Mentoring - a must-have or a nice bonus?
Hello.
In the comments on my last article, I planned to share my experience and views on the mentoring (or mentoring) system that can be used in companies to adapt and develop employees.
As the saying goes, here comes the long-awaited later (s)
To begin with, we outline the framework. I often observe that mentoring is seen as a synonym for the word “training,” and as such is considered to be applicable exclusively to beginners. In fact, mentoring is a much more powerful tool that can be used to achieve various goals and solve a wide range of tasks - from staff development, developing a positive attitude to work and loyalty to the company, to reducing the length of the adaptation period and saving managers time.
First of all, mentoring is definitely an adaptation. But, I persistently draw your attention, the adaptation is not only professional, but also organizational and psychological. It is this combination of directions that makes mentoring applicable not only for yesterday's students who came to their first company. For example, organizational adaptation is required by almost any new employee, regardless of their experience, position and status. If we are talking about an employee who already works for the company and knows it from the inside, but who decides to change the field of activity and retrain, then organizational adaptation is no longer applicable, but professional and psychological are extremely important. In general, a well-built mentoring system flexibly adapts to the role and professional level of the employee, which is good.
Do not forget that mentoring is also a development tool. Moreover, not only "Padawan", but also the mentor himself, as well as employees indirectly involved in maintaining and developing the system itself. So, for example, a company may have a special unit that deals with internal business processes - their formulation, support, analysis and further optimization. Employees of this unit can regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the mentoring system, analyze the dynamics and look for ways to improve. In addition, HR specialists may be involved in the process. They can become mentors of the mentors themselves - to train and advise them on the competent building of interaction with the wards, solve conflict situations, conduct trainings on people's psychotypes and ways of communicating with them.
However, the main engines and “working units” of the mentoring system are directly experienced specialists who strive to become good mentors and regularly transfer their knowledge and experience to other employees, as well as provide support. The task of the leaders of such employees is to recognize potential mentors in time, to grow and motivate them, as well as to supervise and, of course, to encourage their work.
Of course, not every employee of the company can become a mentor. Among the requirements for future mentors is not only a certain level of professionalism and experience. It is known that a good specialist is not always a good teacher. Therefore, in addition to a thorough knowledge of the duties of those employees whom the mentor will accompany, such personal qualities as goodwill, ability to find contacts with people, exactingness, desire and ability to educate other people, as well as the most important desire - to be a mentor are necessary.
In addition, the future mentor should be able to devote a sufficient amount of time, correlating the process of mentoring with the implementation of their immediate work.
Usually, potential supervisors are determined by the immediate supervisor, monitoring the work of the employee and assessing his compliance with the requirements. In the case of a decision on the appointment, the new mentor must undergo the preliminary training necessary to achieve the maximum effect of the process for all participants.
After the completion of mentoring, an evaluation of the mentor's work should be carried out according to various criteria. It is advisable that not only the leader, but also the mentee's mentee participate in the assessment procedure - it is he who can give feedback both to the mentor himself and to the entire system as a whole. In addition, the mentor can perform self-assessment. The final set of criteria and ratings may affect the amount of bonus that will be paid to the mentor.
The cornerstone of the mentoring system is the development and adaptation plan - a roadmap developed by the mentor personally for the mentee, in accordance with his goals and objectives. It is this plan that will accompany the employee every day throughout the entire adaptation period. When compiling it, it is recommended not only to be guided by the amount of knowledge and skills that you need to acquire, but also to adhere to the principles of competent task setting, for example, SMART . For consistency, the plan can be divided into several semantic blocks, each of which gives the information necessary and sufficient both for adaptation in the company and for the fulfillment of future professional tasks.
So, for example, the first block may be devoted to company-wide issues and the intricacies of the “inner kitchen”. What does the company in general and your department in particular do? How to book a meeting room? What to do if you want another monitor or need additional software? How to celebrate professional and personal holidays? How to take sick leave and leave? For a variety of questions, you can get comprehensive answers.
The second block will provide an opportunity to study the products and services provided by the company in the market, as well as the subject areas in which the company specializes. This information will allow you to quickly immerse yourself in work and start talking with colleagues and customers in the same language. No general concepts and blurry horizons - just the specifics needed to do exactly your job.
