In Coaching, the coach drives the learning process. The learning is typically an intervention to improve a specific performance or to learn a function or task. In many cases it involves the “soft” management skills that develop with time and experience – a good coach can shorten the time required to acquire these skills as well help develop those skills that may be lacking.

Mentoring on the other hand, is a learning process where the focus is on developing and expanding the overall capability of an employee (protégé). The Mentor is the guide, advisor, sage, who facilitates the process by which the protégé arrives at insight. Communication and trust are essential elements of both coaching and mentoring.

McKinley Solutions are leaders in both types of mentoring relationships: formal and informal. Informal mentoring relationships develop on their own between colleagues and associates. Formal mentoring, on the other hand, refers to assigned relationships, often associated with organizational mentoring programs designed to promote employee development. Employee development is the strategic investment, by an organization, in the training of its members.

High-potential mentoring is used to groom up-and-coming employees deemed to have the potential to move up into leadership roles. Here the protégé is paired with a senior level leader (or leaders) for a series of career-coaching interactions. McKinley Solutions are specialist in high potential mentoring. A similar method of high-potential mentoring is to place the employee in a series of jobs in disparate areas of an organization, all for small periods of time, in anticipation of learning the organization's structure, culture, and methods.

How we do it. McKinley’s senior associates have over a century of combined experience in business practices and human resource management from which to create solutions tailored to meet individual client coaching needs. Our mentoring programs draw from the latest best mentoring practices and are tailored to meet specific client needs.