b'FEATUREcontinued from page 8Pasadena, California (corporatecoachingintl.com). they want personal development in their work life, saysFinally, mentoring can result in a more productive Richard Avdoian, an employee development consultantworkenvironment.Businesseswithamentoring in metropolitan St. Louis (richardavdoian.com). Its allprogram often end up with more solid succession plans, part of a changing business environment:As peopleas well as better procedures for workplace problem move more rapidly between employers they are lookingsolving and conflict resolution, says Lauran Star, a ahead to their next stop.businessconsultantbasedinBedford,N.H. This trend is visible as early as the job interview.(lauranstar.com).Gone are the days when interviewers would ask morequestionsthancandidates,saysAvdoian.NowDEVELOP SKILLSapplicantsareleadingthewaybyaskingforkeyTwoworkplacetrendsaremakingmentoring information such as What does your business do toprograms more critical. The first is the retirement of the enhance and develop employees skills? Does it offerBabyBoomers.Whenolderpeopleleaveyour additional education? Training? workforcetheywilltakealongtheirconsiderableexpertise unless you have taken steps to capture it.THINK BUSINESS Second, more job applicants are becoming aware of Does mentoring sound a lot like coaching? Its truetheirneedtoimprovetheirskillstomaintaina thatbothinitiativesattempttoimproveemployeecompetitive edge. As a result, they are looking to join performance. But they differ in their details. Confusingorganizations that will help them do just that. And they the two can be costly.will want to make sure you are on the same page before Coaching is much more proactive than mentoring,they agree to work for you. explains Alan Weiss, president of Summit ConsultingTodays applicants are telling prospective employers Group,EastGreenwich,RI.(alanweiss.com).Verycontinued on page 10THIRD QUARTER 2019 9'