ABOUT MENTORING
Mentoring is a long standing form of training, learning and development. Mentoring is a
process by which a mentor, who is outside the line management relationship, gives
support and advice to other members of staff (the Mentee).
A mentor will use many of the key skills of a coach or counselor. Mentoring looks at ways
of enhancing the personal development of the Mentee with a view to improving future
performance.
Objective of Mentoring
The objective of mentoring is to support the personal development of the Mentee to
increase their personal effectiveness by ensuring that each Mentee’s abilities are
developed to their full.
Mentoring and Talent
Mentoring is the most cost efficient and sustainable method of fostering and developing
young talent in an organisation.
It is the ultimate win–win business tool. The employee gets a hand to fast-track their
career and the mentor gets the satisfaction of helping others develop, while the
organisation gets improved performance and employee retention.
UNDERSTANDING THE BENEFITS OF MENTORING
Benefits to the mentor
► Sense of achievement
► Personal skills development
► New perspectives & thought processes
► Share their ‘experience’
► Improved and shared networks
► Benchmarking and influencing the organisation
Benefits to the mentee
► New perspectives & thought processes
► Personal skills development which may include knowledge, technical and
behavioural improvements
► Better management of career goals
► Learning from ‘experience’
► Improved and shared networks
► Opportunity to influence the organisation
Benefits to the organisation
► Raises motivation and increases productivity through better engagement and
job satisfaction
► Makes organisation better able to adapt to change
► Aids employee recruitment and retention
► Cost effective method of developing individuals
► Helps with succession planning
THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF MENTORS & MENTEES
The Mentor
The relationship between mentor and mentee is one of confidentiality and support. The
first responsibility of the mentor is to ensure that the psychological contract between
both parties is clearly understood, agreed and adhered to throughout the relationship.
Without this mutual trust and respect the relationship will fail.
A mentor’s prime focus is longer term skill and career development of the mentee, such
as developing management skills to prepare for future roles.
This may, for example,
involve comparing the mentee against professional competencies, identifying any areas
for development and facilitating ways to strengthen these areas.
A major part of the mentor’s role is actively overseeing the individual’s career
development. This may involve supporting the individual to consider what might be an
appropriate future career path, including considering roles that offer significant
development opportunities that the mentee may not have otherwise considered as
appropriate.
The Mentee
Mentees “own” the mentoring process so it is the mentee’s responsibility to arrange
meetings and decide what to discuss. Mentees should identify and make the most out of
the development opportunities. Mentees are advised to maintain a confidential learning
record describing the activities they have been involved in and what they have learnt
from them.
This will enable them to track their progress with their mentor. Both
mentors and mentees must be clear on the boundaries of their relationship.
THE KEY ATTRIBUTES & SKILLS OF A GOOD MENTOR
Mentors should have the following attributes:
► An ability to relate well with people who want to learn
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An open mind, a
flexible attitude and
a recognition of their
own need for support
► Questions (thought provoking/challenging assumptions)
► Encourages reflection
► Suspends judgement and listens
► Builds trust and respects confidentiality
► Empathises
► Good reputation for developing others
► Time and willingness to develop relationships with mentees
► Well networked and motivated
There are also a number of key skills that are needed for mentoring, although the
relative importance of each skill will depend upon the nature of the mentoring
relationship and the needs of the mentee.
Counselling Skills
Providing confidential and impartial support and advice through difficulties and
challenges and discussing experiences with the mentee.
It is not about providing
solutions to the mentees problems but it is about getting the mentee to explore options.
Facilitation Skills
Mentors may facilitate in a number of different way:
► Providing networking opportunities
► Access to senior professionals
► Highlighting alternative career paths
► Identifying development opportunities
Coaching Skills
This may include, for example, looking at longer term skills development such as people
management skills.
HOW SHOULD A MENTOR AND MENTEES PREPARE?
Great preparation for meetings is vital. If meetings are to be productive, both mentor
and mentees must be well prepared.
MENTORS SHOULD CONSIDER:
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Have you diarised meeting time and prep time?
Has the mentee booked a venue and confirmed areas of focus?
Preparation of materials, background reading, CV, action plans, etc
Understanding of their needs
Own experiences/ stories you could usefully share
On what issues would they most value guidance/a different perspective?
What examples will help you illustrate what you mean?
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Are there any issues remaining from your previous meeting?
How can you build rapport and trust effectively in short and long term?
How do things look through THEIR window? (Empathise and really care!)
Be positive, challenging and inspiring but most of all, caring!
Take a few moments to consider how have you prepared in the past. What
could you have improved?
MENTEES SHOULD:
► Understand what documentation would help the mentor understand their
development needs?
► Be clear on what issues would they most value guidance or a different
perspective?
► Provide examples will help them illustrate what they mean?
► Confirm if there any issues remaining from any previous meetings with
their mentor?
► What can they do to make the most of the time together?
► Understand what should their line manager be update on?
► Clarify what they wish to be kept confidential?
► Review their plan of action
MENTORS TOOLKIT: PLANNING CHECKLIST
STAGE
1. GETTING STARTED &
EXPLORATION
QUESTIONS
Where shall we meet and for how long?
What do we want/need to know about each other?
What expectations do we have of each other:
► Ground rules?
► Verbal contact?
What do I know about:
► Career history?
► Domestic situation?
► Interests outside work?
Career ambitions:
► What do they enjoy/dislike about this
industry?
► Where do they want to be in five years
time?
► Greatest achievements/failures?
► Their picture of success
► How clear are their goals?
What are our priorities?
2. DEVELOPING
What do they want to improve in:
► Technical or functional skills?
► Career management?
For when:
► The current job?
► In preparation for future jobs?
Where would they most value guidance?
What will make this a satisfying and useful
relationship?
3. MONITORING
What have we discussed and what are the next
steps?
What progress has been made?
When should our next meeting be?
What action do we need to take?
Is there anything we need to change?
4. EVALUATING
What has been the impact of any learning?
What will this mean for the future?
Is this still the right mentor relationship or does it
need to change?
MENTORS TOOLKIT: GUIDELINES
Ask yourself the following questions to test out your own mentoring skills
Yes or no? Do you:
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Ensure you, the mentee and their line manager fully understand the concept of
Mentoring and their respective roles.
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Identify skill gaps for you and your mentee and ensure you receive training to enable
you to become a highly effective mentor.
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Ensure you can give the requisite amount of time to the relationship before
volunteering to become someone’s mentor (estimate / plan for 25 hours per year)
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Be on time. Never cancel a mentoring session unless for the most serious of reasons
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Build exceptional rapport during the first 1-2 meetings. Let them get to know you a
little more as a whole person. Remember to keep the meetings enjoyable for you both
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Demonstrate confidentiality. Be open and honest and develop trust in one another
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Listen attentively and suspend judgement. Encourage reflection by the mentee.
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Ask questions using intuition and experience. Help the mentee to consider all options.
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Do not recommend or prescribe any particular solution, but jointly develop options.
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Allow the mentee to think through the pros and cons. In doing so you will enable the
mentee to choose their preferred option to progress whilst learning at the same time.
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Provide support in the development of realistic career targets
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Support, encourage and show possible consequences
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Share some of your own experiences if you feel it will help their thought process
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Provide critical-constructive feedback
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Be a sparring partner for drafting solutions, supporting and challenging
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Build and maintain an excellent network to support yourself and your mentee
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Be a role model and demonstrate an upbeat and positive approach at all times
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Offer professional friendship and support but remain professional at all times
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Recognise when you need more support from a more experienced professional
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Take time to review the effectiveness of the relationship and to end it appropriately