Everything you need to know about the mentoring. Mentoring is a “process of equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to develop them and become more effective”.
The products of mentoring are long-term exceptional feats, self-resurrection, and self-evolution. While there are many different perspectives and objectives for mentoring, they all culminate in improving performance of the employees.
Mentoring is one of the fastest growing techniques for human resource development.
A survey conducted by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development in 2005 in the U.K., reported that 88% of the organizations were using mentoring as a practice in their organization for employee development.
According to David Clutterbuck, “Mentoring involves primarily listening with empathy, sharing experience, professional friendship, developing insight through reflection, being a sounding board, encouraging.”
Learn about:- 1. Meaning of Mentoring 2. Importance of Mentoring 3. Mentor-Protégé Relationship 4. Stages of Development 5. Benefits 6. Limitations 7. Guidelines.
What is Mentoring: Meaning, Importance, Mentor-Protégé Relationship, Stages, Benefits, Limitations & Guidelines for Effective Mentoring
Contents:
- Meaning of Mentoring
- Importance of Mentoring
- Mentor-Protégé Relationship
- Stages of Development in Mentoring
- Benefits of Mentoring
- Limitations of Mentoring
- Guidelines for Effective Mentoring
What is Mentoring – Meaning
Mentoring is one of the fastest growing techniques for human resource development. A survey conducted by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development in 2005 in the U.K., reported that 88% of the organizations were using mentoring as a practice in their organization for employee development.
Mentoring is a “process of equipping people with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities they need to develop them and become more effective”. The products of mentoring are long-term exceptional feats, self-resurrection, and self-evolution. While there are many different perspectives and objectives for mentoring, they all culminate in improving performance of the employees.
Mentoring is a tool that organizations use to nurture and develop their employees to full potential. Mentoring practices are being implemented into a vast array of business situations including managers in quest to perk up the performance of employees, senior level successful executives attempting to mentor promising stars, or even team leaders seeking to develop a high performing work teams.
According to Suzanne Faure, “Mentoring is a long term relationship that meets a development need, helps develop full potential, and benefits all partners, mentor, mentee and the organisation”.
According to David Clutterbuck, “Mentoring involves primarily listening with empathy, sharing experience, professional friendship, developing insight through reflection, being a sounding board, encouraging.”
According to Jacobi, “Mentoring is a one to one helping relationship or nurturing process.”
Mentoring is needed for three prime reasons listed below:
i. Change is the order of the day which calls for innovation and creativity in work situations.
ii. Organizations repeatedly amend their structure by reengineering and downsizing in response to environmental changes that impact employee relationships.
iii. Globalization has changed the business environment and is creating a multicultural work environment.
All the above stated changes directly or indirectly have an impact on the employees of the organization. Therefore it is essential to share and leverage strategic knowledge and skill throughout the organization and mentoring provides a means for leaders to align with one another on business direction. Mentoring allows organizations to create an environment that fosters personal and professional growth through the sharing of business information, skills, attitudes and behaviours.
It Increases role modelling of leaders and accelerates processes for the identification, development and retention of talent. In addition it enhances job satisfaction for mentees and mentors by offering them a structured way to acquaint themselves with the company and align their person goals with that of the organization by leveraging intellectual capital and property knowledge.
It is a process by which an experienced employee, known as mentor, advises, counsels and enhances the professional development of a new or junior employee, known as protégé (protégé, if male; protégée, if female).
Mentor is a more experienced employee who guides a new or junior employee in learning about the job and organization.
Protégé (Protégée) is an inexperienced employee who receives help and advice from an experienced person, older than him/her, in learning about a new job/organization.
The word mentor is derived from Mentor, the name of the trusted servant of Odysseus in Greek mythology. Odysseus, absent from home because of Trojan wars, left his son in the care of his servant, Mentor, who took the task of educating and guiding the son of his master. Mentors are generally older, successful themselves and respected by their colleagues.
They must be willing to spend time and energy to help others. They must be able to communicate effectively and share ideas with the protégés in a non-threatening manner and enjoy the one-to-one developmental process.
