Introduction to Helen Hughes, H.I.H Solutions Ltd, and some thoughts on coaching & mentoring

Helen introduces H.I.H.Solutions Ltd, her HR Consultancy, and writes small feature on Coaching and Mentoring, along with an opportunity to contribute to the Coaching & Mentoring survey, and receive a copy of the Insights report.

Hello everyone,

As a new member of Bionow this is my first news article. I have met a few of you at the recent Bionow Skills SIG, but I missed meeting many of you at the recent Biotech & Beers event so I’ll introduce myself here.

I run a boutique HR Consultancy called HIH Solutions - you can read more about our offerings by clicking the link HIH Solutions and checking out my Linkedin profile Helen Hughes Linkedin profile. As one of my HR Consulting offerings is coaching and mentoring, I thought I would pose some thoughts on Lifelong learning through coaching and mentoring……and offer an opportunity to complete our short Coaching & Mentoring Survey, and receive a free copy of our report of the key findings.

…….. How long is life? Would we really want to know the answer to the question ‘How many decades of changes will we experience in our lifetime?’ One thing is certain, the longer we live the more learning life gives us. I’m not old and I do still hope for a good few more decades of life and with that I look forward to the moments, days, years, and decades of new things to learn! There’s the excitement about learning things that we want to learn, those things that we know are going to give us payback and pleasure. There’s the dread of learning things we must, things that have come from change we don’t want, or where there seem to be negative consequences for not learning. That’s when we need to ‘unlearn’ the familiar things before we can unlock our minds to see the treasures ahead. Did we ever know in the moment all the benefits of moving on and learning?  I freely admit I didn’t.

My best learning has often not come from traditional classroom methods, but has emerged from great coaching and mentoring, when I’ve been in a safe, challenging, confidential, environment to explore learning from even the most difficult and challenging experiences and to identify what I already have and else I need to move me forward. 

You cannot teach a man (person) anything. You can only help him (them) discover it within himself (themselves). Galileo.

The terms coaching and mentoring are often used interchangeably in the workplace. People often ask me what the difference between coaching and mentoring is. Whilst both may be used to deliver similar learning and development outcomes such as enhancing skills, knowledge and performance of individuals and teams, they are recognised as different disciplines. I offer a simple definition for each is offered here:
Mentoring: The purpose of mentoring is to share the greater knowledge and skills of a more experienced mentor with a less experienced mentee.
Coaching: Coaching uses processes and tools to enable the coachee to develop their own answers. The coach does not need to have similar knowledge or experience as the coachee. 

So, I have a question for you. Are you thinking about how to learn what you need to be the best in these changing times and in the future? Maybe coaching or mentoring for you and your teams already features in your people strategy – maybe you are just thinking about it and the time is now to refresh the skills and talents you need on-going and in the short- and long-term future, or to help with a particular challenge you have now. I am passionate about the benefits of coaching and mentoring and, in these post-pandemic times, believe it can be even more impactful by empowering and enabling individuals and teams to be the best they can be. But we know that a coaching and mentoring culture is not fully embedded in many UK organisations.

This new survey I have developed, with Nicki Holmes, will act as a barometer, gauging the status of business coaching and mentoring in the UK in 2022.

We would really appreciate you taking part. It will take only 5-10 minutes to complete, and all responses will be anonymous. Following the survey, we will be publishing a report of the key findings. If you'd like to receive a 'hot off the press' copy, please click on the link at the end of the survey. This form can also be used if you'd like to get in touch to find out more about coaching and mentoring.

To start the survey, just click on the link Coaching & Mentoring Survey

Many thanks and I hope to meet many more of you soon.

Helen

Tel: +44 (0)07907 705444              Email: Helen@HIHSolutions.uk

Along with many other services HIH Solutions provides Executive Coaching of the highest standard. Whether you need a series of coaching sessions for individuals, or a coaching programme including training your leaders to be coaches or mentors, or mentoring for careers, we bring a wealth of experience and practical solutions. We have a wide range of coaching tools to leave a lasting impression, outcome, and impact.

Qualified at Level 7 Diploma for Executive and Senior Level Coaches and Mentors Certification

Accredited to practice as coach/mentor at the level of Senior Practitioner

Professional Bodies and Code of Conduct: Association for Coaching (AC) & European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC), CIPD