The third block may become a territory of internal technologies optimized for the specifics of the company, as well as the applied techniques and tools. This knowledge will help you navigate the processes and achieve the required quality of work performed.
The fourth block will introduce samples of documents used as templates in everyday work. This is a real cheat sheet. Not sure how to write this or that document? Afraid to forget an important section? Copy the sample and fill it in accordance with the explanation.
In the fifth block, the most delicious is the sandbox, in which you can play a practically real project. These tasks, these requirements, these decisions. Only instead of a terrible external customer, strict, but kind colleagues, ready to come to the rescue and give practical advice.
It is imperative that a variety of methods are used to learn the information and learn the necessary skills. This will not only diversify the learning process, but also involve different channels of information assimilation.
Of course, the lion's share of the time will have to be spent reading various documents: from methodological recommendations and work instructions to standards and laws. In this case, it is important to regularly talk with the mentor, discussing what he read on analogies and real-life examples from his experience.
In addition, you can take various internal and external courses and trainings, both with teachers and on your own, with the help of videos, interactive portals and even game applications that alternate the study of theory with practical tasks.
But the most important thing (and my favorite, what to hide) is to learn with your hands, and not just with your head. In other words, to carry out real work of varying complexity on current projects or in the sandbox, under the supervision of more experienced employees.
As the final point, marking the end of the adaptation period, an internal certification of the employee can be carried out, at which management can check and evaluate the acquired level of knowledge and skills. In general, as you may have guessed, the adaptation period may well coincide with the usual probationary period.
At the same time, after the completion of mentoring, the training of company employees should not be interrupted. There are many opportunities to develop employees, as they say, without leaving the workplace. Here are just a few of them:
Obviously, the entire company as a whole receives profits from the established mentoring system.
To the Padawan, the roadmap sets a clear direction for development and provides an understanding of what needs to be studied at any given time, even if there is no mentor nearby. This completely removes the problem of the "first days" when you don’t understand at all what you need to do, and everyone around you is busy and nobody cares about you. In addition to vocational training, the mentor provides psychological adaptation, actively supporting the ward and helping to solve everyday "everyday" problems. Taking the position of "senior comrade", the mentor guides the office, talks to whom and why you can and should contact, acquaints with unofficial office traditions and procedures, takes with him for lunch or a smoking room, engages in corporate events and is always on standby answer any question.
Leaders get the opportunity to quickly assess the professional and personal qualities of employees, based on real training results, as well as the aggregate feedback from experienced colleagues who interacted with Padawan. In addition, the manager receives a picture of the real professional level of the employee and can correlate it with the level stated at the interview.
For experienced professionals - this is an opportunity to try themselves in a new role, to pump personal and professional qualities in new directions.
As a result, after the end of the adaptation period, combined with the trial period, the company receives a confident specialist, focused directly on the company's products, its processes and the specifics of work.
That’s why I think mentoring is not just a nice bonus, but a real must-have.
My personal baggage has experience in companies where employees are not involved in the adaptation of principles; and in companies where this procedure is at the mercy of the employee; and in companies where mentoring is a serious internal process, continuously used and improved. Moreover, I myself have repeatedly become such a mentor and “raised” excellent specialists and just good people (a moment of modesty). Based on this experience, I sincerely recommend starting to engage mentoring in your professional life.
If you are a beginner:
If you are an experienced specialist:
If you are a leader:
Develop yourself and your colleagues. Perhaps someday, they will say thank you for that.
In the comments on my last article, I planned to share my experience and views on the mentoring (or mentoring) system that can be used in companies to adapt and develop employees.
As the saying goes, here comes the long-awaited later (s)
Targets and goals
To begin with, we outline the framework. I often observe that mentoring is seen as a synonym for the word “training,” and as such is considered to be applicable exclusively to beginners. In fact, mentoring is a much more powerful tool that can be used to achieve various goals and solve a wide range of tasks - from staff development, developing a positive attitude to work and loyalty to the company, to reducing the length of the adaptation period and saving managers time.
