Continuation from Part I

The journey to a coaching and mentoring culture at the CEF

Our story began in 2001 when the Government of the Republic of Slovenia established the CEF to facilitate knowledge transfer between Slovenia and the countries of the former Yugoslavia. In the early days, we organized approximately 30 workshops annually in the field of public finance. These workshops were held in our lecture hall, where experts from Slovenia’s Ministry of Finance shared their expertise with public sector employees from South East Europe. During this time, we were primarily organizers striving to become experts in public finance.

However, in 2010, a pivotal moment occurred when our director Jana Repanšek visited the International Training Center of the International Labor Organization (ITC ILO). After this visit, it became evident that we needed to shift our approach. We realized the importance of taking a more active role in supporting the learning and development of public sector employees in finance across South East Europe. This led us to broaden our focus from solely public finance to prioritizing people and their learning processes.

By 2013, we had already started diversifying our team by adding specialists from fields such as adult learning and international relations to complement our experts in economics and finance. This broadened our competencies, allowing us to focus more deeply on people rather than just the technical aspects of public finance.

To effectively support others, we knew we had to be open to change ourselves. We delved into literature from the World Bank and other sources to become a knowledge hub. Influential works like Peter Senge’s "The Fifth Discipline" and Brene Brown’s writings on leadership and authenticity guided us in this process. We embraced the idea that to inspire others, we had to lead by example, demonstrating bravery, wholeheartedness, and a commitment to continuous learning.

In December 2019, we began working on a new CEF strategy, seamlessly integrating the development of a coaching and mentoring culture into our plans. Our mission to support others in learning and making positive and sustainable change evolved into a formalized approach to fostering a supportive, people-centered environment.

The importance of coaching and mentoring

Developing a coaching and mentoring culture at the CEF is essential for several reasons:

1. Focusing on our culture and the culture of our target audience: Over our 20-year history, we have acquired, gathered, and shared a wealth of knowledge. Each team member brings unique skills, expertise, and experiences, which contribute to our collective institutional knowledge. Every completed activity, whether internal or external, enhances this repository of knowledge. By respecting and nurturing these skills and insights, both as individuals and as an institution, we ensure we can effectively share them with others to fulfill our vision and mission.

2. Fostering positive relationships: We maintain respect, understanding, and support for each other's development, which enhances our collective growth. Effective communication, trust, empathy, collaboration, and conflict resolution are integral to nurturing these relationships.

3. Enhancing recognition and flexibility: Coaching and mentoring increase mutual recognition and adaptability, building trust-based relationships and accelerating knowledge transfer.

4. Challenging and innovating: This culture helps us confront and improve our processes, behaviors, and beliefs, enabling us to adapt to changes in our environment.

5. Improving engagement and performance: Coaching and mentoring boost employee engagement and commitment, improving individual, team, and organizational performance.

Implementation and development

Understanding and believing in the value of a coaching and mentoring culture is just the beginning. Our leadership team engaged in coaching themselves to model the desired behavior. We conducted extensive research, leading to the creation of a comprehensive document: "Developing Coaching and Mentoring Culture at the CEF." This document outlines our reasons, improvement metrics, and implementation plan.

Key steps in our plan included:

• Training in coaching skills: Partnering with experts like Jasna Knez for coaching skills training and regular supervision.

• Clear explanation: Educating staff on the differences between professional coaching and using coaching skills, and when to apply each.

• Internal and external coaching: Providing access to both external professional coaches and internal coaches for ongoing support.

• Integrating coaching into programs: Offering professional coaching to participants in our projects, supported by accredited coaches from various countries.

• Mentoring programs: Implementing traditional and reciprocal mentoring frameworks, fostering a culture of mutual learning and support.

As we continue to promote and integrate coaching and mentoring into our culture, we aim to create a stimulating environment for high-quality knowledge exchange and learning. CEF employees will continue developing, spreading awareness of coaching and mentoring benefits, and adapting to the ever-changing landscape of public finance and governance.

Our commitment to this culture is unwavering. We believe it is crucial to inspire public officials to lead the necessary transformations to foster thriving economies and fair societies in Southeast Europe.