Benefits of Mentoring
Content
Benefits of mentoring Mentoring has many benefits for mentees, mentors and organisations including For the mentee:
improved self-confidence and self esteem, increased motivation, broadening horizons and experience raised achievements and aspirations.
For the mentor: satisfaction from helping another person grow development of interpersonal and communication skills increased self-awareness For organisations: development of staff skills instilling a feel good factor in staff positive publicity shared learning
Types of mentoring schemes Mentoring can be used in many contexts with varing aims. The following are broad categories of the type of schemes in Brent.
Business There are two main types of mentoring support for businesses. In the first, large companies offer support and advice to small and medium size enterprises. The second provides support to new businesses.
Education Many schools, colleges, local education authorities and charities run schemes where adult mentors are matched with pupils to raise their aspirations and achievements. Schemes often focus on raising academic standards and developing pupils’ life skills. For older pupils emphasis is given to developing work place skills.
Social This type of mentoring provides support for people at risk of social exclusion.
Peer Carried out between people of similar age, status and circumstance. Support and development is often a collaborative two way process between the mentoring pair.
E-mentoring Traditionally mentoring has been carried out face-face. New technologies are facilitating new methods of mentoring. Email, chatrooms and electronic forms are used to enable mentor and mentee to communicate with each other and with the scheme's coordinators. Software is often incorporated which monitors the progress of the mentee and the content of communications between adult mentors and young mentees.
Career Takes place in the workplace between a more experienced colleague and someone wishing to develop their career.
What does a mentor do? There are many different types of mentoring schemes. So, mentoring can mean different things to different people but in general terms a mentor is Someone who:
listens offers encouragement acts as a role model discusses possible solutions to difficulties shares their experience and knowledge helps another to stay on track and reach their goals stays independent – does not get too personal
They are not: a teacher a substitute parent a source of finance a counsellor a social worker mentors should be:
enthusiastic, patient, approachable, a good listener, non-judgmental, a role model, positive, reliable, committed, consistent and realistic"
Mentoring FAQs Am I suitable to be a mentor? The skills and experience required of mentors vary greatly depending on the projects they work on. In many cases personal attributes are more important than specific experience or knowledge. Mentors need to be committed, consistent, good at listening, non-judgemental and have plenty of patience.
Some mentoring schemes do have specific requirements for their mentors. This may be specific knowledge and experience or the ability to provide a positive role model who a particular mentee can relate to.
What is involved? Mentoring schemes usually involve a more experienced mentor helping a mentee set and work towards realistic life goals. This is usually achieved by regular one-one meetings where experience can be shared and progress reviewed.
How much time would I need to commit? The amount of time you need to commit will depend on the mentoring project. Many projects require their mentors to be available for as little as 1 hours a week. However, you should view mentoring a long-term commitment. Most projects hope their mentors will stay with them for at least a year.
Will I receive any training? Most mentoring schemes provide training for their mentors. The extent and type of training will depend on the mentor and mentee’s needs.
Will I get paid? Most mentoring schemes are voluntary and mentors are not paid, although some schemes pay expenses such as travel and food.
I’d like to be a mentor, what should I do next? Take a look through our list of potential mentees and see which ones are of most interest to you.
What are Coaching and Mentoring? Both coaching and mentoring are processes that enable both individual and corporate clients to achieve their full potential. Coaching and mentoring share many similarities so it makes sense to outline the common things coaches and mentors do whether the services are offered in a paid (professional) or unpaid (philanthropic) role.
Facilitate the exploration of needs, motivations, desires, skills and thought processes to assist the individual in making real, lasting change.
Use questioning techniques to facilitate client's own thought processes in order to identify solutions and actions rather than takes a wholly directive approach
Support the client in setting appropriate goals and methods of assessing progress in relation to these goals
Observe, listen and ask questions to understand the client's situation
Creatively apply tools and techniques which may include one-to-one training, facilitating, counselling & networking.
Encourage a commitment to action and the development of lasting personal growth & change.
Maintain unconditional positive regard for the client, which means that the coach is at all times supportive and non-judgemental of the client, their views, lifestyle and aspirations.
Ensure that clients develop personal competencies and do not develop unhealthy dependencies on the coaching or mentoring relationship.
Evaluate the outcomes of the process, using objective measures wherever possible to ensure the relationship is successful and the client is achieving their personal goals.
Encourage clients to continually improve competencies and to develop new developmental alliances where necessary to achieve their goals.
Work within their area of personal competence.
Possess qualifications and experience in the areas that skills-transfer coaching is offered.
Manage the relationship to ensure the client receives the appropriate level of service and that programmes are neither too short, nor too long.
