How are training and coaching different?

Training is all about teaching needed skills, knowledge and attitudes to groups of people.

Coaching is delivered by one coach or mentor to one employee at a time. Its goal is to help individual employees grow, perform better, and succeed.

When used alongside training, coaching can develop top performers who can lead your organization to new levels of success.

Motivational Questions that Coaching Can Answer

Effective coaches help employees discover answers to questions like these:

• “What should my very next position be in this company, and what can I do now to prepare for it?”
• “What career paths would be good for me to consider and pursue in this company?”
• “What specific skills and traits do I need to do my job better and move up in the organization?”
• “How can I manage my time better, get more done, and focus on more important activities?”
• “Are there specific communication skills, like better listening, that I need to develop?”
• “Should I go back to school to add certain skills or credentials?”

Setting Up an Effective Coaching Program 

Here are some steps that can help your coaching program succeed: 

• In general, coaches should hold higher management positions than the people they are coaching. This incentivizes employees to participate fully, because they sense they are getting advice from people who understand what it takes to assume high-level roles in your company.
• Don’t have employees coached by their immediate supervisors. There are many reasons. One is that you want employees to feel free to explore areas where they need to improve, and those conversations are more likely to take place when the coach is someone from another department, division, or even a company office that is located in a different part of the country.
• Set out specific expectations for what you would like coaching to accomplish. Tell employees in writing what’s in it for them. They can learn better time-management skills, for example, identify paths to advancement in your company or enjoy other specific benefits.
• Coach your coaches. Instead of assuming that they have what it takes to be good coaches, train them to handle the role effectively.  A training development company like Tortal Training can be your best partner in that process. We also recommend books like Mentoring 101 by the leadership expert John Maxwell and The Mentor’s Guide by Lois J. Zachary.
• Keep HR and coaching separate. To encourage learners to openly explore areas where they need development, make it clear that reports on coaching progress will not be filed in their personnel folders in HR or explored in depth during performance reviews. Your coaching program should be something different that stands apart.  
• Offer coaching to as many employees as you can. You don’t want certain employees to feel discouraged because they have not been selected for coaching, while their peers have. Another benefit of coaching large groups of employees is that you can unexpectedly discover and develop new stars. If you didn’t coach them, you might never recognize their abilities.

Why Training + Coaching = Great Employee Development

When employees are trained to do their jobs well and also coached to be the best they can be, you’ll be on your way to creating tomorrow’s stars in your organization. Contact Tortal Training to learn more.