Mentoring is a process that brings together mentors and mentees, builds developmental relationship between a mentor and a mentee in order to foster career guidance (Hamlin & Sage, 2011). The later definitions of mentoring elicited the value of networking between mentors and mentees (Ragins et al. 2016). Extant literature presents many definitions of mentoring and the term is conceptualised to incorporate task focus, social support, career guidance, role modelling to name a few. Overall, mentoring is a dynamic process that unfolds over time, enhances social learning, mutual identification and interpersonal comfort (Weinberg, 2019).

For effective mentoring to happen, the qualities of mentors and mentees are crucial. For example, a mentor should be willing to share experiences and expertise without necessarily expecting anything in return and the mentee should be willing to take on the feedback provided by the mentor. Mentoring broadly serves two functions (1) psychosocial mentoring that facilitates the development of mentees confidence; and (2) career mentoring that promotes the employability and career advancement.

Career mentoring builds upon successful career experiences and enables individuals to cope with career challenges. Mentors understand mentees career goals, provide valuable feedback and promote career motivation. Mentoring support is truly unique as mentees learn from mentors real-life experiences, develop networks, build connections and guide/advance careers.

References

Hamlin, R. G., & Sage, L. (2011). Behavioural criteria of perceived mentoring effectiveness: An empirical study of effective and ineffective mentor and mentee behaviour within formal mentoring relationships. Journal of European Industrial Training, 35(8), 752-778.

Ragins, B. R., Ehrhardt, K., Lyness, K. S., Murphy, D. D., & Capman, J. F. (2016). Anchoring relationships at work: High-quality mentors and other supportive work relationships as buffers to ambient racial discrimination. Personnel Psychology, 70(1), 211-256.

Weinberg, F. J. (2019). How and when is role modelling effective? The influence of mentee professional identity on mentoring dynamics and personal learning outcomes. Group & Organisation Management, 44(2), 425-477.

Last modified: Sunday, 11 October 2020, 1:35 PM