Useful definitions The common thread uniting all types of coaching & mentoring is that these services offer a vehicle for analysis, reflection and action that ultimately enable the client to achieve success in one more areas of their life or work. Here are some published definitions we particularly like...
Coaching is… "a process that enables learning and development to occur and thus performance to improve. To be a successful a Coach requires a knowledge and understanding of process as well as the variety of styles, skills and techniques that are appropriate to the context in which the coaching takes place"
Eric Parsloe, The Manager as Coach and Mentor (1999) page 8. Eric is a respected author and Director of the Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring
Mentoring is... "off-line help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking"
Clutterbuck, D & Megginson, D, Mentoring Executives and Directors (1999) page 3 (available in the bookshop). David Clutterbuck & David Megginson are both directors of The European Mentoring Centre and highly respected authors, academics and consultants in the mentoring arena.
How do coaching and mentoring compare with other services? Traditional forms of training
Wholesale transfer of new skills, e.g. change in procedures, new systems (e.g. software application training), new job function. Programmes are mostly generic and not tailored to individual needs. Delegates generally have to
Coaching/mentoring
Actively untaps potential. Fine tunes and develops skills. Development activities are designed to suit client’s personal needs and learning styles. Eliminates specific performance problems.
complete standard modules, so there is little room for tailoring the programme to account for existing knowledge, skills or preferences. Not always sufficiently similar to the ‘live’ working environment to ensure effective skills transfer. Best suited to transfer of knowledge and certain skills rather than the development of personal qualities or competencies
Counselling
Explore personal issues and problems through discussion in order to increase understanding or develop greater self-awareness. The aim of counselling is to lead the client toward self-directed actions to achieve their goals.
Can focus on interpersonal skills, which cannot be readily or effectively transferred in a traditional training environment. Provides client with contacts and networks to assist with furthering their career or life aspirations. Performed in the ‘live’ environment Highly effective when used as a means of supporting training initiatives to ensure that key skills are transferred to the ‘live’ environment. Coaches and mentors transfer the skills to the client rather than doing the job for them.
Consultancy
Focus is on developing organisational practices, processes and structure. Role generally more strategic and often used to instigate and design broad ranging change programmes Consultancy frequently involves expert advice about specific issues and organisational processes. Consultants are often brought in to provide specific ‘solutions’ to business problems and needs Consultant does the job for the organisation, rather than the employee/client becoming up-skilled to do the job themselves.
N.B Many coaching relationships involve an element of counselling but this is distinct from the services offered by a professional counselling service. Professional counsellors deal with personal issues in much greater depth than would generally be N.B. The term consultant coach is often used explored within a coaching context. when the coach is external to the organisation and therefore offering services on an ‘external’ or ‘consultancy’ basis. This is not, however, the same as consultancy per se. Coaching and mentoring has been offered by consultancy companies for many years, even though it is not specifically ‘consultancy’ It is only recently that people have begun drawing a distinction which in some cases, like the distinction between coaching and mentoring is not useful in distinguishing between them. top of page
Is coaching just therapy by another name? Coaching is not ‘therapy’ by another name although the key theoretical underpinnings, models and techniques found their origins in the field of psychology and associated therapies like gestalt & cognitive behavioural therapy which have broad ranging applications in both organisational and personal contexts. The key difference between coaching and the therapies is that coaching does not seek to resolve the deeper underlying issues that are the cause of serious problems like poor motivation, low self-esteem and poor job performance. Coaching and mentoring programmes are generally more concerned with the practical issues of setting goals and achieving results within specific time-scales. Coaching and mentoring is generally commenced on the premise that clients are self-aware and ‘whole’ and have selected coaching or mentoring because they do not require a therapeutic intervention. It is possible for someone who has underlying issues to experience success within a coaching context even if the underlying issues are not resolved. If, however, a client becomes ‘stuck’ and the coaching or mentoring programme is not achieving desired results, then a psychological or therapeutic intervention may be necessary for the client to move forward and achieve their goals. Coach & mentor training programmes which are typically quite short are not aimed at qualifying coaches to conduct an assessment of whether someone may be in need of a therapeutic intervention, rather than a coaching or mentoring one. This is driven in part by the professional restrictions and barriers that have traditionally been placed around psychology and the therapies, but is mostly due to the fact that psychological assessment is a complex process that does require specialised training. Professional coaches & mentors do, however, stay ever alert to the possibility that a client may have or may develop issues or problems for which coaching or mentoring on it’s own, is not sufficient. Client progress is always monitored and coaches and mentors watch for signs which may indicate that a client requires an assessment by a trained therapist. Some coaches will on-refer a client to an appropriate therapist if this is felt to be useful. Other coaches will conduct a coaching programme in parallel with a therapeutic intervention. Most coaches & mentors are keen to maintain the professional boundaries between coaching & mentoring and the traditional therapies and will collaborate with therapists when a client requires this form of intervention.
improved self-confidence and self esteem, increased motivation, broadening horizons and experience raised achievements and aspirations.
