Mentoring as Part of Professional Development - Essay Example

? ID Lecturer Mentoring as Part of Professional Development This paper discusses the aspectsof mentoring as these are applied towards the individuals who work in a professional way, and finds out the link as to where issues of magnanimous effects have haunted the people for all the wrong reasons. It has pinpointed the shortcomings and issues which keep on happening, and the professional requirements, as and when these are needed within the relevant professional realms. Mentoring has also been defined here, and a link has been found which requires of it to focus on the professional development angles in more ways than one, which indeed is a very essential ingredient of the organizations in the time and age of today. Mentoring as Part of Professional Development Introduction Within the professional development domains, mentoring works at producing magnanimous effects for the people who want to bring about a positive change within their working ideologies. If the aim is to set things in a corrective fashion, mentoring is the path that shall take one towards that. However, it comes with its own disparities. One such is the manner in which the mentoring is being undertaken. The professional development requires of the organizations to embed mentoring as a vital ingredient because it embodies the basis of success that any enterprise or corporate entity can achieve with the passage of time. It will also dictate how well the organization has been able to showcase its professionals and how these individuals have been shaped up to meet the desired goals and expectations which were of them in the first place. The mentoring role is such an important one that it has been talked about in different circles time and time again. The ones who perform the art of mentoring are taken in a good stead and given the respect that they richly deserve. This is the reason why the mentor is seen as someone whom people look up to for help and assistance, and who brings with him a significant amount of experience and knowledge. The mentor is therefore given respect for what she does and how she is able to garner support from the people who believe in his mentoring. He is usually the one people look up to and seeks help in terms of their respective needs and requirements. The organizations have also started to branch out to such mentors because they know that these will bring in help for the employees and workers. These are in the form of counselors who are doing their best to bring sanity within the ranks of the employees and give them the help that they direly require. However, professional development can only come about when there are concerted efforts to do things right on the part of the person who is bringing that change within his own entirety. It just cannot happen overnight and the mentor can help only to a certain level. This is the basis of understanding how mentoring is and what roles are required for mentoring in the related settings. If such comprehensions are reached upon easily, there would be success for all and sundry, and the professional developments would be handled in an amicable way. What is Mentoring? Mentoring is defined as the formal or informal relationship between two people where one is a senior and another, a junior. It involves communication and is based on the premise of having a relationship – formal or informal. It is based on the personal developmental relationship perspective where an experienced or more knowledgeable person holds the torch for the one who is not that skilled and has little or less experience and knowledge. Since mentoring involves some form of empathy within the individual who is mentoring, it is the duty of the person who is being mentored that he listens and adapts to what the mentor has to say. It will then create a situation where both the mentor and the mentee are on the same page, and the process of mentoring will come about in full circle. This is so required because if the mentor and the mentee are not on the same wavelength, there are bound to be anomalies that will exist with the passage of time. Since mentoring goes hand in hand with counseling, it is only natural to think of it as such. It is a fact that both counseling and mentoring focus on the premise of bringing about a change which is positive more than anything else within the individual who is seeking such help. The formal or informal culture that comes about in the wake of mentoring is all the more essential because it dictates how it is done and what kind of comfort exists between the mentor and the mentee on different levels (Coleman, 1995). If the formal kind of structure brings about harmony and understanding between the mentor and the mentee, then there is a good enough case that this can be continued in the future as well. However, if an informal communication channel is existent between the mentor and the mentee, and if this garners support and empathy, then there is nothing like it. Also how the mentee goes through the whole process and the kind of solutions that he receives for his problems and concerns is something that speaks volumes about the mentoring which is on offer. The mentor also must be aware how well the mentee is going to receive his mentoring and whether or not there would be any apprehensions on the part of the mentee as far as this mentoring process is concerned. Therefore, mentoring needs to be understood at the deep most level in order to gain a fair enough understanding of such quarters which shall bring upon success within the professional development realms. How Mentoring forms an Integral Part of Professional Development? Within the professional domains, mentoring takes the front seat because it is something that speaks of a proper manner in which the individuals are given the help that they so direly deserve. It also means that the mentoring realms are handled in a way which is professionally driven and which derives the most basic value for one and all concerned. Since mentoring is the art of helping another individual by the experience that this person has gained over a period of time, the ones who are actually mentoring need to be appreciated for what they are doing, be it in the form of professional conduct or the personal one. Mentoring is recognized all over the world because there is a great amount of learning that goes hand in hand with how well success can be derived from day to day tasks and undertakings. This will comprise of even the most trivial of work tasks which are seen in daily life and how these are able to bring in support and assistance for the mentee in the long run scheme of things. Mentoring can never happen in an overnight fashion. There has to be a lot of empathy involved at different levels and stages. Mentoring is a positive thing because it brings a sense of optimism within the mentees who know that they are being looked after well and that their problems would be resolved in an amiable way. Since it is somewhat of a positive element of professional development, it would only be natural to think of it in the same manner. This is because there are some individuals within the professional workplace environments who are doing their best to find solace within their own entireties, be it personal ones or professional. But if the same are coming about due to lack of understanding