Understanding the differences between mentoring and coaching

Is there a difference between coaching and mentoring? There is a difference, and you can add training and consultancy to the list too. While the separate practices of coaching, training and consulting each have a distinct approach to helping people, mentoring can combine them all.

For this article, we will focus on the coaching vs mentoring debate, as we believe there’s a standout winner for providing broad support and expertise. We will explore what mentoring is, the differences between coaching and mentoring, and the short- and long-term benefits to be gained.

What is mentoring?

Mentoring, as defined by the European Mentoring & Coaching Council, ‘is a learning relationship’ that involves ‘the sharing of skills, knowledge and expertise between a mentor and mentee through developmental conversations, experience sharing and role modelling’.

The mentor-mentee relationship, often developed over time, is the key to understanding what is meant by mentorship. There is an element of sharing – or transferring – knowledge, skills and expertise between two people. There is also perhaps an element of knowledge of the mentee by the mentor, so the mentor has a clearer picture of what’s required of their relationship.

In a career development context, there can be fewer, more robust ways to reach desired outcomes than courtesy of a fruitful mentor-mentee relationship. And all parties could benefit. 71% of people with a mentor say their company provides them with good opportunities to advance in their career, compared with 47% of those without a mentor. And in one study, retention rates were much higher for mentees (72%) and mentors (69%) than for employees who didn’t participate in a mentoring program.

To cap this section, this is a fine definition of a mentor: According to Parsloe 1992, a mentor is there ‘to help and support people to manage their own learning in order to maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance, and become the person they want to be’.

Is coaching really different?

It would be misguided to pit two expert disciplines against one another in a coaching vs mentoring scenario. Each have intrinsic value and share similar goals. Yet, it could be instructive to illustrate a key difference, to help organisations make a better decision over which approach to consider.

The difference between coaching and mentoring could be simply explained like this: A person builds a relationship with a mentor to improve their skills and advance their career; a person meets with a coach to unlock skills they may already have and apply them to achieve short-term goals.

This is a basic description that hopefully illustrates how the two disciplines differ, despite the goals appearing the same. It is, of course, more complicated than we’ve described. As we mention in our article Next-Gen Hires: Setting Gen Z Up for Success, coaching comes into its own in ‘the absence of guidance and mentoring’. So, it’s implicit that the two disciplines are unique in their approach to helping to develop employees.

Let’s look now at how development-driven mentoring uses an approach that, given time and dedication, may benefit more than the individual.

What are the benefits of mentoring?

In a business context, the benefits of entering into the development of a mentoring programme are laid out with the following benefits in mind. Firstly, it provides a chance to assess what an organisation’s longer-term needs and desires are. It also enables companies to consider succession planning.

Subsequently, organisations can begin to design a mentoring programme that considers their findings or conclusions. Finally, the work can begin, where individuals are trained in how to be mentors. For the successful mentor, the facility to pass on their knowledge and experience could provide a sense of purpose and personal satisfaction. Additionally, a programme may help business leaders improve their leadership and communication skills.

The standout benefit could be the establishment of the programme itself, which could potentially spark a shift in cultural acceptance of the importance of mentoring.

For the mentee, the benefits are many. From developing knowledge and skills, to seeing new perspectives, the advice and experience imparted from a good mentor could be invaluable. The more a trusted mentor knows about an individual, the richer the relationship could be, and the more useful the advice that comes from it.

Perhaps the most significant benefit for a mentee looking for specific career development outcomes might be the likelihood of a promotion. National Mentoring Day cites: ‘Employees who received mentoring were promoted five times more often than those who didn’t have mentors.’

What skills are required to become a mentor?

Unlike coaches and trainers, one isn’t required to have qualifications in mentoring. Still, prerequisite skills such as experience and knowledge wouldn’t go amiss. Nor would having an interest in helping others.

Business leaders may find other skills more of a challenge, such as interpersonal skills, which are crucial in building a fruitful relationship with a mentee. Often called soft skills, these represent the components of a healthy partnership. They include listening skills, leadership and empathy, which a third of UK adults believe to be the most important soft skill of all.

A mentor may find that they are in it for the long term, too. Mentoring is a commitment, not just to a mentee, but to a mentor’s own time. It’s vital that a mentor, having nurtured a strong, successful relationship with someone, sees the relationship through to its logical conclusion. In fact, it could be argued that the best mentor-mentee relationships are those that last a lifetime.

With enough will to motivate, inspire and encourage, a mentor could get as much out of the relationship as the mentee. This is called mutual mentoring, where both parties gain from the wisdom, skills and knowledge of the other.

As with any business endeavour, a mentoring programme may fall flat on its face. To avoid this, organisations should ensure they have a good training plan, established benchmarks, and realistic expectations. With the requisite amount of time dedicated to planning before action, there’s no reason why a fruitful mentoring programme can’t be successful in any organisation. And with time, the cultural change could be significant.For example, the knock-on effect of a successful mentoring programme might best be illustrated with the following statistic, that ‘89% of those who have been mentored go on to mentor others’. If that isn’t a desirable outcome for all concerned, we’re not sure what is.