As mentors are often not the protégé’s direct supervisors, they can provide additional support to aid employees’ career prospects. Moreover, their detachment from a supervisory role allows them to be more objective in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the protégés.
It is the process where senior executives coach, advise and encourage individuals of lesser rank in development of their careers. They are not directly connected to the lesser rank employees.
1. In fact, informal mentoring goes on daily within every type of organization.
2. Generally, the mentor initiates the relationship, but sometimes an employee may approach a potential mentor for advice.
3. Most mentoring relationships develop over time on an informal basis and also end up informally.
4. Some organizations, who are proactive in nature, emphasize formal mentoring plans to assign mentors for employees.
5. In mentoring, learning focuses on goals, opportunities, expectations, standards and assistance in fulfilling one’s potential.
The major functions of mentoring are as below:
(i) Lobbying to get the protégé challenging and visible assignments,
(ii) Coaching the protégé to develop skills,
(iii) Sponsoring the protégé by nominating him/her for potential promotions,
(iv) Counselling the protégé to help bolster self-confidence,
(v) Providing friendship and acceptance, and
(vi) Acting as a role model.
What is Mentoring – What is the Importance of Mentoring?
1. Development of Long-Term Relationship:
The process involves one-to-one coaching. It means the manager does not coach or train large group of employees simultaneously. Instead, he selects one / few employees from his team & train him / them to take up higher roles & responsibilities in future. Such direct contact helps in developing long term professional relationship between the manager and the employee.
2. Development Technique:
It is a process of developing skill and abilities of an employee through coaching, guiding and counselling. It also helps to identify strengths & weaknesses of employee and provide guidance on how to improve strengths, overcome weaknesses. Such development of skills & competencies benefits the employees as well as the organization.
3. Provision of Coaching:
The mentor act as a coach to the trainee. He assigns complex tasks / jobs to the trainee and reviews his work. The mentor then gives his valuable feedback on how trainee can improve further. Such coaching prepares employees to assume higher job responsibilities in future.
4. Develops Confidence:
The process develops self-esteem and confidence of the trainee. It trains and equips an employee to take up a higher job role in an efficient manner whenever the need arises. When higher job role is actually assigned in future, trainee is able to execute the job with confidence as he has faced similar tasks or work situations during the training period.
5. Succession Planning:
Mentoring is mostly adopted to train junior employees for the managerial role. It ensures that there is an effective team of managers available to take up key job positions whenever the need arises (because of death / retirement / resignation of senior managers).
6. Retention of Employees:
The process also helps the organization in retention of competent employees by giving them opportunity to further develop their abilities. It also gives them chance to assume higher job roles in future.
7. Career Advancement:
Mentoring also aids junior employees in their career advancement by preparing them for higher job roles. The process trains & equips them to assume higher responsibilities in future. It also boosts their confidence & makes them capable of handling more challenging situations. All these ultimately help the junior employees in their career advancement.
What is Mentoring – Mentor-Protégé Relationship: Phases, Measures, Qualities and Myths of Mentors
The relationship between mentors and protégés involves psychological and emotional linkages. It makes the process fun-filled and enjoyable and yields mutual benefits. It allows protégés to openly acknowledge failures as well as successes, be aware of strengths and weaknesses, get recognition for successes and accomplishments, focus on job skills as well as ethical values, and provide a direction.
Phases of Mentor-Protégé Relationship:
According to Kram, there are four phases of mentor-protégé relationship, namely, initiation, cultivation, separation and redefinition.
1. Initiation:
A period of six months to a year during which time the relationship gets started and begins to have importance for both.
2. Cultivation:
A period of two to five years during which time career and psychological functions provided expand to a maximum.
3. Separation:
A period of six months to two years after a significant change in the structural role relationship and/or in the emotional experience of the relationship.
4. Redefinition:
An indefinite period after the separation phase, during which time the relationship is ended or taken on significantly different characteristics, making it more peer like relationship.
The relationship between mentor and protégé develops by long term interactions and emotional attachment. John W. Newstorm suggested the following measures to make the most out of mentoring relationship.
