Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Coaching and mentoringLearning & development

Coaching and mentoring – what’s the real difference?

by Personnel Today 19 Apr 2006
by Personnel Today 19 Apr 2006

There is an old theological debate about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Whether it has to do with discussing the relative merits of having angels dancing on a pin, some profound theological riddle, or just a question created by pinheads for the sake of it, it smacks of the great mentoring/coaching debate.

For years there has been discussion as to what is the defining difference between mentoring and coaching. Various learned men and women have held forth their views as to it being one thing or another – but to my knowledge, it has yet to be settled.

So here I go…

First, is it important, and what would it mean if we were to define a clear and specific difference between the two?

I suppose, as in many situations, we should look to the market. If you are coming from outside an organisation, how many times have you been hired specifically as a mentor to pass on particular skills? Or have you been brought in because of your ability to bring a new perception to the client that allows them to unlock more of their potential by creating new realisations and insights? Do we market ourselves as coaches or mentors?

Perhaps there is confusion because of the many training programmes that are touted in the marketplace. These unleash vast numbers of semi-educated coaches into the world, who then proceed to advertise themselves as having diplomas in mentoring.

By the way, can anybody tell me why a programme that has no academic affiliation or accreditation can be called a ‘diploma’?

For me, the difference between mentoring and coaching is as follows: a mentor is involved in transferring job-specific skills or culture-specific knowledge to someone who is junior to them, but not in their direct line of management within an organisation.

This inherently means that a mentor must have specific knowledge of the role, skills, and the organisation’s structure and culture, that they can pass on. For example, a banker mentors a banker, an engineer an engineer and so on.

A coach does not require such knowledge. They usually focus on the client’s perception of the challenges they face. This allows the subject to unlock their own insights and realisations to accomplish more. The result is that the coach focuses on the person while the person focuses on the role.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

True mentoring is also focused down the line or chain of command, whereas coaching can be applied peer to peer, as well as down and up the line if the proper contracts are in place.

The real question is do mentors also coach, and if they do, what should we call them – hybrids?

Sean Weafer presents his solution to the great coaching and mentoring conundrum

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
US takeovers boost UK employees’ salaries
next post
Investors in People under the spotlight over value

You may also like

Skills shortfall in construction threatens housing target

4 Jul 2025

Data skills gap getting in way of AI...

3 Jul 2025

Employers bemoan Gen Z’s lack of ‘work readiness’...

24 Jun 2025

Employees want more upskilling and apprenticeships to narrow...

20 Jun 2025

AI is here. Your workforce should be ready.

18 Jun 2025

Multiverse to open up 15,000 apprenticeships

9 Jun 2025

Education secretary sets out priorities for Skills England

2 Jun 2025

Investing in skills when budgets are tight

12 May 2025

Leading with honest feedback: A responsibility in recruitment

24 Apr 2025

High-level apprenticeship spend doubles in five years

16 Apr 2025

  • Empower and engage for the future: A revolution in talent development (webinar) WEBINAR | As organisations strive...Read more
  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+