Mentoring

NEA Workshop

Port Elizabeth

14 September 2006

Empowering through

Mentoring

5 things empowered people seek:

• A chance to be tested, to make it on their own

• A chance to take part in a social experiment

• A chance to do something well

• A chance to do something worthwhile

• A chance to change the way things are

Source: David Berklow

Levels of Impact we are aiming for:

Application/Problem Solving

Application/Problem Solving

Skill InternalisedSkill Internalised

Awareness/UnderstandingAwareness/Understanding

Course Outcomes• By the end of this programme you will be able to:

• Define the Concept “Mentoring” and distinguish it from other similar yet related topics

• Compare your own competencies to those of a competent mentor and develop an action plan to close the gap

• Form a Mentoring Relationship

• Establish Mentoring Goals

• Implement a Formal Mentoring Plan

• Evaluate the Success of the Mentoring Plan

By the end of this module you will:

– be able to define mentoring – have established common ground for further

discussion with your mentor/mentee– believe that mentoring is necessary in your career

(as a mentor/mentee)– identify the benefits of mentoring– be able to theoretically explain mentorship

Learning Outcomes

Ice-breaker Activity

You are required to decorate your file cover as follows:

– If you are a mentor, draw a picture symbolising what you can offer the mentee

– If you are a mentee, draw a picture showing what you hope to gain from the mentoring relationship

What does mentoring and coaching mean?

Mentoring:– A mentor facilitates the career development of a

protégé– Provides counselling, friendship, acceptance and

confirmation

Coaching: A coach ensures an employee gain the skills,

abilities, and knowledge they need to develop themselves professionally and become more effective in their jobs

It is the ability to understand the importance of continuous learning, to get information and to impart that in a way people can understand

The difference between coaching and mentoring

Mentoring is ‘person-focused’ (centered on the rounded development of the individual)

Coaching is role or skill-focused

Note: The role of the mentor and coach can be combined

Why are coaching and mentoring important to a manager and an organisation?

To maintain its competitive advantage, an organisation needs productive employees who are willing to continue learning as their roles change along with the organisation

Today’s companies need employees who are willing to exceed expectations

Managers with good people skills can get that kind of performance from their employees by using the tools of mentoring and coaching

It is a critical skill in terms of how leaders get followers to accomplish the mission as well as learn better and more effective ways to accomplish that mission

Why introduce mentoring / coaching into your organisation?

Develop high potential employees

Improve employee productivity

Increase employees comfort and understanding of company procedures and culture

Promote diversity

Chesterman (2001) differentiates between informal and formal mentoring relationships.

INFORMAL MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS

FORMAL MENTORING RELATIONSHIPS

No organisational structure

Occurs between individuals

Self-selection either by mentor or mentee

Both parties are conscious of mentoring demands

Purpose and goals not so clearly articulated

Lasts for as long as situation demands

Reflects a decision to implement mentoring on behalf of organisation

Has formal recognition within the institution

Executive commitment and champions

Clear purpose, measurable goals, mechanisms for assessment

Monitors results

Has a co-ordinator

Like it or not, you are the Example!

What is mentoring?

A developmental caring, sharing, and helping relationship with a focus

on the enhancement of the mentee’s growth and skill

development.

What is mentoring?

Activity: The 4 men of

Hindustan

A Mentor is:

Mentorship

Benefits of Mentoring

Mentee Receives

• Career Support – Coaching– Exposure and sponsorship– Challenge and Growth– Protection

• Psychosocial Support – Shadowing– Sounding Board– Acceptance– Counseling– Friendship

Mentor Imparts

• Career Guidance– Teaches– Creates opportunities – Delegates– Nominates– Shields from harm

• Psychosocial Support– Bonds– Allows Observation– Encourages– Listens – Celebrates

What will you give/gain?

Benefits for the Mentee• New competencies

– Greater ability to perform– Enhanced sense of self worth

• Career advancement

• Career satisfaction – Ability to contribute more

• Psychosocial support – Often from peer mentors

• Compensation Review– Indirect Benefit– Application of competence creates perception of success that can

lead to new positions which in turn lead to a higher salary

Benefits for the Mentor

• Legacy: Desire to pass on information to others

• Respect

• Organizational/professional commitment– To be known as a person who can select talent

• Learn from future generation

Benefits to the Organization

• Development of junior staff

• Utilization of senior staff

• Decrease in turnover rates/ stronger organizational commitment– Greater number of developmental relationships within the

organization the greater the organizational commitment

• Organizational change/stress– Mentoring can be a major factor in assisting employees to cope– Utilized by senior as much as junior staff

Benefits to the Organization

Why is Mentoring Important?