(i) Identify protégé’s strengths, and help them build on them.
(ii) Foster self-discovery by asking insight – generating questions.
(iii) Let the protégé make decisions, for that will increase ownership.
(iv) Choose the words carefully, avoid being directive or judgmental.
(v) Listen; watch from a distance; intervene only when necessary.
(vi) Don’t place oneself on a pedestal; avoid sounding like an expert.
(vii) Be real; be authentic; be supportive; eliminate signs of power.
(viii) Be open to alternative view and choices; help the protégé refine them.
For the Protégés:
(i) Select more than one mentor. Draw mentors from the peer group, higher management levels, or even professional colleagues outside the organization.
(ii) Consult periodically. Discipline oneself to meet with mentors at regular intervals.
(iii) Brief mentors on the progress, current issues, and problems being faced.
(iv) Seek feedback from mentors. Inquire how the work is regarded. Show them samples of the work, and ask for suggestions for improvement.
(v) Share a summary of one’s own strengths and weaknesses, and the action plan for overcoming the limitations, compare the view with their perceptions of one’s strengths, and probe them for improvement of ideas for the areas where one needs to work.
(vi) Ask the mentors to watch for new opportunities opening up that might use one’s skills.
(vii) Seek mentor’s advice on career-building moves that will enhance one’s promotability.
Successful mentoring depends on the qualities exhibited by the mentor which is enumerated below:
i. A desire and ability to help.
ii. Individuals who have had positive formal or informal experiences with a mentor tend to be good mentors themselves.
iii. Good reputation and demonstrated effective managerial and mentoring skills.
iv. Time & energy needed to devote to the relationship.
v. Up-to-date knowledge and skills.
vi. Learning attitude and commitment.
Successful mentoring depends also on the protégé therefore the characteristics of protégé are:
i. Unswerving to expanding their capabilities.
ii. Open and receptive to new ways of learning and a liking to experiment with novice ideas.
iii. Alert on achieving desired business results.
iv. Able to communicate and work with others.
v. Have a sense of personal responsibility and commitment.
vi. Down to earth attitude.
Mentoring is a development tool available with the organization. Mentoring is said to be a three party effort, rather than a one on one “arranged marriage”. This is a triad relationship of Manager – Protégé – Mentor.
Managers have the critical role of supporting the learning process by encouraging job exploration and monitoring continued responsibility for performance. Managers fulfill a park ranger’s role in terms of capacity building; while mentors provide a broader prospective that creates a path to the future for the protégé. Think of growth as the acquisition of attitudes and capabilities as well as the acquisition of skills and behaviors.
Some of the myths about mentors are outlined by Snell and Bohlander (2007).
Myth 1:
Mentors exist only for career development Sometimes the mentor focuses on formal career development. Sometimes the mentor is teacher, counselor and friend. Some mentors assume all these roles.
Myth 2:
An employee needs only one mentor. Employees can have multiple mentors. Different mentors provide different things and tap different facets of lives.
Myth 3:
Mentoring is a one-way process. Learning flows both ways. The mentor often learns from the protégé so the growth is reciprocal.
Myth 4:
A mentor has to be older than the protégé. Age does not matter. Experience and wisdom matter. Employees should not deprive themselves of learning opportunities from others who have rich experiences.
Myth 5:
A mentor has to be the same gender and race as the protégé. The purpose of mentoring is to learn. Employees should seek mentors who are different from them.
Myth 6:
Mentor relationships just happen. Being in the right place at the right time can help but the key to selecting a good mentor is what (not whom) an employee needs. People should not be afraid to actively seek a mentor.
Myth 7:
Highly profiled people make the best mentors. Prestige and success can be good, but good advice, leadership styles, work ethics and the like vary by individuals. Good mentors are people who challenge employees according to their needs, readiness and aspirations.
Myth 8:
Once a mentor always a mentor. Over time, the mentor should pull back and let the protégé go his or her own way. Although the two may maintain contact, the relationship changes over time.
Myth 9:
Mentoring is a complicated process. The most complicated part is getting out of a bad mentor relationship, if the relationship is not productive; find a tactful way to disengage.