First of all, mentoring is definitely an adaptation. But, I persistently draw your attention, the adaptation is not only professional, but also organizational and psychological. It is this combination of directions that makes mentoring applicable not only for yesterday's students who came to their first company. For example, organizational adaptation is required by almost any new employee, regardless of their experience, position and status. If we are talking about an employee who already works for the company and knows it from the inside, but who decides to change the field of activity and retrain, then organizational adaptation is no longer applicable, but professional and psychological are extremely important. In general, a well-built mentoring system flexibly adapts to the role and professional level of the employee, which is good.
Do not forget that mentoring is also a development tool. Moreover, not only "Padawan", but also the mentor himself, as well as employees indirectly involved in maintaining and developing the system itself. So, for example, a company may have a special unit that deals with internal business processes - their formulation, support, analysis and further optimization. Employees of this unit can regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the mentoring system, analyze the dynamics and look for ways to improve. In addition, HR specialists may be involved in the process. They can become mentors of the mentors themselves - to train and advise them on the competent building of interaction with the wards, solve conflict situations, conduct trainings on people's psychotypes and ways of communicating with them.
However, the main engines and “working units” of the mentoring system are directly experienced specialists who strive to become good mentors and regularly transfer their knowledge and experience to other employees, as well as provide support. The task of the leaders of such employees is to recognize potential mentors in time, to grow and motivate them, as well as to supervise and, of course, to encourage their work.
I would go to mentors - let me teach
Of course, not every employee of the company can become a mentor. Among the requirements for future mentors is not only a certain level of professionalism and experience. It is known that a good specialist is not always a good teacher. Therefore, in addition to a thorough knowledge of the duties of those employees whom the mentor will accompany, such personal qualities as goodwill, ability to find contacts with people, exactingness, desire and ability to educate other people, as well as the most important desire - to be a mentor are necessary.
In addition, the future mentor should be able to devote a sufficient amount of time, correlating the process of mentoring with the implementation of their immediate work.
Usually, potential supervisors are determined by the immediate supervisor, monitoring the work of the employee and assessing his compliance with the requirements. In the case of a decision on the appointment, the new mentor must undergo the preliminary training necessary to achieve the maximum effect of the process for all participants.
After the completion of mentoring, an evaluation of the mentor's work should be carried out according to various criteria. It is advisable that not only the leader, but also the mentee's mentee participate in the assessment procedure - it is he who can give feedback both to the mentor himself and to the entire system as a whole. In addition, the mentor can perform self-assessment. The final set of criteria and ratings may affect the amount of bonus that will be paid to the mentor.
Lead us, Susanin
The cornerstone of the mentoring system is the development and adaptation plan - a roadmap developed by the mentor personally for the mentee, in accordance with his goals and objectives. It is this plan that will accompany the employee every day throughout the entire adaptation period. When compiling it, it is recommended not only to be guided by the amount of knowledge and skills that you need to acquire, but also to adhere to the principles of competent task setting, for example, SMART . For consistency, the plan can be divided into several semantic blocks, each of which gives the information necessary and sufficient both for adaptation in the company and for the fulfillment of future professional tasks.
So, for example, the first block may be devoted to company-wide issues and the intricacies of the “inner kitchen”. What does the company in general and your department in particular do? How to book a meeting room? What to do if you want another monitor or need additional software? How to celebrate professional and personal holidays? How to take sick leave and leave? For a variety of questions, you can get comprehensive answers.
The second block will provide an opportunity to study the products and services provided by the company in the market, as well as the subject areas in which the company specializes. This information will allow you to quickly immerse yourself in work and start talking with colleagues and customers in the same language. No general concepts and blurry horizons - just the specifics needed to do exactly your job.
The third block may become a territory of internal technologies optimized for the specifics of the company, as well as the applied techniques and tools. This knowledge will help you navigate the processes and achieve the required quality of work performed.
The fourth block will introduce samples of documents used as templates in everyday work. This is a real cheat sheet. Not sure how to write this or that document? Afraid to forget an important section? Copy the sample and fill it in accordance with the explanation.
In the fifth block, the most delicious is the sandbox, in which you can play a practically real project. These tasks, these requirements, these decisions. Only instead of a terrible external customer, strict, but kind colleagues, ready to come to the rescue and give practical advice.
