Success in today’s volatile workforce is directly related to our ability to learn, grow, change, and adapt as quickly as our changing economy, workforce and jobs require, or at least faster than our colleagues or competitors do. While this is true for just about anyone in the workforce, nowhere is it truer for high-achieving women. Development for us, both personal and professional, is a lifelong activity.

Effective development is rooted in the philosophy that the most meaningful development takes place on the job. We know that women develop through a combination of experiences they have and what they learn from those experiences, as well as the coaching and feedback they get along the way. We also know that successful women do several things differently than those who are less successful.

First, we know that successful women get more feedback than others. More significantly, successful women also seek feedback when they’re not getting it. They embrace feedback and frequently make changes as a result. Second, successful women spend time reflecting on their experiences, in order to make sense of the experiences and get the most meaning from them.

To keep pace with changes in jobs, the workplace, and the wider economy, many employment and professional networking organizations have leveraged mentoring as a career-development practice to help women acquire the new knowledge and capabilities needed to perform their current job successfully, increase their chances for success within their organization, and enhance attainment and mobility throughout their careers.

Possible forms of mentoring (1)

SPECIFIC LEARNING FUNCTIONS
• Learning technical skills and knowledge
• Learning current job
• Learning organizational culture
• Learning organizational policies
• Being prepared for future jobs and promotions

GENERAL CAREER DEVELOPMENT FUNCTIONS
• Obtaining challenging tasks
• Obtaining protection
• Obtaining sponsorship or recommendations
• Obtaining endorsements for acts and views
• Obtaining feedback on performance
• Making career moves
• Getting achievements showcased
• Clarifying work and career goals

PERSONAL HELP FUNCTIONS
• Obtaining counseling
• Obtaining moral support and encouragement
• Obtaining a role model
• Obtaining praise
• Obtaining a confidante
• Achieving friendship
• Achieving trust

Effective mentoring initiatives offer many of the following benefits to participants and their respective organizations:

BENEFITS TO THE MENTEE
• When the mentoring process is successful, mentee can experience:
• Accelerated career mobility
• Decreased intentions to quit
• Decreased role stress and role conflict
• Decreased work alienation
• Enhanced knowledge and skills
• Faster promotion rates
• Fulfilled career goals
• Greater ability to exert influence
• Greater organizational commitment
• Greater perceptions of fairness
• Higher compensation levels
• Higher levels of citizenship behaviors
• Higher levels of job, pay and career satisfaction
• Higher levels of self-esteem
• Increased career progress expectations
• Positive feelings about the mentoring experience

BENEFITS TO THE MENTOR
• When the mentoring process is successful, mentors can experience:
• An increased opportunity to make productive use of his/her own knowledge and expertise
• An opportunity to learn in new ways
• Career enhancement and psychic rewards
• Esteem among peers and supervisors
• Greater internal satisfaction and fulfillment
• Greater willingness to mentor again
• Improvement of his/her own managerial skills
• Increased understanding/empathy towards diverse groups
• Loyal support of the mentee
• Organizational recognition for his/her capabilities as a teacher and advisor
• Positive feelings about the mentoring experience
• Rejuvenation/exhilaration from the mentee’s energy
• Stimulation by the mentee’s ideas

BENEFITS TO THE ORGANIZATION
• When the mentoring process is successful, organizations can experience:
• Enhanced organizational commitment by employees
• Increased employee productivity and competence
• Lower turnover rates
• The use of an additional resource for developing managerial talent
• The use of an additional tool for developing women and minorities
• The use of an additional tool for educating and socializing employees on organizational

values, goals, politics, history, and performance

Notes:

(1) From “Mentoring and the Business Environment”. Asset or Liability?” by R.E. Caruso, Hants, England: Dartmouth Publishing, 1992, pp.68-69.