There is no doubt that a mentoring relationship is extremely beneficial for both mentor and mentee. But getting off on the right foot takes a little training, especially if your mentor is inexperienced. Mentoring program participants must understand the objectives of the program, their roles, expectations, and best practices prior to entering into the relationship. Programs that start without mentoring training and instructions usually receive negative feedback like participants feeling unprepared and indeterminate. This leads to a poor mentoring experience, and eventually, the program fails.
Before digging deeper into the importance of mentor training, let’s take a look at who a mentor is.
Who is a mentor?
A mentor is an adviser, a trusted guide, and a friend who helps a mentee overcome their challenges and support their overall growth. They are someone who has been through the same road the mentee is now. They understand the challenges a mentee is going through and are willing to provide guidance for the long term.
Mentors can be valuable at any stage of one’s career, whether they are searching for jobs, getting adjusted to a new role, trying to get promoted, or exploring a different career path.
Why is mentoring training important for a mentor?
Though anyone can be a mentor, professional mentorship needs some specific skills that come from training. However, there is some resistance when it comes to mentor training. Organizations might think “mentors are experienced individuals, they have expertise in specific areas, then why should I invest in an online mentor training program?”
Below are the reasons why every organization, planning for a mentoring program, should train its mentors.
1. A Subject Matter Expert Will Not Necessarily Be a Great Mentor
Apart from being an expert in a specific area, one needs other mentoring skills to be an effective mentor.
Active Listening Skill:
This is THE most important skill that a mentor must-have. They need to be able to listen, with all their senses, to what the mentee says.
Active listening is a process in which the listener makes a conscious decision to listen to the speaker, notice their body language, and understand what they are saying. The listener must not jump in with a comment or think about an answer while the other person is speaking; rather, they should give their full attention to the speaker.
Active is a skill that is developed with training and practice.
Goal-Setting Skill:
Corporate mentoring programs are not only about the mentees’ career development, but are also about organizational development. The most critical thing that a mentor has to do in a mentoring relationship is helping the mentee identify and pursue meaningful goals that are aligned with organizational goals.
According to Micro Mentor, there are 6 steps that a mentor has to follow for goal-setting:
- Helping the mentee clarify their goals
- Determining the feasibility of those goals
- Establishing the benchmark for success
- Setting a realistic timeline
- Defining strategies
- Encouraging the mentee to track the progress
To be able to follow these steps successfully, formal training is essential.
Feedback Providing Skill:
If given properly, feedback is an incredible way to support one’s growth. Unfortunately, not everyone is an expert in providing constructive and effective feedback; it is a skill that a mentor needs to master.
Here are a few tips for giving feedback:
- The key element of providing feedback is creating an environment of mutual trust between the mentor and mentee.
- A mentor must acknowledge his/her mentee’s achievements besides highlighting the areas of improvement.
- If the feedback is not specific, it is not helpful for the mentee. Simply saying, ‘You need to improve your leadership skills” doesn’t give a clear idea about what exactly needs to be improved. Instead, “You need to show more empathy towards your team members” is much more effective.
Training helps mentors get the hang of feedback providing skills.
2. Training Provides Better Perception of the Program
Organizations start mentoring programs with particular goals in mind. More often than not, participants (both mentors and mentees) are not well aware of that goal. Lack of clarity around why the participants are entering into a mentoring relationship or what they are expected to contribute can lead to an ineffectual mentoring program.
Training provides a better understanding of the program’s goals and objectives, expected frequency of the meetings, duration of each session, and duration of the program. When the participants know the purpose of the program and its structure, they can focus on starting the relationship on the right note.
3. Mentoring Training is the best way to understand a mentor-mentee relationship
Even if a mentoring program is professional, the relationship between a mentor and a mentee is personal. Often, participants are unsure about the relationship, how to start their sessions, how to build trust and mutual understanding, what to expect, and how to fulfill each other’s expectations.
Formal training gives participants a clear idea about the relationship, expectations, trust development, and productive communication. The resources that participants get during the program help them start and maintain the relationship without a hitch.
Mentoring training doesn’t always have to be face-to-face training. Online mentor training courses are equally (if not more) effective for mentors. Mentoring University is one of the best online mentoring training platforms where mentors can get trained and certified in mentoring so that their mentoring journey becomes successful.
Also read:
Top 4 Mentoring Skills for Mentors
Top Mentoring Training Strategies for New Mentors
Top 5 Mentoring Challenges and Their Solutions
Want To Train Your Mentors?
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