• Development of tomorrow’s leaders• Everyone needs career advice• Everyone needs perspective• Important factor in the development of organization

– Building understanding of mission – Staff development– Assist with organizational change

Research Frameworks for Mentoring

• Types of mentoring

– Traditional one-to-one

– Mentoring networks• Group Mentoring• Peer Mentoring• Virtual Mentoring• Mentoring based on specific skill development• Mentoring Based on psychosocial need

Mentoring Network Example

• Manager – Protection– Challenging Assignments

• Senior Manager– Sponsorship

• Peer Mentor– Acceptance/Confirmation

• Junior (reverse mentoring)– Coaching

What factors ensure a successful mentoring programme?

Executive support is key– This encourages greater participation in the programme

A mentee’s manager typically presents the largest obstacle to successful mentoring– Mentors should gain managerial buy-in up front

Participation in mentoring should be voluntary– Forced participation results in participants viewing it as a

burden and they do not fully support the process

Research

• Laferla found most managers don’t fail due to a lack of financial acumen, marketing knowledge or management skills, but rather due to an excessive ego drive characterised by narcissistic and self-serving ambition.

Research

• Orpen’s research shows:• The better the relationship between mentors and mentees, the

more mentees were motivated to work hard and felt committed to their organisation.

• Mentees who were physically close to their mentors, who were under less time pressure and had work schedules that did not conflict with those of their mentors were more motivated and committed than the reverse.

• Mentees were more motivated and committed when their mentors liked them.

• Yet, mentees with good, frequent interactions with their mentors were not judged to be more effective in their jobs than their counterparts whose interactions with their mentors were poorer or less frequent.

Research• Orpen concluded:

• Employees will work hard ‘in return’ for being liked and respected by a manager they meet quite frequently out of a sense of equity or even gratitude to him or her;

• Employees are more likely to learn just what their organisation expects from them and how to go about achieving it from managers when they enjoy good, frequent interactions with them;

• Good, frequent interactions with an important manager, e.g. an assigned mentor, typically strengthens employees’ feelings of self-competence and enhances their sense that they are capable of doing well if they try.

Research• Orpen says there are two main reasons why a good relationship with

the mentor should lead mentees to feel more committed to the organisation:

• Being shown respect and liking by ‘representatives’ of the organisation who make it clear that they enjoy interacting with the employee, enhances the extent to which the employee’s need for affection is gratified at work, strengthening the attachment to the organisation.

• Having good relationships with important managers serves to make other aspects of their organisation more attractive to the employees involved, relative to what is on offer by other organisations. This relationship makes mentees more willing to attach themselves to their present organisation.

• Lack of clarity of focus• Ineffective mentoring dialogue• Lack of understanding of mentoring as a

development process• Low emotional intelligence

Clutterbuck 2005

Reasons mentoring fails

• Its aim is clearly explained and understood• It is perceived as practical, interesting and relevant• The quality and outcomes are tangible and positive• It has operated fairly and effectively

Gibb 1994

Reasons mentoring succeeds

Role Players

The roles of a mentor

The mentor has the following roles:

Advisor

Recommends career direction for protégé Identifies career obstacles and assists protégé in overcoming them

Ally

Provides candid, forthright opinions

Broker

Assists protégé in establishing and increasing networking contacts

Catalyst

Motivates protégé

The roles of a mentor (cont.) Coach

Teaches necessary job skills Promotes understanding of corporate culture and Clarifies employer expectations

Communicator

Facilitates discussion, interaction and the exchange of information

Counsellor

Assists protégé in understanding and persuing career options

Savvy insider

Facilitates networking by protégé

Characteristics of a mentor and a mentee

A mentor facilitates growth in a protégé by sharing knowledge and insights

The mentor is therefore usually more senior to the protégé (a coach may not necessarily have to be more senior)

The mentor has no direct reporting responsibility for the protégé

A ideal mentor is accessible at all times, committed to the relationship and a prominent leadership model within his/her department

An ideal protégé is bright and motivated

The protégé determines how interactive and successful the relationship will be

The protégé has the responsibility to absorb the mentors knowledge and the ambition and initiative to combine it with other professional training for successful application in the workplace

Berry’s Model• Define Mentoring Programme Objectives

• Identify Management Development Needs To Be Addressed

• Select Mentors And Mentees

• Conduct Orientation Sessions

• Match Mentors And Mentees

• Establish Developmental Plans

• Provide Feedback And Evaluate Relationship

• Dissolve The Relationship

First SessionGuidelines for the First Contact Session:• Get to know each other;

• Define the purpose of the relationship e.g. increase mentee visibility or action developmental needs;

• Identify expectations of one other;

• Agree on how to manage the relationship;

• Discuss and agree goals;

• Determine how progress will be measured.

