Coaching and mentoring have been described as critical tools for cultivating leadership, enhancing interpersonal relationships and sustaining institutional growth, as these go a long way in filling gaps and avoiding excuses in the discharge of statutory duties, as workers in the Ogun State Civil/Public Service.

The Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Establishments and Training, Office of the Head of Service, Mrs. Lydia Fajounbo made this known in her remarks at a-day virtual training for Middle-Level Officers in the Civil/Public Service, with the theme, "Coaching and Mentoring", put together by the Bureau under the Office of the Head of Service in collaboration with Audere LLC Consulting, held at the Ogun Tech-Hub, Kobape Road, Abeokuta.

According to her, coaching and mentoring are very key to enhance efficient service delivery, pointing out that the one-day special virtual session was to expose the participants to the rudiments in line with global best practices. 

She said the coaching and mentoring by a US-based Public Administrator, Mrs. Folasade Pyne was attended by  participants who  were drawn from all cadres of the Service as well as from the Parastatals so as to engender professional bonding which is a basic ingredient for inter-sectoral linkages.

"Capacity development is for everyone, because in Ogun State, we are all growing together. I want to appreciate the worker-friendly Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun for the gracious approval to have the training. He has been committed to the training and retraining of Public Servants and we know that in the last 6 years, training has been on the increase, and the output is reflecting as there are changes in the way tasks are carried out", she said.

While appreciating the Head of Service, Mr. Kehinde Onasanya, for remaining deeply committed to the professional development of all officers across all cadres in the Service, as well as

his constant efforts and visionary leadership, Mrs. Fajounbo urged the participants to keep reflecting on gains at the session for more efficiency and effectiveness, as their output is very key to deepening the service.

In her lecture, the Human Resources Manager Consultant, Mrs. Pyne, said mentoring is not a one-time stuff but an ongoing process, especially if the work process keeps changing and called on the workers to embrace worthy mentors, who have navigated through various challenges of the work environment.

According to her, some of the objectives of coaching and mentoring include, developing skills and competencies to achieve set goals, enhancing performance and productivity, building confidence and motivating staff, amongst others and called on them to adopt the Proven Coaching Model of GROW - Goal, Reality, Options and Will/Way to always achieve their set goals and objectives.

"Mentoring is a life long process of sharing knowledge, experience and wisdom to assist the mentees achieve their goals", she said.

Responding on behalf of the participants, a Senior Information and Public Relations Officer from the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mrs. Ajibola Taiwo, appreciated the State government and the organisers of the training for the opportunity to tap from the wealth of experience of the resource person and pledged unalloyed commitment to further deepening the service, arising from the capacity building empowerment.

Highlights of the Special virtual training session included formation of a WhatsApp group tagged "The GROW Team" with a mandate to go and bring in new techniques, innovations and templates to further make the Service grow, symbolic presentation of certificates and a robust question and answer session.

The participants included Engineers, Lawyers, Administrative Officers, Information and Public Relations Officers, Accountants, Traffic Officers, amongst other cadres drawn from different Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as Parastatals of the Ogun State Government.