Benefits of mentoring

The role of a mentor is to encourage the personal and professional development of a mentee through the sharing of knowledge, expertise and experience.

The mentoring relationship is built on mutual trust, respect and communication, and involves both parties meeting regularly to exchange ideas, discuss progress and set goals for further development.

Benefits to everyone-

• Mentoring helps both the mentee and the mentor recognise their abilities and limitations, thus highlighting areas for future development.
• It helps prompt thought about career development and come to a realistic conclusion about their career potential.
  It can help increase the motivation of both the mentee and the mentor. The mentee gains a new direction or perspective while the mentor feels a sense of achievement when their mentee succeeds.
• It will develop communication skills. As well as the obvious listening/questioning skills, you will gain experience of talking to a younger or older colleague. This could help you interact better with your own immediate colleagues at work or university.
• You will be grooming future allies. Within the same company this could help with internal promotion prospects for both the mentee – gaining a senior supporter, and for the mentor – being seen as someone able to communicate with staff at any level and with an interest in developing future leaders within the company. In addition the mentor or mentee may find themselves in a position where they are looking for a career change or new position. By developing contacts in other companies you can find out early if there is a vacancy that would suit you.

Benefits for mentees

Being mentored is one of the most valuable and effective development opportunities you can offer employees. Having the guidance, encouragement and support of a trusted and experienced mentor can provide a mentee with a broad range of personal and professional benefits, which ultimately lead to improved performance in the workplace.

For mentees, some key benefits of business mentoring include:

• Exposure to new ideas and ways of thinking
• Advice on developing strengths and overcoming weaknesses
• Guidance on professional development and advancement
• Increased visibility and recognition within the company
• The opportunity to develop new skills and knowledge

Benefits for mentor

• Your mentee can provide a fascinating link to what is happening in the younger, less experienced part of industry or business.
• Your mentee can update you on current issues as they happen.
• By discussing issues with your mentee you will be renewing and developing your communication skills.
• Mentors mentoring final year students may find it a useful way to talent spot for later recruitment. This would be especially true for SMEs where there may only be an intake of one graduate per year.

Benefits for Recent graduates

• By choosing a mentor within your own company you can get a more senior handle on internal politics.
• A mentor from an external source would generally give you more freedom to discuss cultural issues concerning your department or hierarchy.

Setting goals for mentoring

To ensure mentoring in the workplace is beneficial for everyone, and that you see a return on investment as the employer, setting goals is critical. Whether your organisation offers a formal mentoring program or connects mentors and mentees on a case-by-case basis, the terms of engagement should always be clear. Ask yourself these questions:

• What does the mentee set to gain?
• How much time and commitment is required from the mentor?
• How frequently should the mentor and mentee meet?
• What does success look like?
• What happens if the relationship doesn’t work out?

Set the goals and framework for mentoring in the workplace by always having open and two-way discussions with all parties. Ensure that mentors and mentees meet regularly, whether in person, on the phone or via video call systems like Skype or Zoom. They help determine whether goals are suitable and being achieved, whether both parties are happy and ultimately, whether the relationship should progress.

The benefits of mentoring are numerous for employees and employers, but the success of all mentoring relationships and programs hinge on transparency and honesty. Ensure that you’re always open to feedback on how to improve mentoring and that you implement change when it’s needed. Be sure to celebrate any wins along the way, as there’s sure to be many.