Mentoring: Training’s Best Friend

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With the increased focus on workforce development and apprenticeship programs in today’s workplace, the need for coaching and mentoring has continued to grow, which in turn positions the value of training to ultimately increase. The challenge is not merely training mentors (and managers) to coach, but also positioning mentors to practice coaching situationally.

Let’s say management at Company A sends an employee to a classroom or e-learning course on Asphalt Plant Safety (any training topic could apply here). In the “old days,” managers would simply sign their employees up, send them off, and rarely follow up after to investigate the training’s value. Today, mentors who are aware of and understand the value of coaching can become training reinforcement partners for management by asking good coaching questions as they relate to a training course or experience, such as:

• What did you specifically learn that you can share with the rest of the team, so we have an opportunity to learn and improve?

• What did you learn about yourself from the training that you are committed to improving?

• On a scale of one to six, with six being you feel like you can apply the material flawlessly and consistently and one being you still feel like you need additional training, where would you rate yourself and why?

Management also needs to make it easy for mentors to coach after programs. Here are a few tips to help those responsible for the learning process achieve this task:

• Create a list of coaching questions they can ask for accountability purposes as they relate to the learning and application.

• Provide a list of short activities managers can use to reinforce the training and facilitate practice and change.

• Support employees once they return to their workspace by continuing to oversee performance, correcting any areas of divergence from process and expectations. Forming the bridge of coaching ultimately shows mentors how to coach specifically to the material that was taught in class

Again, the notion of combining training and mentoring is not a new one, but there has never been a better time, with talent development and retention becoming a major focus of the workplace, to train and support your mentors in their journey toward becoming coaching partners to your employees.

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