8581-701 Undertaking Coaching or Mentoring at a Senior and Strategic Level

Unit Overview

8581-701 Undertaking Coaching or Mentoring at a Senior and strategic level is a unit within the ILM Level 7 module that focuses on improving the coaching capability and ability. Leaders must be able to effectively coach from the strategic and senior levels of the organisation. This approaches ensures there is a flow of ideas and approaches to performing different tasks and responsibilities within their specific areas of responsibilities. Executive managers have a role of ensuring that they help to instil the desired culture and approach towards doing things within the workplace.

They can achieve this by pursuing effective coaching approaches within the organisation. This involves being able to relay the clients’ development approaches within the workplace. As such, it is important for executive managers and other leaders within the organisation to pursue the different elements within the workplace that they need to achieve the desired goals. 8581-701 Undertaking Coaching or Mentoring at a Senior and strategic level is a unit that focuses on improving the ability of the leaders to manage monitoring and mentoring from the senior level.

The main purpose and aim of this unit are to enable the learners to demonstrate high ability in facilitating and pursuing coaching and mentoring programs within their areas of responsibility. For this unit, executive managers, both practising and potential managers, are provided with the building of skills that help to achieve the desired levels of performance in understanding mentoring and coaching programs. The unit is taught in 12 hours of guided learning and contributes 5 credit values towards the completion of the module.

Suitability of the Unit

Mentoring or coaching programs are programs that are designed to give the leaders the ability to influence the practices within the workplace. These are modern approaches to performance management in which the leader takes an active part in facilitating development and growth within the employees or team members. Therefore, 8581-701 Undertaking Coaching or Mentoring at a Senior and strategic level is a unit that is highly suitable for different stakeholders who are in a position to influence the performances of others within the workplace.

This unit helps to provide the stakeholders in these positions with the guidance and skills that are required to achieve the desired goals and responsibilities in terms of facilitating mentoring and coaching programs. The unit is designed with a focus on executive management within the organisation. This is the senior-most leadership position within the organisation where the individuals have the role of influencing the performances of others from a strategic level.

The unit provides senior managers with an understanding of different principles of coaching and mentoring from the senior and strategic levels. However, the unit is not limited to these groups of individuals. It can be used to effectively influence the performance of others within the organisation, including the middle managers. It provides middle managers with information that is critical to push the ability and performance of the middle managers in their areas of responsibility. The unit is also critical for external consultants who support decision-making within the workplace.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the unit, the learners should e babel to:

• Establish and build coaching and mentoring relationships with clients at a senior/ strategic level

• Discuss and evaluate the development of the clients by supporting their needs and goals, as well as agree on a contract for coaching or mentoring in the context of the individual and organisation

• Plan, prepare and maintain accurate and auditable records of twenty hours of coaching or mentoring with individual clients operating at an appropriate senior/ strategic level

• Undertake coaching or mentoring with clients for a minimum of twenty hours, focusing on the outcomes and options that can be used to maximise performance

• Review and evaluate the client’s development and support needs as well as the progress of mentoring or coaching programs towards meeting their goals

• Actively take part in peer coaching or mentoring as well as other professional and mentoring networks

• Actively take a part in supervising in order to acquire the desired feedback and advice on personal performance as coach or mentor

• Collect feedback from clients to develop personal abilities as a coach or mentor

• Reflect on the feedback and activities completed for the purpose of improving personal abilities by majoring on strengths and development needs identified

Key Learning Areas

8581-701 Undertaking Coaching or Mentoring at a Senior and strategic level focuses on building the ability of the leaders in the senior elves of the organisation to influence performance through coaching or mentoring. The unit covers critical areas of learning, which include:

Contracts for Coaching or Mentoring Clients

This area of learning focuses on building the ability of the individuals to handle mentoring needs of the learners to achieve desired goals and objectives. The learners are taught to understand the roles and responsibilities of a leader in developing and managing leadership roles within the workplace. The unit also presents an opportunity to understand the approaches that can be used to develop sustainable relationships within the workplace.

Planning, Delivering and Reviewing Coaching and Mentoring Contract

This area of learning focuses on improving the practical ability of the learner to handle different clients in relation to setting up coaching or mentoring programs. The area provides the learners with the different steps that they can follow in the process of mentoring others within the workplace as well as in building effective relationships with the clients that can be used for coaching or mentoring processes.

Reflection and Improvement

This area of learning focuses on developing skills and abilities to effectively evaluate personal performance in coaching or mentoring. This area of learning provides the learners with the understanding of techniques that they can use to receive and review feedback retrieved from clients. The learner is provided with information to effectively collect and utilise networking to improve personal performance as well as approaches to develop reflective practice.

Evaluation

Upon completion of the unit, the learners are evaluated using a practical assessment as well as supervised practice to determine mastery of information and skills. Other approaches to summative assessment include simulated exercises and case studies.