Mentoring in Business

Mentoring is an important aspect of organizational socialization and career development. Since this somewhat limited and informal communication system has such powerful outcomes, it is important to learn more about what organizations and employees can do to enhance their mentoring opportunities. Mentoring is a type of supportive and informal organizational communication that is very powerful in career advancement. Employees and managers in all types of organizations need to understand this communication system and its connection to success so that they can professionally develop their employees and achieve greater success in the work environment.

The word “mentor” comes from The Odyssey, written by the Greek poet Homer. Mentor is a trusted family friend who becomes Telemachus’s tutor while his father Ulysses is preparing to go fight in the Trojan War. Mentor coaches Telemachus on how to “king” (Leonard, 353). Mentor is wise and sensitive, two important elements of mentoring. Chip Bell, author of Managers as Mentors says, “Effective mentors are like friends in that their goal is to create a safe context for growth” (7). Friends become mentors to each other even though they do not realize this invisible relationship. Friends rely on each other to teach and grow together. Good friends eventually develop a similar train-of-thought in relation to the actions taken when relating to a subject of shared interest.

Today mentoring is a common practice among businesses to nurture the talents of younger subordinates who are commonly referred to as a protйgй. The word mentoring itself has a variety of roles and meanings. A mentor might be a counselor, guru, teacher, coach, or adviser. According to Michael Zey, author of The Mentor Connection, a formal mentor program is simply one in which a mentor and protйgй, usually preselected, are linked either by the organization or a department within the organization, and are expected to continue in this relationship for an agreed-upon length of time (xi). Organizations have chosen different terms to represent the relationship.

Zey believes “a mentor is a person who oversees the career and development of another person through teaching, counseling, providing psychological support, protecting, and at times promoting or sponsoring” (7). Zey has also constructed The Hierarchy of Mentoring which is displayed in Table 1 (14). The Hierarchy of Mentoring consists of four levels, in which a higher level should not be introduced until the preceding level is fulfilled. It displays the activities, benefits to the protйgй, and the primary investment of the mentor. In the first level, teaching, the mentor transfers information about the job and the skills needed to perform it (14). The personal support function is the second level and it helps the protйgй overcome pressures and strains accompanying transition to positions of greater responsibility (35). During the third level of mentoring, the mentor provides support around the protйgй by intervening in conflicts and situations that endanger their organizational advancement (43). When a mentor moves to the fourth level of mentoring, sponsoring, he promotes the candidate or recommends them, and by doing so he puts his own career or occupation on the line (51). The four levels of mentoring are crucial to a successful mentoring program.

Table 1

Level Mentoring Activity Benefit to Protйgй Primary Mentor Investment

IV Sponsoring Protйgй is recommended by the mentor for promotion, more responsibility Reputation/career

III Organizational intervention Mentor intercedes on protйgй’s behalf in organizational setting; runs interference for protйgй where needed Organizational relationships, reputation

II Psychological counseling/Personal support Mentor enhances protйgй's sense of self through confidence building, prep talks, may help protйgй's personal life on occasion Emotion/self

I Teaching Protйgй receives instruction in organizational skills, management tricks, social graces; is given inside information Time

In a mentor/protйgй relationship there are both advantages and disadvantages for each participant, not just one side is a winner or loser. Margo Murray, author of Beyond the Myths and Magic of Mentoring, believes the mentor or organization providing the mentoring will benefit from increased productivity, cost effectiveness, improved recruitment efforts, increased organizational communication and understanding, maintenance of the motivation of senior participants, enhancement of services offered by the organization, and improvement in strategic succession planning ( Murray, 32-36). Murray says, “mentor/protйgй relationships