For the mentor: satisfaction from helping another person grow development of interpersonal and communication skills increased self-awareness For organisations: development of staff skills instilling a feel good factor in staff positive publicity shared learning
Types of mentoring schemes Mentoring can be used in many contexts with varing aims. The following are broad categories of the type of schemes in Brent.
Business There are two main types of mentoring support for businesses. In the first, large companies offer support and advice to small and medium size enterprises. The second provides support to new businesses.
Education Many schools, colleges, local education authorities and charities run schemes where adult mentors are matched with pupils to raise their aspirations and achievements. Schemes often focus on raising academic standards and developing pupils’ life skills. For older pupils emphasis is given to developing work place skills.
Social This type of mentoring provides support for people at risk of social exclusion.
Peer Carried out between people of similar age, status and circumstance. Support and development is often a collaborative two way process between the mentoring pair.
E-mentoring Traditionally mentoring has been carried out face-face. New technologies are facilitating new methods of mentoring. Email, chatrooms and electronic forms are used to enable mentor and mentee to communicate with each other and with the scheme's coordinators. Software is often incorporated which monitors the progress of the mentee and the content of communications between adult mentors and young mentees.
Career Takes place in the workplace between a more experienced colleague and someone wishing to develop their career.
What does a mentor do? There are many different types of mentoring schemes. So, mentoring can mean different things to different people but in general terms a mentor is Someone who:
listens offers encouragement acts as a role model discusses possible solutions to difficulties shares their experience and knowledge helps another to stay on track and reach their goals stays independent – does not get too personal
They are not: a teacher a substitute parent a source of finance a counsellor a social worker mentors should be:
enthusiastic, patient, approachable, a good listener, non-judgmental, a role model, positive, reliable, committed, consistent and realistic"
Mentoring FAQs Am I suitable to be a mentor? The skills and experience required of mentors vary greatly depending on the projects they work on. In many cases personal attributes are more important than specific experience or knowledge. Mentors need to be committed, consistent, good at listening, non-judgemental and have plenty of patience.
Some mentoring schemes do have specific requirements for their mentors. This may be specific knowledge and experience or the ability to provide a positive role model who a particular mentee can relate to.
What is involved? Mentoring schemes usually involve a more experienced mentor helping a mentee set and work towards realistic life goals. This is usually achieved by regular one-one meetings where experience can be shared and progress reviewed.
How much time would I need to commit? The amount of time you need to commit will depend on the mentoring project. Many projects require their mentors to be available for as little as 1 hours a week. However, you should view mentoring a long-term commitment. Most projects hope their mentors will stay with them for at least a year.
Will I receive any training? Most mentoring schemes provide training for their mentors. The extent and type of training will depend on the mentor and mentee’s needs.
Will I get paid? Most mentoring schemes are voluntary and mentors are not paid, although some schemes pay expenses such as travel and food.
I’d like to be a mentor, what should I do next? Take a look through our list of potential mentees and see which ones are of most interest to you.
What are Coaching and Mentoring? Both coaching and mentoring are processes that enable both individual and corporate clients to achieve their full potential. Coaching and mentoring share many similarities so it makes sense to outline the common things coaches and mentors do whether the services are offered in a paid (professional) or unpaid (philanthropic) role.
Facilitate the exploration of needs, motivations, desires, skills and thought processes to assist the individual in making real, lasting change.
Use questioning techniques to facilitate client's own thought processes in order to identify solutions and actions rather than takes a wholly directive approach
Support the client in setting appropriate goals and methods of assessing progress in relation to these goals
Observe, listen and ask questions to understand the client's situation
Creatively apply tools and techniques which may include one-to-one training, facilitating, counselling & networking.
Encourage a commitment to action and the development of lasting personal growth & change.
Maintain unconditional positive regard for the client, which means that the coach is at all times supportive and non-judgemental of the client, their views, lifestyle and aspirations.
Ensure that clients develop personal competencies and do not develop unhealthy dependencies on the coaching or mentoring relationship.
Evaluate the outcomes of the process, using objective measures wherever possible to ensure the relationship is successful and the client is achieving their personal goals.
Encourage clients to continually improve competencies and to develop new developmental alliances where necessary to achieve their goals.
Work within their area of personal competence.
Possess qualifications and experience in the areas that skills-transfer coaching is offered.
Manage the relationship to ensure the client receives the appropriate level of service and that programmes are neither too short, nor too long.
Useful definitions The common thread uniting all types of coaching & mentoring is that these services offer a vehicle for analysis, reflection and action that ultimately enable the client to achieve success in one more areas of their life or work. Here are some published definitions we particularly like...
