The benefits of structured mentoring

Everyone likes to have a confidante.  Someone they can trust.  Someone they respect.  

Mentoring is a management development tool that is gaining support in Australia.  Mentoring involves the establishment of a long term professional relationship within the workplace.  The mentor’s focus is on providing guidance and developing the capabilities of their charge.  It’s all about encouraging the mentee to develop to their fullest potential.

A mentor might be someone from within the organisation, a professional mentor from outside the business or a colleague based at a different location.  The underpinning base of the relationship must be one of trust and confidence to share ideas.  The aim of the relationship is personal and career development as well as the transfer of knowledge.

Many organisations operate structured mentoring programs to develop young staff with long term career development aspirations.  Candidates with potential are identified and assigned a mentor, usually someone senior from within the organisation.  The more experienced mentor will meet with the mentee on a regular basis and act as a sounding board for new ideas, the exchange of information and reflection on personal goals.

More senior personnel tend to be mentored offsite by a professional mentor.  In a secure environment they can bounce around their strategic plans and develop new interpretative and analytical skills.  They may work on real and current situations from the workplace or hypothesise a potential business scenario.  Either way, it involves looking at issues from a different perspective and stepping outside the mentee’s traditional paradigm.

Mentoring involves a commitment of resources by the organisation.  An informal, in house arrangement requires a commitment of time.  Both parties must have time made available for them to commit to the relationship.  The time commitment means removing the participants from their immediate workspace and the distraction of telephones, incoming email alerts and colleagues knocking at the door.

Executive mentoring requires time as well as money for a qualified training and development professional.  An off-site venue might also need to be included in the equation.

Both formal and informal mentoring models need to be approached with a long term view.  The quality of a mentoring program becomes apparent as the relationship develops and level of trust grows.

The investment by the organisation in its people through structured mentoring returns multiple benefits.  Young management aspirants are enthusiastic and feel committed to their employer.  The spin off is lower rates of attrition and greater morale and productivity.  Senior staff feel empowered to take on new challenges with greater confidence in their management and strategic ability.

The other big plus for business is greater retention of their corporate memory.  The history of the business is passed down to the upcoming management team.  Lessons learned from the past are conveyed in a constructive climate of development without fear of ridicule.

Mentoring is a great way to provide the framework for the sharing of corporate history and development of the future executive management pool.