MENTORING AND GROWTH

BY NATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE CENTRE MALAYSIA

MANAGEMENT, SMEBIZ, MONDAY 13 JULY 2015

When done right,

mentoring is a beneficial process

in which both the experienced person and the person being guided

gain in terms of

morale, sense of accomplishment,

transference of knowledge and

building of contacts

Mentoring is a professional relationship in which an experienced person assists another in developing specific skills and knowledge that will enhance the lee-experienced person’s professional and personal growth.  Mentoring is a growing trend in organizations as business leaders note its positive influence in their own lives.

Being mentored can be considered one of the better ways to advance in career.  Many employees, managers, and entrepreneurs these days build informal relationships with an experienced advisor or coach to help them achieve their career goals.  Mentoring programs can shorten one’s learning time, speed up managerial capabilities and develop leaders.

Mentoring can be beneficial for both mentor and mentee.  Mentees have noted that mentoring relationships have helped raise their:

·         morale,

·         increase their functional capabilities, and

·         contribute to knowledge sharing

While mentors get to:

·         polish their coaching skills

·         expand excess to information,

·         build contacts, and

·         gaining sense of well-being

Many are still confuse with the terms ‘mentoring’ and ‘coaching’.

COACHING

A set of systematic steps to empower the person being coached to gain courage, capabilities, and commitment.

It is a means of providing feedback to sustain and improve performance

MENTORING

A process by which a wise and helpful guide or advisor uses experience to show a person how to avoid mistakes made earlier in his career or otherwise help advance the individual’s career.

A mentor need not be older than the mentee.  Someone becomes a mentor because that person has the knowledge and experience that the other party can benefit from.  The learning process is both ways.  They are individuals who are willing to invest their personal time to help others achieve something more.

Mentoring is an ongoing process, thus traditionally, the nature of mentoring has several key characteristics:

1.      focus on career advancement

2.      mentor as a protector

a.      advocate

b.       using network to support mentee’s progress and mobility

3.      a desire to clone look-alike leaders

4.     mentoring base on selected few

a.      to take in high potential employees into the inner management circle

5.      lack of corporate mission or strategy

6.     development of hidden talent

Mentors can teach the ‘unwritten rules of the organization’ as well as skills, abilities and knowledge.  Organizations use mentoring programs for variety of reasons:

1.      cater to the interest of special groups

2.      support knowledge management

3.      learning technical skills for senior executives

4.     prepare expatriates for overseas assignment

Key points to ensure the quality of mentoring:

1.      understanding when mentoring is appropriate, and effective intervention in relation to other people learning and development option

2.      oversee, train and develop pool of appropriately qualified mentors

3.      consider how mentors can be matched to those who are in need of mentoring

4.     be clear about the different types of mentoring

5.      take responsibility for setting up contractual arrangements and

6.     develop mechanism to evaluate the effectiveness of mentoring activities

Mentoring is ultimately about individual relationships and how they enable participants to transfer knowledge and experience.