What is mentoring?

Mentoring is a key tool that you can use in helping to proactively manage your career.

From when you are starting out, through the various stages of your working life it can provide valuable insights and opportunities to assist you in making decisions about your career and the best jobs for you.

Mentors and mentees defined

Traditionally a mentor has been defined as an experienced and influential manager who sponsors a less-experienced team member (the mentee) and facilitates their individual career development to the advantage of both the individual and the organisation¹. Today, mentoring tends to be viewed in a more contemporary context and involves the sharing of information and insights to support the learning and career growth of both mentor and mentee.

What makes a successful partnership?

Successful mentoring relationships are professional partnerships between mentor and mentee, involving communication, reflection, trust and respect. There is commitment on both sides to the mentoring process, which in practice involves regular meetings to work through any issues and then implement appropriate strategies.

What are the benefits of mentoring?

Some key benefits for the mentee include:

Broadening your career networks
Increasing your ability to perform your role
Clarifying your career direction and progresses your career goals
Developing your skills & knowledge and increases your self confidence.

Some key benefits for the mentor include:

Raising your profile and providing an opportunity to contribute
Developing your leadership and mentoring skills
Providing es recognition of your skills and expertise
Taking advantage of the opportunity to critically reflect on your own current practice.

These benefits also flow onto organisations who embrace mentoring:

It improves employee job performance, contributes to faster learning curves and results in a better trained staff.
It also contributes to a positive organisational climate and promotes a clearer understanding of professional responsibilities and expectations.
It reflects an investment in employee development and may increase employee commitment and loyalty.
It contributes to the development of professional relationships that may be valuable to the organisation in the future.