Myth 10:
Mentor-protégé expectations are the same for everyone. Individuals seek mentors for the same reasons; resources, visibility, enhanced skills and counsel. But each individual brings different expectations. The key does understand where the protégé is now, not where he or she should be.
What is Mentoring – Top 4 Stages of Development: Laying the Foundation Stone of Success, Direction Setting, Progress to Dissolution of the Connection and Redefining the Association
The punch line of Pygmalion effect research is the performance of the target subordinate tends to adjust up or down to the powerful other’s expectations.
The mentoring relationship typically has four distinct and important phases of development:
Stage # 1. Orientation – Laying the Foundation Stone of Success:
Mentoring is a joint venture and the first three to six months are crucial time spent for both the mentor and protégé in getting to know each other, and building trust and developing expectations of each other. The interaction is important as both parties get to know each for a strong and beneficial relationship. The process begins with a first meeting where both parties discuss their expectations. The mentor and mentees have a discussion where the developmental goals are set.
More detailed objectives are defined and adopted as the relationship evolves. At the first meeting startup issues, expectations, and initial goals discussed. A mentor is generally a senior employee who guides and supports a less experienced employee protégé. An important constituent of the mentoring relationship is setting and facilitating clearly-defined learning objectives. In short it deals with diagnosing the needs, setting objectives, identifying priority work, setting tasks and beginning the work.
Stage # 2. The Middle Period – Direction Setting:
The middle phase is usually the most gratifying time for both mentor and protégé. In the role of a mentor helps the protégé build his self-confidence. And a mentor intercedes on behalf of the protégé. A mentor can help his protégé get crucial work assignments which can bring him appreciation and, at times, help him get salary increases and promotions. The mutual trust which has developed between the two in the first phase can give the protégé the confidence to challenge the ideas of the mentor, just as the protégé’s ideas will be confronted by the mentor.
Stage # 3. Progress to Dissolution of the Connection:
Usually, the relationship begins to draw apart after a year or two. It is imperative at this stage that the mentor steps back from the formal relationship to discuss together with the protégé, how they wish to continue their relationship.
Stage # 4. Redefining the Association – Moving On:
When a mentor has done his bit to bring his subordinate on the equal plane from where they can act as equals. He has encouraged and guided the protégé to enhance his skills and acquire new ones. The mentor-protégé relationship enters a new phase, where both parties can regard one another as equals.
They continue to have some form of interaction, although it is now on a more casual basis. Mentoring is not an event, or even a string of discrete events. Rather, it is the synthesis of ongoing event, experiences, observation, studies, and thoughtful analyses. The phase ends with a discussion on moving forward and identifies contacts for the future.
Since it is a well-established fact that all successful business people do not necessarily make effective mentors; certain individuals are more successful in the role of developing others. Whether an individual is suited to the role of mentor depends on their own stage of development and experience. Prior to entering into a mentoring relationship, the protégé should assess the mentor’s potential effectiveness.
What is Mentoring – Benefits for Both Mentor and Protégé
In order to develop a relationship in the single most essential element is trustworthiness. Both parties in a mentoring relationship should realize and accept the fact that a high level of confidentiality is essential in order for an effective relationship to build up; there is little evidence of breaches of privacy.
However, codes of conduct have to be clearly defined and understood by both parties at the beginning of every mentoring relationship. There are myriad benefits associated with mentoring, as the protégé develops and advances through their career and the mentor can gain extra skills and understanding from the partnership.
The benefits manifold for both the parties involving some of benefits are enumerated below:
i. Mentoring helps in being aware of their abilities and limitations, consequently stressing areas for future development. It also allows both parties to have an even evolution to further professional career development by developing self-confidence, business expertise necessary technical knowledge.
ii. Helps develop communication skills thus making the interaction more rewarding and fruitful.
iii. Allows for an expanded personal network and enhances the capacity to translate values and strategies into productive actions.
iv. Offers a proven method to share ideas, try new skills and take risks by creating a culture of acceptance and inclusion.
v. Improves technical and professional, expertise.
vi. Provides for a learning opportunity and environment of Support and reassurance.
vii. It also increases motivation and provides for new insights and perspectives into work area.
viii. It increases employee retention a challenge in changing times. According to a report, Seventy-seven percent of companies report that mentoring programs were effective in increasing retention.
ix. It increases the productivity. According to a study conducted by Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod published in “The War for Talent” Boston – Harvard Business School Press, 2001, ninety-five percent of mentoring participants said the experience motivated them to do their very best.
