15 Qualities of a Successful Mentor
The days of appointing an informal buddy to mentor a new employee meant going out to lunch and imparting the employee a few lessons about success in the job are long gone. These pals had no mentor training and were unaware of their full duty in greeting the new employee.
It was way outside of their job description to assist the new employee in integrating easily and promptly into the new workplace. It was also not the organisation’s assumption that mentoring would be an essential component of a new employee welcome. This condition has improved significantly.
Assisting New Employees in Succeeding
When it became the new standard to make every employee effective as quickly as possible, the formal organisation’s demand for a mentor increased. A formal mentor connection may assist a new employee to thrive by accelerating the learning curve.
These are the qualities to look for in workers who have been requested or assigned to professionally mentor new employees or employees new to a department or position. These essential attributes will alter somewhat in an informal mentor relationship that develops between two persons or a higher level employee and the new employee – both forms of mentoring begin with these demands and these characteristics.
Make Use of a Formal Mentoring Process
The transfer of a body of knowledge and other cultural lessons is an expectation of the mentor relationship in a formal mentor procedure. You will also notice that a minor part of the mentor relationship is evaluative.
The job analyses the new employee in the sense that your employer expects individuals who mentor to examine the new employee’s fit within the culture of the firm.
In addition to the body of knowledge that the mentor must transmit, the mentor must also know if the employee is gaining the necessary information to succeed in his or her new position. If an employee is sluggish to learn or does not learn at all, the mentor may assist the department in making changes.
Look for an Informal Mentor.
Employees are also urged to seek out an informal mentor for any area of knowledge in which they desire to grow or investigate. The mentor in this capacity is only a coach and instructor, with no assessment obligations.
Characteristics of Effective Formal Mentors
- They want to mentor another employee and are dedicated to the employee’s growth and development as well as cultural assimilation.
- They have the requisite work subject expertise to successfully educate a new employee with substantial job knowledge.
- They are conversant with the conventions and culture of the company. Can communicate and educate about the culture.
- They exhibit honesty, integrity, and a sense of respect for and duty for stewardship.
- They have good verbal and non-verbal communication abilities.
- They are willing to assist another employee’s development by providing advice, feedback, and, on occasion, insisting on a certain level of performance or proper direction.
- They introduce fresh ideas and nurture the employee’s desire and capacity to adjust his or her performance in response to the continual change in their work environment.
- They have sufficient emotional intelligence to be aware of their own emotions as well as sensitive to the emotions and sentiments of the employee they are coaching.
- Coworkers and supervisors would regard them as very effective in both their job and in navigating the organisation’s culture.
- They are effective in establishing and maintaining professional networks and contacts, both online and offline.
- They are willing to share both setbacks and triumphs with the mentored employee.
- They will be able to devote sufficient time to the mentored employee.
- They are open to spending time with people from different backgrounds, with different beliefs, and with different aspirations.
- They have the ability to provoke conflict in order to assure the employee’s effective integration into the firm. As a mentor, you must be willing to admit that an individual may not thrive in your firm.
- They can see when a relationship isn’t working and step aside without concern for ego or the urge to assign blame or talk about the situation.
You will assure the success of your formal mentor relationships if you choose workers who have these attributes to mentor. Each of these attributes that the employee giving mentoring brings to the table benefits the new workers. As a result, the new employee will be successfully integrated into your work unit.
