted to achieve. My skills and experience came in handy during the coaching process, particularly in helping individuals in the team to find their solutions and reach my level of experience and ability.

As is noted by Al Hilali et al. (2020), some important features that coachees must see in their coach include a person who is experienced, the capacity to assess individuals to explore their personality chemistry, the ability to make mid-course corrections and the capacity to measure the participants’ progress. During the coaching process, I established a suitable challenging environment where participants could experience professional development and growth. This environment challenged them to use their knowledge and skills productively and skills. However, despite these characteristics and abilities that I needed to have as a coach, I realised that it was important to establish a relationship with my coachees based on transparency and trust. Additionally, establishing a successful relationship during the coaching process needed participants enthusiastic about learning and willing to be productive and skilled. To establish a successful relationship with the individuals, I had to understand and be knowledgeable about every team member, know their strengths and weaknesses, and their likes and dislikes. After knowing them clearly, I knew how to reach their hearts and interests, making it easier to share my stories from my experiences. This also made it possible to propose new ideas on how to behave or do things differently, which they were interested in from the looks of it. The coaching process

The first step of my coaching process in Organisation Y was to allow each coachee to set their individual goals. However, as recommended by Salim (2021), I was required to remain critical, constructive and open-minded during this goal-setting stage. This is because my coaching was intended to support the coachees in a more successful career, particularly in their daily work and duties. Secondly, I asked all participants to comply with everything we agreed upon during the orientation program and remain committed to changing or improving their behavioural outcomes and causes. By allowing them to assess their job performance and ability, the coachees understood clearly their characters, abilities and strengths, and possibilities or potential.

Allowing them to assess themselves enabled us to identify the different obstacles they experienced as individuals and as a team and how they could be overcome. The process also enabled them to develop their self-confidence and self-reliance. It also allowed me to help them develop and use new skills and learn from their achievements and mistakes. The coachees learned how to design unique action plans and use new strategies and ideas from the coaching process. They became more aware of their surroundings, particularly about the threats, opportunities, possibilities and circumstances around them. Achieving all these required many documentation and meetings, which all coachees were required to adhere to, besides the many email correspondence, telephone conversations and face-to-face or direct meetings with the individuals.

Evidence suggests that it is vital to establish a coaching relationship for the coaching process to be successful (O’Broin and Palmer, 2018). According to O’Broin and Palmer (2018), this relationship is key in mediating between developing self-efficacy and the received coaching. Anthony (2017) says that there are four vital correlates to the relationship between a coachee and a coach. These include the self-efficacy of the coach regarding the ability to facilitate learning and achieve results, the motivation of a coachee to use his or her motivation to perceive the coach’s support, and the amount of coaching meetings conducted. The coach and the participants form a kind of partnership to work together to achieve specific objectives (Anthony, 2017).

To establish this kind of relationship with my coachees, I, first of all, started enhancing trust through direct or face-to-face meetings. I then discussed with the team things about confidentiality, our coaching relationship, and useful information that could help us during the coaching process. Additionally, I helped the coachees set their goals regarding what they need from our established relationship. Communication was important during the meetings because everyone needed to understand what we are doing and what they needed from the process. Finally, I provided necessary feedback to individuals and the team about improving their confidence and improving their weaker areas. I based these steps on De Haan and Gannon (2017) recommendation for establishing a good relationship in a coaching process, which entails goal setting, efficient communication, making critical and vital observations and providing the necessary feedback.

My mentoring experience

According to Clutterbuck and Spence (2017), mentoring is like one person offering off-line support to another for the one being helped to make important transitions in their thinking, work or knowledge. I have occasionally been called upon to mentor young individuals in my church ministry. In this role, I took the role of a guide or an older and more experienced individual who can advise the younger people to develop different aspects of their lives, for instance, to achieve behavioural change and experience career progress. As a mentor, my role was to advise, guide and support my mentees. For young employees whom I have interacted with as their mentor, my role was to improve their skills and abilities through advice and guidance using observation and assessment founded on the skills and experiences I gained over the years. As a mentor, I have had two major responsibilities: work-related development and guidance and acting as the mentees’ support and role model. Doing these duties, I provided them with professional advice and expertise. As a mentor, I have had the opportunity to help recruits in several organisations promptly understand how things are done in their organisation, which is the culture of the company. I have also helped several continuing employees to build their positions and be fit for other career opportunities. Adebayo et al. (2016) say that the main duties of a mentor include empowerment by offering counselling and advice, facilitation, guidance and support. Some of the things I did as a mentor include skills development, helping the mentees plan, and implementing their career development plans. In this regard, the target was to ensure that these individuals set high and achievable goals, make realistic plans, offer them a good role model, and monitor their progress.

