Belinda Beresford
South African businesses are following international trends of using business coaches and mentors to develop their employees, recognising that individual tutors have advantages over group training in improving skills.
An added dimension in South Africa is the drive for affirmative action programmes to develop black employees.
Globalisation and greater competition, which have led to more demand for scarce resources such as skilled employees, are also driving companies to adapt their culture.
Wits Business School lecturer Conrad Viedge said whether it was described as “coaching” or “mentoring”, the point of such activity was to create “opportunities for intelligent conversations”.
Unlike in the United States and the United Kingdom, such personnel development tended to focus on lower- level management rather than top-level executives, possibly as a result of the chronic skills shortage and affirmative action requirements.
Viedge said such learning partnerships were typically developed within companies, although the coaching industry was rapidly growing.
External coaches and mentors were increasingly being used as a more targeted and efficient alternative to sending people on courses.
These advisers could be called in for once-off occasions, such as a big presentation, or on a more long-term basis to develop employees’ skills, he said.