The above list of benefits cannot be said to be conclusive as there are many. But nevertheless, it can be simply concluded that an opportunity for self-development increases self-esteem and pleasure in work which positively influences the parties involved and the organization as a whole.
What is Mentoring – Limitations
Mentoring relationships do not always succeed. Therefore it is imperative to discuss the problems that might arise in mentoring relationships so that cautious approach can be adopted for the mentoring process. The possible problems include a mismatch between the mentor and the protégé.
One or both members may feel uneasy with the other because of hot being able not be able to achieve the level of companionship necessary for rich communication. Unrealistic expectations are another potential problem in the relationship, it can occur if the protégé expects or demands too much from the mentor. It is important, therefore, that expectations are clearly-defined from the start. The protégé should not suppose the relationship to fulfill every need, nor for it to continue incessantly.
Mentoring relationships are not totally free from any risk. There are many potential risks.
They are:
(i) Protégés may find their own success depends on the success of their mentor. If the mentor happens to be a falling star in the organization and faces problems, the protégé’s own career may be a question mark. Similarly, as the protégé’s behavior reflects on the mentor, any failures on the part of the protégé may harm the mentor’s reputation.
(ii) There is always the risk that a mentor’s advice/suggestions might not be as good or relevant as it should be. Once the mentor and protégé start blaming each other for the poor result there are chances that their relationships reach an uncomfortable level of conflict.
(iii) There are chances that protégés will become over dependent on their mentors resulting in slow development to become self-reliant and independent.
(iv) It is possible for mentors to rely on their protégés for help. Many a time they assign too many responsibilities to their protégés such as a research supervisor assigning most of the routine works (valuation of answer scripts / projects, taking special classes etc.), to his/her scholar.
(v) Mentors tend to accept protégés who are similar to themselves in criteria such as background, education, gender, race, religion etc.
(vi) In terms of cross-gender mentoring male mentors may prefer only male protégés to minimize problems such as sexual attraction or gossip.
(vii) Research findings indicated that the benefits of mentoring were primarily psychological rather than tangible.
(viii) One research review suggested that though mentoring could not be labeled as utterly useless, neither could it be argued that it was as important as ability and personality in career advancement.
Considering the benefits and limitations of mentoring, it makes sense to improve the mentoring process. The onus is on the mentors. Mentors should…
(i) Be responsible for protégés, not for them,
(ii) Make the mentoring relationship fun and enjoyable,
(iii) Recognize that their involvement with their protégé extends beyond the workday,
(iv) Listen carefully to their protégés,
(v) Openly acknowledge their failures as well as their successes,
(vi) Protect their protégés and expect their protégés to protect them,
(vii) Give their protégés not only directions but also options,
(viii) Recognize and encourage their protégés small successes and accomplishments,
(ix) Encourage independent thinking among their protégés, and
(x) Focus not only on job skills but also on ethical values.
What is Mentoring – How to Make Mentoring Effective? (Top 9 Guidelines)
The various guidelines for making mentoring effective are as follows:
1. Researching the potential mentor’s background to know more about him/her and to establish a relationship that will work for both the mentor and the protégé [the junior employee]
2. Making contact with the mentor to enable him/her see the skills of the employee in action.
3. Requesting help on a particular matter.
4. Keeping the request simple and specific.
5. Considering what the employee can offer in exchange by openly asking the mentor.
6. Arranging a meeting with the mentor with set goals, desired outcomes and a list of questions.
7. Listening attentively before asking the desired questions and requesting for specific suggestions.
8. Trying some of the mentor’s suggestions and sharing the experiences that are considered significant.
9. Requesting for an on-going relationship.