Explain on the fingers
It is imperative that a variety of methods are used to learn the information and learn the necessary skills. This will not only diversify the learning process, but also involve different channels of information assimilation.
Of course, the lion's share of the time will have to be spent reading various documents: from methodological recommendations and work instructions to standards and laws. In this case, it is important to regularly talk with the mentor, discussing what he read on analogies and real-life examples from his experience.
In addition, you can take various internal and external courses and trainings, both with teachers and on your own, with the help of videos, interactive portals and even game applications that alternate the study of theory with practical tasks.
But the most important thing (and my favorite, what to hide) is to learn with your hands, and not just with your head. In other words, to carry out real work of varying complexity on current projects or in the sandbox, under the supervision of more experienced employees.
So what is next?
As the final point, marking the end of the adaptation period, an internal certification of the employee can be carried out, at which management can check and evaluate the acquired level of knowledge and skills. In general, as you may have guessed, the adaptation period may well coincide with the usual probationary period.
At the same time, after the completion of mentoring, the training of company employees should not be interrupted. There are many opportunities to develop employees, as they say, without leaving the workplace. Here are just a few of them:
- internal webinars on professional and organizational topics - on subject areas, tools and techniques, the results of completed projects, changes in legislation in the specialized field, etc .;
- internal training courses in subject areas with an emphasis on the specifics of the company, as well as on the company's products;
- discussion of real design cases in order to familiarize employees with an interesting or non-standard solution, or use such a case as a training to find a solution on their own;
- managerial fights aimed at developing a whole range of skills in a tight time frame;
- regular development tasks, which may relate to a variety of topics - technologies, tools, general knowledge. Within the framework of such tasks, the employee first of all develops personally, exploring and working out the issue, and then develops his colleagues, familiarizing them with the prepared material;
- articles, interviews, screencasts and other materials from company experts, public speaking at external conferences or meetings organized by the company;
- professional guilds - analysts, developers, testers, project managers, etc.
So someone needs this
Obviously, the entire company as a whole receives profits from the established mentoring system.
To the Padawan, the roadmap sets a clear direction for development and provides an understanding of what needs to be studied at any given time, even if there is no mentor nearby. This completely removes the problem of the "first days" when you don’t understand at all what you need to do, and everyone around you is busy and nobody cares about you. In addition to vocational training, the mentor provides psychological adaptation, actively supporting the ward and helping to solve everyday "everyday" problems. Taking the position of "senior comrade", the mentor guides the office, talks to whom and why you can and should contact, acquaints with unofficial office traditions and procedures, takes with him for lunch or a smoking room, engages in corporate events and is always on standby answer any question.
Leaders get the opportunity to quickly assess the professional and personal qualities of employees, based on real training results, as well as the aggregate feedback from experienced colleagues who interacted with Padawan. In addition, the manager receives a picture of the real professional level of the employee and can correlate it with the level stated at the interview.
For experienced professionals - this is an opportunity to try themselves in a new role, to pump personal and professional qualities in new directions.
As a result, after the end of the adaptation period, combined with the trial period, the company receives a confident specialist, focused directly on the company's products, its processes and the specifics of work.
That’s why I think mentoring is not just a nice bonus, but a real must-have.
So, use the force,% username%
My personal baggage has experience in companies where employees are not involved in the adaptation of principles; and in companies where this procedure is at the mercy of the employee; and in companies where mentoring is a serious internal process, continuously used and improved. Moreover, I myself have repeatedly become such a mentor and “raised” excellent specialists and just good people (a moment of modesty). Based on this experience, I sincerely recommend starting to engage mentoring in your professional life.
If you are a beginner:
- get acquainted with existing practices of development and adaptation in various companies;
- Do not hesitate to ask questions about the existence of a mentoring institution in the company during interviews;
- Refer to your immediate guide for attachment to an experienced employee.
If you are an experienced specialist:
- adopt any methods to help less experienced colleagues;
- open a new opportunity for your own development;
- consult your direct leadership initiative for creating a mentoring system for your company.
If you are a leader:
- use practices of adaptation of young and development of experienced employees;
- organize a mentoring system in your department or company.
Develop yourself and your colleagues. Perhaps someday, they will say thank you for that.
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