CASE #7 MENTORING

1 - To recognize the importance of mentoring in team building activity.

2 - To know more about the benefits of experience sharing practices, training sessions and seminars on overall organizational learning & development.

Mentoring is an activity that helps in managing and inspiring people, it also encourages people to grow, learn and become more competent in their professional fields.

Role of Mentoring in an Organization

At present, mentoring is simply known as a process in which a more experienced person supports or helps a less experienced person in his/her professional life and personal growth. It is a reflective practice that requires time, ongoing dialogue and effective involvement. Nevertheless, constraints of culture, geography and time leads to conventional mentoring falling short on attaining multiple demands required for career development and growth. The practice of mentoring has developed to the point where conservative one-to-one mentoring is only one item on the list of structural options that fit in the current high paced corporate environment. Mentoring is known as a useful tool that enhances employee performance, transfers knowledge from more experienced individuals to less experienced individuals and retains the talented employees.

Mentoring relationships take place over time, and require repeated interactions. According to research studies various positive outcomes can be attained by organizations through mentoring, such as career outcomes, job satisfaction and improved opportunity. The other benefits that organizations can gain through mentoring relationships are enhanced productivity, reduced turnover and a resilient workforce. Mentoring can be differentiated into two specific forms: formal and informal.

The formal mentoring programs are endorsed and managed by the organization, which involves matching a senior employee with a less skilled junior co-worker. On the other hand, informal mentoring can take place at any time with no pre-arranged agenda or schedule. Informal mentoring is less structured, self-directed, spontaneous and it not documented by the organization. The main difference between informal and formal mentoring is the commitment, duration, structure and intensity of the relationship developed. Several research studies have claimed that informal mentoring relationships can offer more benefits than formal mentoring relationships.

At various occasions it is observed that a single mentor might not be able to provide all the support required by any new employee in an organization or they are not able to form and find positive and supportive mentoring relationships among them. In those occasions collaborative mentoring would be the best mentoring option, as it has an ability to foster relational learning and it also offers a way for skills and knowledge expansion within an organization. Such kind of mentoring relationship is an opportunity for several professionals to become directly involved in the learning & development activities by sharing mentoring responsibilities. The process of mentoring is quite dependent on the mentoring program and the mentoring relationship along with the goal of providing significant change in the emotional, intellectual, and social domains of the mentees.

Therefore, mentoring can be considered as a developmental process that can occur both officially as well as naturally, which allows an individual (mentor) to share his/her knowledge, experience and skills with another individual (mentee) to help him/her in personal and professional development. Effective mentoring programs can have greater and positive impact on the mentee's behaviors and attitudes, which is of great importance in team building activities within an organizational context. At times, we come across such situations in which the employees are found unable to work in a team due to their attitude or behavioral issues. To resolve such issues the senior management should offer mentoring programs to these employees, which will help them in bringing the right change in their attitudes and behaviors that is necessary for effective team building.

Benefits of Experience Sharing Practices, Training Sessions and Seminars on Overall Organizational Learning & Development

It is extremely important for all employees to share their experience with managers, as it will help in getting more guidance and support from them that will result in positive outcomes. Managers also share their experience with newcomers that support the newcomers in knowing more about the organizational environment and their competencies; this practice also helps the newcomers in selecting a path that would lead them towards success and will always keep them away from misconduct. Organizations need to set the tone for improving performance by tapping into and leveraging the learning capacity and commitment of employees, which allow them to grow.

Organizational leadership needs to identify deficiencies and gaps in employees' performance to nurture an environment where employees can become self-motivated and are open to share their experience with their seniors and juniors for better learning and development. Behavioral changes can be achieved only when employees have an increased knowledge and understanding of their job description; therefore, the managers maintain strong interpersonal relationships with their subordinates to attain the mutual organizational goals effectively.

Mentoring has become an essential organizational mechanism that has greatly contributed towards the competitive development of a modern enterprise and at the same time it has reduced the shortcomings of vocational education. The necessity of mentoring has increased due to the fact that the employees mostly ignore the specifics of an enterprise that is conveyed to them through external training; this is the main reason that today most of the enterprises have their own internal trainers, who offer mentoring sessions to the employees. These trainers not just share their professional knowledge and experience with them but also motivate them to share their professional and personal potentials, which will have profound impact on their relationships in future. Every organization should introduce and develop mentoring, because this is not a narrow profile form, but it is aimed to achieve the broader organizational goals.

Training sessions and seminars are also important kinds of formal mentoring programs, which are developed and scheduled with clear purpose and scope; therefore, all the employees who are requested to take part, must participate. It will improve their knowledge, skills, learning and will also motivate them to think out of the box. These activities are designed specifically for employees to make them explore and utilize their hidden talents. Some of the most critical advantages of mentoring in an organizational context are: quality improvement, knowing more about the interests and needs of an organization; reduction in development time of new technologies and techniques; control over staff development and training expenditure; and, improvement in motivation level of new employees that will help them in getting adjusted within an organizational environment easily.

There are various best practices that can influence employee performance. The best one among them is having good employee-manager working relationships, as it influences employee performance to a great extent. The other important best practice is creation of better balance for people-oriented and task-oriented behavior through mentoring, counseling, coaching or simple focus group meetings once a week to keep the individuals motivated and aligned towards the organization's vision. Through development of better social skills an organization can easily achieve improved people-oriented relationships and can also identify how effectively the training programs and seminars could be used in order to enhance the performance of employees by encouraging positive behaviors and attitudes. Empowering employees by giving them projects based on their skill levels is another best practice as it helps demonstrate their potential and boosts their commitment and morale towards the organization, which ultimately improves their performance and interpersonal relations. Some factors leading to the development of best practices include employee-leader relations, training and development, regular coaching, open employee-leader communication, and empowerment, coupled with great leader/manager- employee interactions. Organizations should increase their reliance on improved relationships and employee involvement as their success depends on an organization's ability to build and harness employee knowledge and skills. All the employees should be encouraged to participate in seminars, meetings, training sessions and in other official activities, as these are specifically designed to improve their skills, relationships and performance, which are ultimately beneficial in team building.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Mentoring is known as a useful tool that enhances employee performance, transfers knowledge from more experienced individuals to less experienced individuals and retains the talented employees.
• Training sessions and seminars are also important kinds of formal mentoring program, which are developed and scheduled with clear purpose and scope; therefore, all the employees who are requested to take part, must participate.
• Organizational leadership needs to identify deficiencies and gaps in employees' performance to nurture an environment where employees can become self-motivated and are open to share their experience with their seniors and juniors for better learning and development. EXERCISES.

What are the differences between formal and informal mentoring programs?

Define mentoring? What is the role of mentoring in team building?

What are the main benefits attained through mentoring programs within an organization?

How can training programs and seminars help employees in accomplishing the goals

assigned to them?