Staff Training

As I travel around in my “day job” I constantly run into people I have known in some former capacity. This realization of how I have impacted others got me thinking about mentors—all those people who touch us as we move through the various stages of our working life. Often we unknowingly mentor people, not realizing our influence on them.

While we always learn something from people we meet, unintended mentoring often produces less than optimal results. So, is there a better way? Can you better prepare to be a mentor? Can you develop skills to be a successful mentor?

First, let’s define what mentoring is and is not.

One online mentoring manual provides an elegantly simple definition; “mentoring is a developmental partnership through which one person shares knowledge, skills, information, and perspective to foster the personal and professional growth of someone else.”¹ The online Merriam-Webster defines a mentor as “a trusted counselor or guide.”² Big Brothers and Big Sisters are examples of mentoring organizations. According to another source, a mentor is an individual, usually older, always more experienced, who helps and guides another individual’s development. This guidance is not done for personal gain.³ Mentoring is usually ‘a three-way beneficial process,’ which helps the mentor, the mentee, and the organization.⁴

Mentoring is not, in the strictest sense, training, coaching, or teaching. These tend to be short term and focused on specific items and goals. Rather, it is a long term relationship, often a friendship that benefits both parties. As in any friendship, the parties become confidantes, a source of strength, and a sounding board for ideas.

Mentoring can be formal or informal. Many organizations, facing growth or the aging of a workforce, have developed formal mentoring processes, matching mentors and mentees based on organizational needs or common interests.

Mentoring is also part of succession planning. In this application, mentoring provides a framework of guidance toward long term results. The focus is to cultivate thinking, processing, and a deeper organizational understanding. Mentoring develops the next generation of leaders, by concentrating on professional development and corporate vision. The incorporation of networking opportunities and professional meetings raise the profile of the mentee. Done well, mentoring builds team cohesiveness, reduces the learning curve for supervisors, managers, and new hires, and builds competency.⁵

Not all mentoring is formalized. Often mentoring is the result of mutual interests, shared work, organizational structure, or professional associations. This less formal approach includes general professional development, such as introductions to contacts and professional networking opportunities, support with professional memberships and volunteer involvement, and increased visibility, both in and out of the organization.

What are the attributes of a mentor? Communication skills, trust, commonality, and active listening skills are all important assets.⁶ Time is also a critical component.