What is mentoring and how does it work?

However, some mentoring schemes are not set without a good knowledge and understanding of the requirements and practicalities. Such schemes soon lose the initial momentum and benefit. It is essential that those setting up a mentoring scheme have a 'champion' to set up the scheme and monitor its progress.

We have helped top companies and organisations set up a mentoring scheme and train their mentors and mentees. Our training courses include a workbook on mentoring with more details on this and other areas, including useful forms that can be used as part of the mentoring process.

The Business Case for Mentoring
In order to help justify and establish your business case for mentoring; the following statistics may help:

Organizations that provide career development opportunities are projected to save four percent of revenues that are typically lost in turnover costs
(Study by Hay Group)

Mentored employees perform better, advance more rapidly, report greater job and career satisfaction, and express lower turnover intentions
(2002, University of Georgia study)

60% of college and grad students said that the availability of a mentoring program weighted heavily on their decisions regarding selection of an employer
(MMHA Manager's Mentor study)

35% of employees who do not receive regular mentoring are likely to look for another job within 12 months
(Study by Louis Harris & Associates)

70% of women say that lack of mentor is the #1 obstacle to advancement
(Catalyst)

What is mentoring?
In the business world mentoring is regarded as a relationship in which one person (the mentor) - usually someone more experienced, often more senior in an organisation - helps another (the learner or mentee) to discover more about themselves, their potential and their capability.

Mentoring is also concerned with creating an informal environment in which one person can feel encouraged to discuss their needs and circumstances openly and in confidence with another person who is in a position to be of positive help to them.

Mentoring can be the best intervention in areas where the development task relates to an employee requiring much specialist, knowledge and information. However there are other contexts where it is the best intervention.

Specific areas where mentoring can be used:

Context                                                                   Purpose
Induction                                                 Become familiar with the organisation and get up to speed
Support for development                           Ensures effective learning
On the job learning                                   Enhance job related knowledge and skills
Diversity programmes                               Ensure proper integration and fairness of treatment
Career progression                                   Assist in identifying and supporting potential talent
Succession planning                                  Develop potential managers of the future
Talent programmes                                  Develop talent, potential and capability
Redundancy and outplacement                  Assist individual in managing the difficult transition
New projects                                             Ensure rapid assimilation and delivery
New job transition                                     Helps employee adjust
Within change programmes                       Help people adjust to change

The mentor's role is not one of outlining instructions; rather the mentor's input helps the learner form their own views, develop different perspectives and develop as a person and as a potential manager.

Mentoring should be part of every manager's role but conflict may occur with some on-line functions, hence a mentor should not be their line manager.

Mentor versus Coach
People often get confused between mentoring and coaching. So let's explore some of the differences:

Coaching is primarily about performance and the development of specific skills. Mentoring is much more broadly based and intuitive, focusing on developing capability and often includes longer term help in career self-management.

However mentoring and coaching have much in common. Both should use effective coaching skills by asking probing questions, challenging the person's thinking and exploring alternative perspectives.

The mentor may offer coaching and training from time to time as appropriate, but may also encourage the mentee to seek help from specialists in these roles.

Some of the major differences between a mentor and coach are outlined below.

Mentor

• A confidential colleague and guide to discover more about the organisation, their potential and capability
• The focus is on capability and potential
• Performance criteria set by the learner
• A senior person in the organisation who knows the organisation, structure and policies of the organisation.

Coach

• A person who supports people to achieve their goals by goal setting, encouragement and questions
• Focus generally on skill and performance
• Performance criteria may be set by a third party, by the coach or jointly with the coach
• Often a specialist in the skills area who could be a consultant from outside the organisation.

The Role of a Mentor
A mentor's role can be divided into three main interlinking areas:

                                                       Role Model

                                          Supporter                        Guide

Role Model and Sounding Board

• Provides a good example, from which someone else can learn
• Guide to the organisation's culture
• Listens and empathises to mentee's concerns and problems
• Seeks options for the mentee to consider
• Critical friend - tells them uncomfortable truths that only a true friend can.

Supporter

• Assists with the organisation's knowledge and business information
• Encourages the use of resources and contacts
• Encourages mentee to find challenging tasks and supports with risk-taking
• Give support as s/he learns by sometimes making mistakes
• Recognises achievements and celebrates accomplishments.

Guide

• Guides toward solutions
• Helps to see issues from a different perspective
• Help to develop the connections they need to gain experience
• Shares views on succeeding at the organisation
• Identifies their leadership style and attitudes and behaviours that are not helpful
• Increases mentee's awareness on the affect s/he has on others.

