In one study with people who had experienced real mentors, half of them said the mentoring experience “changed my life”.

Organizations that continuously support mentoring achieve outstanding results, reporting increased retention rates, improved morale, increased job satisfaction and commitment, accelerated leadership development, better succession planning, reduced stress and stronger and more cohesive teams.

However, it is not just about what the mentee and the organization achieve from the experience, mentors also benefit from giving their time, experience and expertise to others.

The skills needed to be a mentor (see below) are transferable to a wide range of contexts to assist career progression, including management – organizations need good ‘people managers’ with active listening skills and good judgment of someone’s skills and potential. The mentoring relationship enables you to:

• Develop strengths (yours and theirs)
• Check assumptions (yours and theirs)
• Clarify misunderstandings (yours and theirs)
• Work with people from different contexts and backgrounds
• Practice offering positive and constructive feedback
• Generate workable solutions together in a mutually respectful way
• Motivate, advice and support whilst empowering someone to make their own decisions and take responsibility for their own actions and development
• Additionally, there is increased job and personal satisfaction – the rewards of seeing someone you’ve helped progress and succeed are immeasurable.