Mentoring – What’s In It For Me?

We are often asked the advantages of mentoring to the various stakeholders involved. Here we list the most common rewards that individuals reap from a mentoring program.

BENEFITS FOR MENTEES

• Explore issues and concerns in a confidential and supportive relationship.
• Learn from the real life experiences of others.
• Align your own development to your company’s performance culture.
• Exposure to new, and often more senior, members of your organisation.
• Explore your career development plans, with guidance to make appropriate choices.
• Network and to learn about effective networking.
• Become more comfortable dealing with people of different backgrounds, experience and authority.
• Gain guidance in managing difficult relationships and interpreting feedback from other.
• Develop greater confidence, personally and within your organisation.

BENEFITS FOR MENTORS

Mentoring programs do not just benefit the mentees. Mentors find tremendous learning and development opportunities of their own. Here are some of the benefits that are frequently reported to us:

• Gain personal satisfaction by making a difference to someone else.
• Increase your profile and your professional networks.
• Learn and develop mentoring skills and enhance your leadership and interpersonal skills.
• Gain intellectual challenge by working on issues outside your day to day experience.
• Find reflective space in a hectic daily schedule.
• Sharpen your listening skills.
• Discover fresh perspectives that may assist with your own work.

BENEFITS FOR LINE MANAGERS

It is important that the mentee’s line manager is supportive of the mentoring relationship, not threatened by it. The mentoring program can provide direct benefits to line managers:

• Mentees relationships with their line managers and peers often improve through the mentoring process.
• Mentors can help mentees to gain an alternative perspective which may be helpful in managing their performance.