EAP: Mental Talks: Mentoring vs Coaching

As a person in different roles as “Mentor or Mentee”/”Coach or Coachee”,  it is important to understand that the terms “coaching” and “mentoring” are not the same, although as part of the mentoring process, the Mentor will provide a level of coaching relevant to the nature of the goals and plans agreed between both parties.

This can lead to the use of both terms interchangeably resulting in confusion.
Mentoring means helping a Mentee succeed in a set of goals through a guidance process.

The Mentor/Mentee relationship is characterised by a more experienced person guiding and assisting the less experienced person (Mentee) with advice, information, and guidance about his/her career goals.

Coaching focuses on improving performance and skills, whether conducted internally or externally. The Coach do not give advice – rather they provide encouragement to the Coachee using open-ended questions to strategies solutions and facilitate problem-solving. The Coach holds the Coachee accountable to try new strategies to get results.