Case Study: The Benefits of Mentoring in Today’s Society

Introduction

This week we delivered a virtual mentoring training course to a company based in London. This is the first time we have delivered a training course for this company, having been recommended via a mutual connection.

Challenge

The company is setting up a mentoring scheme that supports its diversity and inclusion strategy.  Upon receiving the company’s mission statement we were able to build and deliver a bespoke mentoring training session to their employees.

The day’s agenda

● The role of the mentor

● Why mentoring?

● What is mentoring?

● How will this work?

Following the initial introductions, administrative dialogue and ice breakers, we highlighted the role of the mentor to all participants on the virtual whiteboard:

‘The word “mentor” originally comes from Greek mythology. Mentor was the son of Alcimus in Greek mythology, who appeared in the Homeric epic The Odyssey. In old age, Alcimus was a close friend of Odysseus, who placed Mentor in responsibility of his son Telemachus, while the hero was away fighting at the Trojan War.  This led to the word “mentor” being used for someone who is a trusted friend and advisor.

We then divided the participants into groups of five in the breakout rooms, to discuss the benefits of mentoring:

The benefits of mentoring

● The mentor provides a good example, from which someone can learn

● The mentor is a guide to the organisation’s culture

● The mentor listens and empathises with the mentee’s concerns and problems

● The mentor guides the mentee towards solutions

● The mentor helps the mentee to see issues from a different perspective

● The mentor helps the mentee to develop the connections they need in order to gain experience

We then, as a group, discussed what characteristics an ideal and effective mentor would have:

The characteristics of a good mentor

● The mentor would have a range of experience and a variety of workplace skills

● The mentor has worked at the organisation long enough to know the organisation’s culture and contacts

● The mentor displays a good representation of the organisation’s values and principles

● The mentor displays a high standard of listening, questioning and feedback skills

● The mentor has the time and willingness to develop relationships with mentees

● The mentor is sensitive to the needs of the mentee and recognises when the mentee requires support, direct assistance or independence

Reverse mentoring

After lunch, we carried out a session on the benefits of reverse mentoring in order to gain an understanding of the participants’ knowledge in this area.

It was recognised that traditionally, mentoring has been seen as a senior member of staff mentoring a junior member of staff. This has to be the case because the senior member of staff naturally has more ‘work experience’ than the junior member of staff, which is a prerequisite for mentoring.

However, it has become commonly recognised within organisations that often the ‘younger generation’ has a greater understanding of specific areas of business life, than of senior staff, e.g.

● Diversity

● Technology

● Social Media

Everyone acknowledged that reverse mentoring presented an opportunity for senior members of staff to learn about these areas from younger members of staff. Notably that this type of mentoring relationship offers an outstanding opportunity for both the mentor and mentee to learn significantly from each other.

Improve your mentoring skills

Here at Unlock Staff Potential, we can help you just like we help our clients. Whether you prefer online or face-to-face sessions, we will teach you how to enhance your mentoring skills and show you specific areas where mentoring can be used.