of the mentee, then this means that the employees need to be told where they are going wrong and how the mentees can find justice within their own right. Each and everything here within the professional development circles must be justified to the end possible limits so that sanity could prevail at the very end, and there would be more success areas for the individuals who seek mentoring within the related thick of things. Thus mentoring is indeed an integral part of the professional development circles as has been proven with the passage of time, and the role that these mentors have had is somewhat of an interesting one nonetheless. Mentoring in the Time and Age of Today Today mentoring is seen as an exciting exercise that will bring about solid results for the people who need it the most. What this embodies is the manner under which mentoring has come out as the winner and how it has gone about producing the best results for the mentees. In essence, it is the duty of the mentor to manifest mentoring in a way that only success shall dawn upon the mentees. However, this requires time, patience and hard work – all of which signify the very need of mentoring in the first place. Since mentoring is concerned with dealing the mentees, it aims to focus on these mentees as well. By this, it is signified that these mentees shall bring solid harmony within their own domains and get rid of the problems that keep on taking place from time to time. It is also possible that these mentees face problems at the beginning of the mentoring process but the same shall subside as and when time moves on, and there are better pathways to combat such issues in the future. In the time and age of today, mentoring is producing solid results for the ones who believe in it and want to ease in agreement with the world around them. Mentors are appreciated for the work they do and are given salaries which are commensurate with the kind of work they carry out (Botha, 2006). Also they are recognized in different industries and more so the professional development domains because they have been able to garner support from all angles, units and divisions present in an organization. This is the reason they are paid well and hence acclaimed for the kind of work they do. In addition, the rationale is present that they are working across different industries and at times even paying visits to companies which are out of their study zones. A lot of goodness has come about with the passage of time which has spoken volumes about the mentoring process and how it is carried out in different industries of the world in far reaching avenues. This is suggestive of the correct domains which have been established worldwide as far as the professional development circles. Hence mentoring has come about in full circle and has gone many steps ahead to how it was perceived in the yesteryears. Mentoring will continue to be a successful touch point in the coming times without a doubt. What can one Expect from Mentoring? One can expect value and hard work that is committed by both the mentor and the mentee under the process of mentoring. Since mentoring is a full time aspect of the professional settings, it would only be natural to think of these domains in much the same way. Mentoring can bring about value in terms of changing norms and defying the odds that are being faced by the mentee in his day to day tasks at the workplace. His professional development might be hindered by the issues that have plagued him more or less but mentoring offers him a chance to see things through and learn new aspects which have not gone under his eyes. At times, it is also possible that he has been a victim of not understanding the league to where he belongs, and thus a sense of inferiority has crept in within his professional conduct. Therefore it would be correct to state that professional development requires an individual to go ahead and change his own course in the manner he finds fit. This will ensure that he is doing his best and finding new pathways to change his basis professionally, and at times even personally, because each of these are linked to one another in the most basic sense. One can also expect of the mentors to give in their best no matter how tough it is to provide mentoring to the mentees because the latter look up to them as far as their professional development domains are concerned. This is the reason why both the mentors and the mentees at times find it hard to reach a conclusion as far as the understanding of the mentee is concerned. There are occasions when the mentors need to have a fair enough comprehension of how well the mentee knows his problems and then analyze the same in accordance with the professional quarters and the workplace requirements, which change every now and then (Pare, 2006). This is the time when there is a dire need to realize the extent of negativity that could creep in within the related equation, and hence finding a pathway to solve such issues is of paramount significance. One can therefore expect resilience to find out a solution in the wake of adverse times that have plagued the mentees so that the mentors can go through with their mentoring process in an easy and hassle-free way. This will be the cornerstone of achieving success within such areas, without a doubt. Conclusion In the end, it would be fitting to state that mentoring has a place of its own within the professional development settings. It would be fair to recount the benefits of mentoring in an organizational setting, which makes the entire process all the more significant. If there are trivial issues which need to be sorted out, then it would be correct to fathom that mentoring might just be done over with in a quick manner. However, when there are serious concerns that are raised by the mentee or by the human resources department of an organization with regards to an employee, then this means that the mentoring element must come about in full circle. This is so required because it touches upon quite a few areas which are important and which play their due role within the professional development perspectives. The need of the hour is to analyze, understand and focus on the actual role of the mentoring process and how it brings in value for the sake of the mentees and the professional developments nonetheless. On the part of the senior management gurus who work within an organization, it is of paramount essence that they comprehend the role of mentoring and counseling, and how it brings in value for the organization in the long run scheme of things. This will eventually play the deciding role in hiring or keeping employees within an organization as their professional conduct, undertakings and settings are evaluated in the most righteous ways possible. All said and done, the role of mentoring within the professional development settings is of fundamental significance and it cannot be denied its due place no matter how easy it goes or how hard it becomes with each passing day. References Botha, D. (2006). Mentoring Revisited. Advances in Library Administration and Organization, 24 Coleman, M. (1995). Professional development for heads: the role of mentoring. Journal of Educational Administration, 33(5) Pare, A. (2006). Mentor or evaluator? Assisting and assessing newcomers to the professions. Journal of Workplace Learning, 18(6) Read More