2. What is mentoring
• Mentoring is a system of semi-structured guidance whereby one person
shares their knowledge, skills and experience to assist others to progress in
their own lives and careers. Mentors need to be readily accessible and
prepared to offer help as the need arises - within agreed bounds.
What's in it for us?
• As mentee
Being able to change/achieve your goals more quickly and effectively than working alone
Building a network of expertise to draw on can benefit both yourself and others
• As mentor
Mentoring is voluntary but extremely rewarding, and can benefit your own skills
development and career progression
You need to be the sort of person who wants others to succeed, and have or can develop
the skills needed to support them
3. What makes
a good
mentor
• Willingness to share skills, knowledge, and expertise.
• Demonstrates a positive attitude and acts as a positive role model.
• Takes a personal interest in the mentoring relationship.
• Exhibits enthusiasm in the field.
• Values ongoing learning and growth in the field.
• Provides guidance and constructive feedback.
• Motivates others by setting a good example.
4. How to embed mentoring in organisation
culture
• Make Mentoring Part of Agenda
To meet the mentoring goal it is essential to
incorporate the same in the organization's training
and development agenda. “The training platform
should be able to support the mentoring culture by
enabling the skill trainings and providing relevant
educational opportunities,”
• Make personal goal-setting a priority
Setting personal and team goals consistently is a
huge driver of high performance across teams. Before
we even have a first touch with a candidate, we
introduce this concept in the way we market our open
roles.
5. How to embed mentoring in organisation
culture
• Embrace direct feedback across the entire
organization
When cultivating the next generation of leaders, it’s
important to empower them to speak up and use their
voice. Core to someone’s ability to grow and improve
is knowing how to give and receive feedback.
Leadership needs to provide direction and guidance
that’s not only pointed and direct, but demonstrates
that they deeply care and want to help.
• Scale access to leadership
Leadership is core to company success, not only for
business outcomes but people outcomes too. Leaders
provide the vision and experience that inspire people
to do their best work and live the company mission
6. Conclusion
Companies benefit from mentoring
programs because they contribute to
the development of a better-trained
and engaged workforce. Mentors
help mentees learn the ropes at a
company, develop relationships
across the organization, and identify
skills that should be developed or
improved upon.
Editor's Notes
Mentors very often have their own mentors, and in turn their mentees might wish to ‘put something back’ and become mentors themselves - it's a chain for ‘passing on’ good practice so that the benefits can be widely spread.
Mentoring can be a short-term arrangement until the original reason for the partnership is fulfilled (or ceases), or it can last many years.
Mentoring is more than ‘giving advice’, or passing on what your experience was in a particular area or situation. It's about motivating and empowering the other person to identify their own issues and goals, and helping them to find ways of resolving or reaching them - not by doing it for them, or expecting them to ‘do it the way I did it’, but by understanding and respecting different ways of working.
Mentoring is not counselling or therapy - though the mentor may help the mentee to access more specialized avenues of help if it becomes apparent that this would be the best way forward.
A good mentor is willing to teach what he/she knows and accept the mentee where they currently are in their professional development.
A good mentor exhibits the personal attributes it takes to be successful in the field. By showing the mentee what it takes to be productive and successful
Good mentors do not take their responsibility as a mentor lightly. They feel invested in the success of the mentee.
Enthusiasm is catching and new employees want to feel as if their job has meaning and the potential to create a good life.
illustrate how the field is growing and changing and that even after many years there are still new things to learn. Anyone that feels stagnant in their current position will not make a good mentor.
guidance and constructive feedback to their mentee. This is where the mentee will most likely grow the most by identifying their current strengths and weaknesses and learning how to use these to make themselves successful in the field
