BSBLED805.docx

BSBLED805

Plan and implement a mentoring program

Question 1

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 relationship offers personal satisfaction of sharing their skills and experience with a willing learner, being involved in mentoring also provides some tangible benefits that can reward mentors professionally.

Some key benefits for mentors include:

Recognition as a subject matter expert and leader

Exposure to fresh perspectives, ideas and approaches

Extension of their professional development record

Opportunity to reflect on their own goals and practices

Development of their personal leadership and coaching styles

Question 2

To be successful in today’s ever-changing business environment, companies must learn and evolve constantly, while also understanding employees’ needs, aspirations and motivations. A structured workplace mentoring program can help cover all the bases. Some of the benefits of having a structured workplace mentoring program at your company are as follows:

Creates a leaning culture: By having a workplace mentoring program internally, a company culture is created that values learning and development. Employees know their future is being invested in if they’re paired with a mentor who can help guide their career development.

Promotes personal and professional development: By pairing employees with a mentor who is tasked with guiding employees, you create a safe place for employees to learn. They are comfortable taking risks and making mistakes because they understand they should constantly be learning. This feeds a culture of innovation as well.

Reduces cost of learning:  Coaching/mentoring is seen as more effective and rated the most effective method of learning with minimum cost.

Increases job satisfaction and reduces turnover: The mentoring experience provides a positive environment, leading to increased job satisfaction, a higher level of satisfaction is associated with reduced employee turnover and improved retention

Question 3

The purpose of mentoring is to tap into the existing knowledge, skills, and experience of high performing employees and transfer these skills to newer or less experienced employees in order to advance their careers. The goals and outcomes of mentoring programs within organizations will differ depending on the parameters of the relationship. The below are the purposes for purposes of a workplace mentoring program for mentors;

Develop leadership skills. Being put in the position of a role model can help even the most experienced of employees become better leaders. The responsibility of helping guide someone’s career and goals process puts the more senior employee in a unique position. They will sometimes need to teach, to motivate and to offer feedback.

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ts the more senior employee in a unique position. They will sometimes need to teach, to motivate and to offer feedback.

Communication and listening skills. Mentors need to be active and involved listeners as well as strategic communicators. A mentoring program can help employees further sharpen their skills in these areas.

Knowledge. The more experienced employee should have a thorough knowledge of the organization as well as any programs or training that a mentee can access to help them reach their goals. The mentor can impart wisdom developed on the job over time, information and workplace expectations or policies that will help the mentee succeed in the long run.

Giving back. Mentorship provides the opportunity for the mentor to give back to the company by helping train new and upcoming employees. Leveraging their years of experience, knowledge, and wisdom to help the mentee succeed in the organization is a great way for mentors to contribute to the workplace.

Question 4

The program design phase helps for designing parameters for the program, the following are some ways;

Define the target population that the program will serve

Identify the types of individuals you will recruit as mentors

Determine the type of mentoring the program will offer

Structure the mentoring program as a standalone program or as part of an existing organization

Define the nature of the mentoring sessions

Determine what the program will accomplish and what outcomes will result

Determine when the mentoring will take place

Determine how often mentors and mentees will meet and how long the mentoring matches should endure

Decide where the mentoring matches will meet

Identify your program stakeholders and determine how you will promote your program

Decide how to evaluate the program’s success

Establish a case management protocol to ensure that the program has regular contact with both mentors and mentees about their relationship

Question 5

The success of a mentoring program takes more than just the commitment of the mentor and mentee. It also requires a solid foundation of guidance and support from the organization facilitating the mentoring opportunity.

Compel mentoring pairs to define learning objectives: Setting clear goals for activities and outcomes establishes the pair’s priorities from day one, guiding their agenda and providing a shared sense of purpose. Defining learning objectives up front also gives mentors a chance to verify that they have the knowledge and commitment to teach what mentees want or need to learn.

Set clear timelines: Rather than encouraging open-ended relationships, most organizations establish timelines for pairs to meet their stated objectives. The timelines include not only progress milestones, but defined end points.

Let Mentors and Mentees clarify their ground rules: In most of the best-practice organizations, mentoring pairs are encouraged to set their own ground rules for interaction, including each partner’s responsibilities to the other and how they will work together toward their stated goals. Clear ground rules can help prevent misunderstandings, since both mentors and mentees

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BSBLED805.docx
Last updated: Feb 2022

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