The Mentee
Mentees are usually employees who wish to expand their current knowledge of the organisation and to develop skills and abilities that will assist them in their career development. It is the mentee who drives the relationship - schedules the meeting, establishes goals and sets the agenda of each meeting.

Mentee Qualifications
These will vary according to the organisation's policy but generally they include:

• member of staff identified by the organisation's mentoring policy
• volunteered (or nominated by line management)
• willing to assume responsibility for their own growth and development
• actively seeks challenging assignments and greater responsibilities
• open, honest and receptive to feedback.

The Role of the Mentee

• To take responsibility for their learning
• Identify developmental needs
• To set goals
• Formulate action plans for accomplishing goals
• Maintain development plan and documents results
• Schedules meetings with their mentor
• Works on their development plan and meet regularly with their mentor
• Maintain regular work responsibilities
• Demonstrate a willingness to ask for help
• Respect mentor's experiences
• Emulate positive behaviours.

 
Duration of Mentoring
There are contradictory views on the duration of mentor relationships/benefit. Two to five years being postulated as the period of maximum benefit. It may well be that the period is less than this or the relationship continues longer on an informal basis. The organisation's policy should state the duration.

It is usually considered best practice to set an expected end date for the relationship, to provide some sense of pace.

Remember that the aim of the mentor is to help the learner develop themself - not to get them to adopt the mentor's ideas. Dependency is at all stages to be avoided - watch out for signs that it is happening.

Identify short and long-term issues which need thought and consideration and discuss ways and means of tackling them.

Mentoring is not a place to:

• Complain or spread gossip
• Dread going to
• Be told exactly what to do
• Waste time
• Be given specific answers to problems
• Find easy options
• Forget that learning is an active and continual process
• Be managed directlyIgnore those things that need to be changed and done differently
• Expect answers to everything
• Have only a cosy chat that achieves nothing
• Receive counselling or therapy.

Phases of Mentoring Relationships

There are generally five phases of mentoring relationships. These are:

1. Rapport Building
2. Direction Setting
3. Progress Making
4. Winding Up
5. Close Down

The learning intensity peaks as the relationship evolves and tails off as it starts to wind down.

Meeting Suggestions

The mentoring should take place where mentor and mentee both feel able to relax, yet be business-like in their discussions. The mentor's office is usually not a good idea, especially if the mentor is significantly more senior. It can be even more threatening to meet in the mentee's working area. In general, a neutral, private space is usually best

The mentoring session should last between one and two hour

The sessions should be at least once a quarter, with telephone or e-mail contact in between. If you meet very frequently, the mentor is likely to become too hands on, or to feel imposed upon. Use common sense to agree at the start a balance that suits the two of you, but be prepared to review that agreement if there is a radical change of circumstances.

Mentoring Agreement
In general, everything said in the mentoring discussions is private to the mentor and mentee. However, the mentor will have certain legal obligations to report criminal conduct, for example, and many organisations insist that the mentor has a duty to report any possible incidents of sexual harassment or bullying, which they hear about through the mentoring discussions.

There is no prescribed format to establish mentoring agreements, but consider drafting a mentoring agreement. It is important that both of parties are clear about what is required of each of you.

This could specify:

the respective roles, responsibilities and commitment
the likely number and frequency of meetings, as a plan that can be reviewed and amended if required
the important issue of confidentiality within the relationship.

Theses are two examples of the forms that we issue as part of the copurse workbook.

Mentee Development Plan
At the start of the mentoring process the mentor will need to discuss with the mentee an action plan for their development. The following is an example of a development plan the mentee could use:

                                                                                       Mentee Development Plan

Career Goal - What position/responsibilities would you like to have within the next three to five years?

SMART Goals - Describe to your mentor what you want to accomplish during this programme.

Obstacles - What stands in your way of achieving these goals?

Skills to Develop - Choose two or three skills that you want to focus on during this mentoring scheme.

Learning Logs

It is important for the mentee to learn from their experiences. We use the following learning log for the mentee to complete after they have had an event or experience.

The completed log is sent to the mentee prior to the next mentoring session for discussion at the session.

                                                                                                         Learning Log

Date:

Event or significant experience:

What
happened?
did I contribute to it?
actions did I take?
did I say and do?
did I feel?

So what does this mean?
Why did this happen?
How could you have dealt with it differently?
What are the options for the future?

Now what?
What I am going to do now?
How can I best use this information?
What I would do if it happened again?
How else might I use what I have learnt?

Further issues: