NZMC certificates 2008 graduates of 'Professional Mentoring & Workplace Coaching Skills'

For the 3rd year running, the New Zealand Mentoring Centre in association with Unitec Institute of Technology have certificated graduates of its 5 day 'Professional Mentoring & Workplace Coaching Skills' training course and released them in to the wild.

The 2008 graduates are a mix of managers, workplace coaches and independent practitioners from all over New Zealand and all are committed to developing their skills and becoming part of the ever expanding coaching community in New Zealand.

"Organisations are now investing significant resources in coaching and mentoring, using both internal and external coaches as well as requiring managers to take a coaching approach to developing their staff." says Aly McNicoll one of the principal trainers in the programme.

"Coaching is a skilled activity and this training provides a foundation qualification for anyone who plays a significant mentoring or coaching role in their organisation or community. We are following the qualifications model developed by the European Mentoring & Coaching Council who have focused in the last 3 years on promoting standards for coaches and mentors which include appropriate training for their level of practice."

"The course provides a thorough understanding of the coaching process and in depth training on specific tools to use with clients." says Wendy Baker who has been running this course at the Centre for the last 3 years. "With the course divided in to 2 blocks, participants get to trial their new skills back in their workplaces and the assessment process provides another opportunity for feedback and learning."

The practical nature of the course means that learning takes a number of forms. Learning by having a go at new tools and techniques, learning by experiencing coaching on real and current issues, learning by watching professional coaches in action and learning by reading and discussing contemporary issues for coaches and mentors.

Participants reported that the assignments were great and having to reflect on their practice reinforced their learning - not a comment you often hear about assessment processes.

Comments from participants included

"I deliberately chose the NZMC for this training and I can truthfully say it has achieved everything I have wanted."

"The opportunity to practice in a safe, non-judgemental environment was awesome."

"Fantastic to get some structure to work with and it gave opportunities to develop self awareness."

The 2009 course will be running in July & August and the Centre offers a sliding scale of fees for self employed or not for profit people.