Mentoring at Work - Essay Example

Introduction

Mentorship in the workplace is a longstanding practice, which in the conventional organizational arrangement involved an experienced member of a particular profession offering guidance to new members in the same field. However, mentorship in contemporary practice is not necessarily based on skills in a particular profession or activity in the organization. Instead, the mentor is usually concerned with ensuring that the less skilled employee excels in all aspects of life in addition to performance in the workplace, for example, personal and career development, acquirement of inter-personal skills, problem-solving skills, collaboration, and teamwork as well as open-mindedness among other positive aspects that are important for the enhancement of performance. The purpose of this paper is to assess critically the meaning of mentoring at work and to assess the benefits that a mentor derives from workplace mentorship.

What is Mentoring at Work?

Mentoring is a practice that involves sharing knowledge, experience, and facts as well as that of view by a person to promote personal and career development in another individual. At work, mentoring involves maintaining a positive attitude towards work as well as developing problem-solving skills among less experienced employees to enhance the accomplishment of organizational goals. A mentor is usually an experienced worker in an organization who understands the organizational processes and is competent in problem-solving (Ragins, 2007).

Benefits of Workplace Mentorship to the Mentor

Zachary (2005) states that “satisfaction is one of the major benefits of mentors”. In essence, humans tend to be inclined towards helping others as a sign of social responsibility. Material benefits may not be achieved, but the mentor tends to feel esteemed when successful individuals associate their accomplishments with him/her. When a person acts as a mentor, there is a high possibility of developing a new perspective regarding approaching issues in the workplace. The mentor gains a sense of worth on the realization that the knowledge he/she has acquired over many years is valuable not only to the organization but also to another person who will possibly pass it over to a third person in the future. In essence, he/she becomes a legendary employee in the organization whose legacy is admired by many. Willingen (2000) observes that talent is preserved in an organization, which is an indicator of success for the mentor.

Moreover, the mentor understands concepts better as he/she again gets problem-solving through workplace mentoring (Ensher & Murphy 2005). While the mentor explores definitions of issues affecting the less experienced employees, more knowledge is acquired involuntarily, which makes it possible for the mentor to develop additional skills and proficiency in the particular field as well as success in problem-solving Hnl Solutions and Coca-Cola are among the companies that have maintained competitiveness in marketing through mentorship programs whereby the mentors upgrade their skills in the process. The interactions through workplace mentoring present an opportunity for improvement in the standards of future mentorship especially because the mentors in the organization are faced with different challenges in the workplace. In addition, they earn recognition from the organization’s management for his/her participation in performance improvement by inspiring the new employees.

Conclusion

Mentoring at work is a practice that organizations have been applying for the enhancement of knowledge sharing among less experienced employees to improve their skills. The mentor develops diverse viewpoints regarding organizational operations thereby improving his/her performance in the workplace. In addition, he/she gains self-esteemed status in the workplace. His/her mentoring skills improve through involvement in the mentoring process.