Set up PhaseThe first or second meeting should also include:

• some tabling of assessment results of the mentee’s strengths and weaknesses (self-assessment; generic performance contract; psychometric tests, JPMs),

• the nature of the transition he or she would like to make,

• and his/her perception of the gap between the two.

Ground Rules Template• For the Mentee: I am participating in a mentorship process because:• For the Mentor: I am willing to serve as a mentor because:• For the Mentee: I have/have not had a mentor before. If the former is true, the

experience was good/bad because…• What is the overall purpose of our mentor-mentee relationship?• What are the core topics we want to discuss?• What, if any, are the limits to the scope of discussion (i.e. what we can’t

talk about?)• What do we expect from each other?• What do we hope to learn from each other?• How closely do our expectations match?• How directive or non-directive should the mentor be in each meeting?

Ground Rules Template• Who will take primary responsibility – i.e. the mentor, the

mentee or both together for:– Deciding meeting logistics - how often; where; how long?– Setting the agenda for meetings?– Ensuring that meetings take place?– Initiating progress reviews?– Defining learning goals?

• How formal or informal do we want our meetings to be?• To what extent can the mentee use:

– Mentor authority?– Mentor networks?

• Are we both willing to give honest and timely feedback (e.g. to be a critical friend)?

Ground Rules Template• Define our boundaries e.g. access, availability:• What, if any, are the limits to the confidentiality of this

relationship i.e. What are we prepared to tell others:• About the relationship?• About our discussion?• Who shall we tell and how?• What responsibility do we have to others as a result of this

relationship ( e.g. to line managers, peers, the programme co-ordinator?)

• How do we ensure clear distinction between the roles of mentor and line manager i.e mentoring vs coaching?

• What type of paper trail should we keep?• If we experience conflict in this relationship, how will we

handle it?• When will we dissolve this relationship? How?

Ethical Code of Conduct• An Ethical Code of Practice for Mentoring – example MENTORS• The mentor’s role is to respond to the mentee’s developmental goals and

agenda; it is not to impose his or her own agenda.• The mentor will not intrude into areas the mentee wishes to keep private

until invited to do so. • However, s/he should help the mentee recognize how other issues may

relate to those areas.• Mentors must operate within current legislation.Mentors need to be aware

of the limits of their own competence and operate within these limits.• Mentors have a responsibility to develop their own competence in the

practice of mentoring.• Mentors may not discuss the development of the mentee nor personal

issues with his/her peers or senior management without the mentee’s permission.

Ethical Code of Conduct• An Ethical Code of Practice for Mentoring – example MENTEE• The mentee must schedule meeting dates.• The mentee must come prepared with a prioritised agenda.• The mentee must accept increasing responsibility for managing the

relationship, ensuring that they do not impose beyond what is reasonable.

• The mentee should be aware of his/her rights and appeal procedures.• The mentee needs to respect the mentor’s personal time constraints.• The mentee needs to keep matters confidential if asked to do so by

the mentor.

Ethical Code of Conduct• An Ethical Code of Practice for Mentoring – example BOTH• Should aim to be open and truthful with each other and themselves

about the relationship itself.• May not exploit each other in any way.• Share responsibility for the smooth winding down of the relationship

when it has achieved its purpose- they must both avoid creating dependency.

• May dissolve the relationship. However, both mentor and mentee have a responsibility for discussing the matter together as part of mutual learning.

Ethical issues around mentoring

• What are the boundaries of what can be discussed?

• To what extent should the mentor attempt to direct • the learner towards a particular action or decision?

• In a conflict of interests between mentor and learner• where should the mentor’s priorities lie?

From: Clutterbuck and Megginson 1997

Ethical obligations

• The obligation to do good• The obligation to avoid harm• The obligation of fairness• The obligation of concern and

care

Moberg and Valesquez

Ethical obligations

Have Faith

If at first you don’t succeed, you are in

the Majority!

Criteria for evaluating

mentoring • Level of commitment• Intensity of relationship• Issues worked upon• Needs satisfied

From: Kram1985

Criteria for evaluating

mentoring

Successful mentorship