The information on the topic of mentoring is rather scant. I scoured my library of leadership and management books, and could barely find the term mentioned. As Caroline describes in her leadership article, mentoring is related to coaching, but implies a different relationship between the mentor and mentee; a stronger bond of trust, compassion and concern for the personal and professional development of the individual.

Recently I asked a manager who works with a large software company if there was a formal mentoring program in his company. He replied that there should be, but isn’t. “Mentoring would save so much wasted time and money!” he said. “The idea is there. Like a buzzword, the term comes up, but there isn’t any formal process to encourage or even acknowledge it.”

As the discussion progressed he revealed that he could see a couple of levels of “mentorship.” The first level might be more correctly called a “buddy system” or a “go-to person” to help a new employee to learn the ropes – the right way. This person could be called upon to answer technical questions, structural questions or to review and approve their output as they increased their proficiency in their new role. A company that provides this assistance assures that new employees will learn what the company wants them to learn, maintaining consistency in the message.

A more traditional view of mentorship is of someone more senior providing a higher level of guidance; instructing in the philosophy, the approach, or the guiding principles and dealing with tougher questions.

Both approaches are valuable and worth discussing in your company as you explore how to capture and transfer lessons learned. How do you share the wisdom and knowledge that is expensive to relearn on one’s own yet not take away the opportunity to explore new methods that can enhance and build on that knowledge? How do you formalize a process or relationship that can’t be forced? How do you justify the time it takes from a senior person’s (with an expensive salary) work day for results that may not be seen immediately? How does the senior person find the time? What are the tangible and intangible benefits of mentoring? Will it prevent expensive mistakes? Will it reduce attrition of rising stars? Will it enhance the morale in your business and make it a better place to work?

Mentoring is a natural outcome of hiring and guiding a new person, but what about the person who has been with you for a year or more? Do we forget about them?

Would a thoughtful approach to mentoring help to round out a person in many areas? For example, could you have a technical mentor, a political mentor, a communications mentor, all of whom can help and guide a person of potential to become the best he or she can be with a view to their future leadership role in the company?

In this issue of FOCUS we’ll explore some of these questions and encourage you to do the same within your own business.