Coaching is… "a process that enables learning and development to occur and thus performance to improve. To be a successful a Coach requires a knowledge and understanding of process as well as the variety of styles, skills and techniques that are appropriate to the context in which the coaching takes place"
Eric Parsloe, The Manager as Coach and Mentor (1999) page 8. Eric is a respected author and Director of the Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring
Mentoring is... "off-line help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking"
Clutterbuck, D & Megginson, D, Mentoring Executives and Directors (1999) page 3 (available in the bookshop). David Clutterbuck & David Megginson are both directors of The European Mentoring Centre and highly respected authors, academics and consultants in the mentoring arena.
How do coaching and mentoring compare with other services? Traditional forms of training
Wholesale transfer of new skills, e.g. change in procedures, new systems (e.g. software application training), new job function. Programmes are mostly generic and not tailored to individual needs. Delegates generally have to
Coaching/mentoring
Actively untaps potential. Fine tunes and develops skills. Development activities are designed to suit client’s personal needs and learning styles. Eliminates specific performance problems.
complete standard modules, so there is little room for tailoring the programme to account for existing knowledge, skills or preferences. Not always sufficiently similar to the ‘live’ working environment to ensure effective skills transfer. Best suited to transfer of knowledge and certain skills rather than the development of personal qualities or competencies
Counselling
Explore personal issues and problems through discussion in order to increase understanding or develop greater self-awareness. The aim of counselling is to lead the client toward self-directed actions to achieve their goals.
Can focus on interpersonal skills, which cannot be readily or effectively transferred in a traditional training environment. Provides client with contacts and networks to assist with furthering their career or life aspirations. Performed in the ‘live’ environment Highly effective when used as a means of supporting training initiatives to ensure that key skills are transferred to the ‘live’ environment. Coaches and mentors transfer the skills to the client rather than doing the job for them.
Consultancy
Focus is on developing organisational practices, processes and structure. Role generally more strategic and often used to instigate and design broad ranging change programmes Consultancy frequently involves expert advice about specific issues and organisational processes. Consultants are often brought in to provide specific ‘solutions’ to business problems and needs Consultant does the job for the organisation, rather than the employee/client becoming up-skilled to do the job themselves.
N.B Many coaching relationships involve an element of counselling but this is distinct from the services offered by a professional counselling service. Professional counsellors deal with personal issues in much greater depth than would generally be N.B. The term consultant coach is often used explored within a coaching context. when the coach is external to the organisation and therefore offering services on an ‘external’ or ‘consultancy’ basis. This is not, however, the same as consultancy per se. Coaching and mentoring has been offered by consultancy companies for many years, even though it is not specifically ‘consultancy’ It is only recently that people have begun drawing a distinction which in some cases, like the distinction between coaching and mentoring is not useful in distinguishing between them. top of page
Is coaching just therapy by another name? Coaching is not ‘therapy’ by another name although the key theoretical underpinnings, models and techniques found their origins in the field of psychology and associated therapies like gestalt & cognitive behavioural therapy which have broad ranging applications in both organisational and personal contexts. The key difference between coaching and the therapies is that coaching does not seek to resolve the deeper underlying issues that are the cause of serious problems like poor motivation, low self-esteem and poor job performance. Coaching and mentoring programmes are generally more concerned with the practical issues of setting goals and achieving results within specific time-scales. Coaching and mentoring is generally commenced on the premise that clients are self-aware and ‘whole’ and have selected coaching or mentoring because they do not require a therapeutic intervention. It is possible for someone who has underlying issues to experience success within a coaching context even if the underlying issues are not resolved. If, however, a client becomes ‘stuck’ and the coaching or mentoring programme is not achieving desired results, then a psychological or therapeutic intervention may be necessary for the client to move forward and achieve their goals. Coach & mentor training programmes which are typically quite short are not aimed at qualifying coaches to conduct an assessment of whether someone may be in need of a therapeutic intervention, rather than a coaching or mentoring one. This is driven in part by the professional restrictions and barriers that have traditionally been placed around psychology and the therapies, but is mostly due to the fact that psychological assessment is a complex process that does require specialised training. Professional coaches & mentors do, however, stay ever alert to the possibility that a client may have or may develop issues or problems for which coaching or mentoring on it’s own, is not sufficient. Client progress is always monitored and coaches and mentors watch for signs which may indicate that a client requires an assessment by a trained therapist. Some coaches will on-refer a client to an appropriate therapist if this is felt to be useful. Other coaches will conduct a coaching programme in parallel with a therapeutic intervention. Most coaches & mentors are keen to maintain the professional boundaries between coaching & mentoring and the traditional therapies and will collaborate with therapists when a client requires this form of intervention.
