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objectives of such learning and what part the individual, the
Helping people to learn and develop % 113
manager, the learning and development department (if one
exists) or a mentor will play in ensuring that learning happens.
The partners to the contract agree on how the objectives will be
achieved and their respective roles. It will spell out learning
programmes and indicate what coaching, mentoring and
formal training activities should be carried out. It is, in effect, a
blueprint for learning. Learning contracts can be part of a
personal development planning process as described below.
Personal development planning
Personal development planning is carried out by individuals
with guidance, encouragement and help from you as required.
A personal development plan sets out the actions people
propose to take to learn and to develop themselves. They take
responsibility for formulating and implementing the plan but
they receive support from their managers in doing so.
The stages of personal development planning are modelled in
Figure 9.2. The content of each stage is described below:
Assess current position
Act
Implement
²%
Plan action
Figure 9.2 Stages in preparing and implementing a personal
development plan
²%
²%
²%
114 % How to manage people
1. Analyse current situation and development needs. This can
be done as part of a performance management process.
2. Set goals. These could include improving performance in
the current job, improving or acquiring skills, extending
relevant knowledge, developing specified areas of compe-
tence, moving across or upwards in the organization,
preparing for changes in the current role.
3. Prepare action plan. The action plan sets out what needs to
be done and how it will be done under headings such as
outcomes expected (learning objectives), the development
activities, the responsibility for development (what individ-
uals are expected to do and the support they will get from
their manager, the HR department or other people), and
timing. A variety of activities tuned to individual needs
should be included in the plan; for example: observing
what others do, project work, planned use of e-learning
programmes and internal learning resource centres,
working with a mentor, coaching by the line manager or
team leader, experience in new tasks, guided reading and
special assignments. Formal training to develop knowledge
and skills may be part of the plan but it is not the most
important part.
4. Implement. Take action as planned.
The plan can be expressed in the form of a learning contract.
Coaching
Coaching is a one-to-one method of helping people develop
their skills and competencies. Coaching is often provided by
specialists from inside or outside the organization who concen-
trate on specific areas of skills or behaviour, for example lead-
ership. But it is also something that can happen in the
workplace. As a manager or team leader you should be
prepared and able to act as a coach when necessary to see that
learning takes place.
The need for coaching may arise from formal or informal
performance reviews, but opportunities for coaching emerge
Helping people to learn and develop % 115
during day-to-day activities. As part of the normal process of
management, coaching consists of:
% making people aware of how well they are performing by,
for example, asking them questions to establish the extent
to which they have thought through what they are doing;
% controlled delegation ensuring that individuals not only
know what is expected of them but also understand what
they need to know and be able to do to complete the task
satisfactorily; this gives managers an opportunity to
provide guidance at the outset guidance at a later stage
may be seen as interference;
% using whatever situations may arise as opportunities to
promote learning;
% encouraging people to look at higher-level problems and
how they would tackle them.
A common framework used by coaches is the GROW model:
G is for the goal of coaching, which needs to be expressed in
specific measurable terms that represent a meaningful step
towards future development.
R is for the reality check the process of eliciting as full as
possible a description of what the person being coached
needs to learn.
O is for option generation the identification of as many
solutions and actions as possible.
W is for wrapping up when the coach ensures that the indi-
vidual being coached is committed to action.
To succeed in coaching you need to understand that your role is
to help people to learn and see that they are motivated to learn.
They should be aware that their present level of knowledge or
skill or their behaviour needs to be improved if they are going
to perform their work satisfactorily. Individuals should be
given guidance on what they should be learning and feedback
on how they are doing, and, because learning is an active not a
passive process, they should be actively involved with you in
116 % How to manage people
your role as a coach who should be constructive, building on
strengths and experience.
Coaching may be informal but it has to be planned. It is not
simply checking from time to time on what people are doing
and then advising them on how to do it better. Nor is it occa-
sionally telling people where they have gone wrong and
throwing in a lecture for good measure. As far as possible,
coaching should take place within the framework of a general
plan of the areas and direction in which individuals will benefit
from further development. Coaching plans can and should be
incorporated into the personal development plans set out in a
performance agreement.
Coaching should provide motivation, structure and effective
feedback. As a coach, you should believe that people can
succeed and that they can contribute to their own success.
Mentoring
Mentoring is the process of using specially selected and trained
individuals to provide guidance, pragmatic advice and contin-
uing support which will help the person or persons allocated to
them to learn and develop. It can be regarded as a method of
helping people to learn, as distinct from coaching, which is a
relatively directive means of increasing people s competence.
Mentoring involves learning on the job, which must always
be the best way of acquiring the particular skills and knowl-
edge the job holder needs. It also complements formal training
by providing those who benefit from it with individual guid-
ance from experienced managers who are wise in the ways of
the organization .
Mentors provide people with:
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