To be a good role model to my mentees, it has been important that I have some characteristics that can be emulated and that could help me to influence character. Some of these characteristics, also noted by Adebayo et al. (2016), include a powerful personality, the desire and ability to share my experience and knowledge, enthusiasm, the ability to provide and acquire responses, goal-setting abilities, excellent reporting and good negotiation skills. Therefore, the balance between knowledge, personal qualities, experience and competence played a key role in me as a mentor. My mentoring experience made me realise that sharing one’s successes, failures and experiences with mentees is useful in breaking down the relationship barrier, which makes the trainees feel encouraged to reciprocate. Doing so makes it possible to establish a confident relationship with mentees.

For the mentees, being able to change behaviour and achieve their set goals, be it career or relationships or otherwise, I have noticed that a good or ideal mentee is the one who is interested to learn and is willing to overcome challenging situations. Team players also make the mentor-mentee relationship easier to develop and make the learning process interesting, for instance, through role-play. It is also important to have open-minded and patient mentees, particularly when it comes to receiving feedback or new ideas, and rather than being negatively affected by the feedback they do not like, they see it as a chance to improve and learn. Therefore, a positive attitude in a mentee also plays a big role in making the mentoring process successful. Furthermore, an appreciative mentee of the trust established and help being offered and the ability and interest to establish a positive mentee-mentor relationship by reaching out or seeking help and continuing the established relationship also make the mentoring process worthwhile and successful (Heinz, 2003).

According to Karcher, Nakkula and Harris (2005), the mentee needs to accept and follow their mentor’s advice and remain honest, informing the mentor concerning their relevant employment and training experiences. These authors also suggests that it is wise for the mentee to listen carefully to understand what the mentor is saying and ask for advice or clarifications (Karcher, Nakkula and Harris, 2005). Therefore, the mentee should be sincerely interested in learning and developing a professional and personal relationship with the mentor to support the development process (Karcher, Nakkula and Harris, 2005). As already noted above, it is also important to have a positive attitude, respect the established relationship's advice and opportunities, and act respectfully towards the mentor. According to Karcher, Nakkula and Harris (2005), it is vital for the mentee to maintain contact with the mentor, share feedback and progress, and show appreciation for the new knowledge, learned experiences, and skills.

My role as a mentor has boosted young people’s careers and acted as the required energy or a catalyst for their success. My experience as a mentor has highlighted the importance of mentoring relationships, which is a ladder for stepping upwards to professional competence and improved productivity. My mentoring skills have improved individual productivity, increased job satisfaction, led to personal development and improved professional development. Nonetheless, these have only been made possible through a strengthened association between myself and my interns. Establishing mutual trust with my interns has been made possible by the free exchange of opinions and a team spirit, which has been invaluable in problem-solving. According to Donaldson, Swart and Richards (2020), mentoring and coaching requires an environment of sharing and trust to identify each other and work together effectively.

Conclusion

The new normal in almost all sectors are improving productivity and reaching sustainable performance through innovation and change management. Organisations are continuing to find it hard to use their existing systems or old ways of doing things. Instead, they are focusing on employee development and growth. Today, people seek ways to grab new opportunities, such as better employment positions and other growth opportunities. Top organizational leaders seek mentoring and coaching to ensure that organisations have employees who can take on new roles and adapt to the changing employment and production landscape. They have shifted to deliberate, focused, holistic and positive coaching and mentoring programs to encourage their workers to discover their contributions and strengths and to find better possible solutions to new workplace challenges. Mentors or coaches are continuing to play a vital role in individual and team development, developing or changing people’s character through goal setting and learning from experienced and skilled persons and through carefully formulated training or coaching programs. This has made it possible for the mentees or coachees to learn new ways of doing things, behaving, achieving their career goals, and being better performers than before the mentoring or coaching programs.

Recommendations

Organisations should continue to offer their employees better mentoring and coaching opportunities to develop themselves by gaining the necessary skills and behaviour to perform better and be able to take higher more challenging positions.

Through this mentoring and coaching, organisations and employees will be able to adapt to the changes in their respective industries

It is important to get mentors or coaches with the right skills and experiences and an individual with the influence and ability to act as a role model, not just anybody, because not every person has the skills and charisma of a good mentor or coach.

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