Mentoring
WHAT IS MENTORING?

TRADITIONAL DEFINITION

Mentoring is a developmental partnership through which one person shares knowledge, skills, information, and perspective to foster the personal and professional growth of someone else.

It is a method for businesses to provide support for attracting talent, employee orientation, career advancement and problem solving. It is also a competitive edge for retaining high-potential employees.

The mentoring relationship enables the mentee to build skills, gain knowledge and achieve his/her development goals, while providing opportunity for the mentor to further enhance his/her skill set as a coach and an advisor.

EXPANDED DESCRIPTION

While the traditional definition is extremely useful in developing high potential employees, it is often a one-way learning experience where the mentor guides the mentee.

The new paradigm is a partnership where each mentoring participant contributes his/her expertise and perspective creating an authentic and reciprocal learning experience. Many organizations are implementing this new paradigm to address areas such as cultural diversity, gender bias, sexual orientation bias, cross-generational communication and technological skill gaps. It opens the door to greater communication and a more expanding view of the world.

Executives are beginning to realize that knowledge isn't a one-way street. It's in everyone's best interest to share expertise. The goal is to use the knowledge that resides within an organization to its full advantage,"

says Jerry Wind, director of the Wharton Fellows Program, regarding reverse mentoring.