Should Organisations Have a Mentoring Scheme for all Employees - Essay Example

According to Olian, Carol et al (2004), studies show that the age of the mentor and the work experience of the mentee has no effect on the relationship between the two. Mentoring at the organizational level Mentoring literally means to advise or train someone, but at organizational level, mentoring changes meaning. Mentoring at organization levels does not limit itself only to advising and training but to a complex system of employer and employee relationship involving notions of reflection, openness, uncertainty, complexity and restoration.

Mentoring is being studied alone from decades, where mentoring in organization is relatively newer research. Mentoring is a precious tool for managing and bringing a change in any organisation. (Conway, 1995). It is also considered as an economical way of transferring knowledge from a specialist to a learner. (Bjorson & Dingsoryr, 2005) According to a research conducted by Trevor, more women proteges than men felt that their thinking and performance was inspired by mentoring. Functions of a Mentor The mentor’s role is to act as a guide, provide insight, and also advise a mentee in his/her department to reach the highest potential level.

Mentors advise on the basis of their professional and personal experiences and guide the mentee on short/long term basis depending on the company’s policy. The mentee’s performance is not usually catered but through guidance, help and advice, the mentor helps the mentee to provide great insights, fast move learning, and also support and improve any drawback of the mentee. On-the-job relationships between employees and employers have been greatly focused in recent years and great emphasis has been laid.

There are two types of mentoring; informal or formal in an organization. Informal developmental relationships occur naturally in the workplace between senior managers, lower managers and, subordinates or peers. A combination of assistance is provided through such relationships such as feedback, role modelling, counselling, mentoring, coaching, and skill building. Thus it brings lasting benefits to an organization.( Singh, Bains &Vinnicombe, 2002) However, with the passage of time, informal developmental relationships have declined.

This decline is mainly due to changing demographics, introduction of technology, and intense competition. As informal relationships decline, there is a rise in formal mentoring called “formal developmental relationships”. These are distinguished from informal relationships by the fact that they are assigned, maintained, and monitored by the organization, usually through an established program. An employee can interact with senior manager, peer or external consultant in a formal relationship.

Although, nowadays, most organization facilitate on creating and implementing programs that would help relationship between senior and junior managers to get better. This helps the communication, trust, and productivity to rise as both sides of managers feel part of one organization. (Douglas, 2003) Formal mentoring is widely being used in the organizations which are rapidly changing and becoming leaner in hierarchy. This type of mentoring helps in the personal and career development of employees.

(Tabbron, Macaulay, Cook, 1997). Prof. Dr. Antal Arriene presented four case studies of formal mentoring