Strategic Human Resource Development.

Mentoring By

MUHAMMAD FARHANMBA-HRM

BSCS

MFARHANBS@HOTMAIL.COMME.FARHAN@GMAIL.COM

+92-3212334362

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The report is base on the mentoring, how to be a great mentor, what are the

requirements of being mentee and in last we discuss case study mentoring at Standard

Chartered Bank.

In this report we discuss what is mentoring, the different forms of developments along

with mentoring, and two schools of mentoring which is helpful to understand the

history of mentoring. In later part characteristics of mentor and mentee highlighted,

along the requirements to become a mentee, how mentor and mentee managing the

relationship which is important for both of them. In the last we discuss practical

example, the mentoring at Standard chartered bank. Since SCB is multinational bank,

Human Resource Development is the core objective of the organization, to retain best

talent of market with them. Mentoring at SCB includes objectives of mentoring at

SCB, human capital management, monitoring and talent management.

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Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................................................................2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...............................................................................................3

What is mentoring?........................................................................................................5

Mentoring versus other forms of development...............................................................6

Two schools of mentoring..............................................................................................6

Expectation from Mentor...............................................................................................7

Expectation from Mentor...............................................................................................7

Mentor Shouldn’t provided............................................................................................8

Expectations from Mentee by Mentor............................................................................9

Formal v informal mentoring relationships...................................................................9

Benefits of mentoring...................................................................................................10

Core skills of being a mentee.......................................................................................11

Top Ten Competencies of Mentor................................................................................12

Problem faced by mentee.............................................................................................12

Possible Solutions........................................................................................................12

Mentoring at SCB.........................................................................................................14

Mentee’s at SCB...........................................................................................................14

Mentor’s at SCB...........................................................................................................14

Mentoring & Talent Development Approach at SCB..................................................15

References....................................................................................................................16

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What is mentoring?

Having a mentor can be one of the most powerful developmental relationships you

will ever experience. For example, four out of five chief executives say that having a

mentor was one of the keys to their success. Hundreds of thousands of people from all

walks of life and at all stages of their careers are able to point to deep, personalised

learning they have obtained from a developmental relationship with someone of

substantially greater experience, who has taken a direct interest in them.

Powerful, often transformational mentoring relationships have helped young

graduates find their feet in an organisation, helped mothers of young children return to

work, or enabled young offenders to turn their lives around. People coming up to

retirement have been eased through this difficult time, by tapping into the experience

of others, who have been through it already. In short, mentoring can help anybody,

who has a major transition to make in his or her life, whoever or wherever they are.

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Mentoring versus other forms of development

Mentoring is often confused with coaching, or teaching, or counselling. In practice, a

mentor may draw on all of these approaches, but they are not the same as mentoring,

as the chart below indicates.

Coach Teacher Counsellor Mentor

Focus Task and

performance

Knowledge/

information

Building self-

awareness and

self-confidence

Building

capability

Key skill(s) Giving

feedback on

observed

performance

Instructing/

explaining

Listening,

questioning

Helping

learner

discover their

own wisdom

Goal-

orientation

Sets or

suggests goals

for the learner

Passing a test Helping the

person cope on

their own

Works with

learner’s own

goals

Closeness of

the

relationship

Moderate Low Low Relatively

high, often

becoming a

strong

friendship

Flow of

learning

One-way One-way One-way Two-way,

Adult

Learning.

Two schools of mentoring

Structured mentoring, in which people are encouraged and supported in developing

and sustaining mentoring relationships, emerged as an important movement in the

early 1970s, in the United States. This early model was aimed primarily at high-flying

young men in business organisations and emphasised the role of the mentor as

sponsor and protector of the younger person’s career. In this approach, the junior

partner in the relationship is typically described as a protégé – someone to be

protected.

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When the concept spread to Europe a decade later, it very quickly changed to one,

which emphasised empowering people to take charge of their own development and

career momentum. In this approach, the mentor’s accumulated experience and

wisdom is not necessarily passed on directly – it provides a background, from which

the mentee builds their own. Mentors also expect to extract significant learning from

the relationship, too. The less experienced partner is typically referred to as the

mentee – although a variety of other terms, such as mentoree are also used. European

or developmental mentoring is now the most common approach in the rest of the

world, and is gradually establishing itself in the United States. These two philosophies

of mentoring still compete today. Most research into mentoring tends to be based on

the original US approach – so if you are looking to be a mentee rather than a protégé,

take care in interpreting any further reading you may access!

Expectation from Mentor

In effective developmental mentoring relationships, the mentee should expect:

Empathy – while the mentor may not have experienced exactly the issues that mentee

face, he or she should demonstrate an interest in mentee and his/her development and

a willingness to understand things from mentee point of view

Constructive challenge/ stretching – mentor will, when appropriate, push mentee to

think deeper, address uncomfortable issues and set higher ambitions.

Sharing experience – mentor should use his or her own experience to provide

guidance and advice; equally, however, they will be conscious that what was right for

them, may not be the best solution for mentee.

Confidentiality – what is said between mentor and mentee is fully confidential, except

in very special circumstances that may be defined by the program or by law.

Friendship – mentor doesn’t have to be greatest friend ever. But they do need to offer

respect, trust and a degree of liking to mentee. It’s hard to be fully open with someone

you don’t feel comfortable with

Help in building networks – whether you are trying to get on the career ladder, to

move up it, or you simply want to be more effective where you are, you need a variety

of sources of help. Mentor can be an important gateway to these, either making

introductions or helping you identify and contact people, who will be helpful to you.

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Mentor Shouldn’t provided

Sponsorship - Someone to put you forward for plum assignments, take your part in

discussions about your career.

Protection – shielding you from learning from your mistakes, intervening in the

relationship between you and your boss/ teacher or other authority figure.

Hands-on coaching – doing your line manager’s job.

Therapy – Digging deeply into psychological and personality issues.

Social work – Sorting out personal problems for you.

“A guru to follow, mentors should be human, too! “

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Expectations from Mentee by Mentor

The mentor deserves the mentee’s respect and consideration and both will be needed,

if the relationship is to work well. In particular, the mentee should:

Recognise that the mentor’s time and energy are precious, and should be used

wisely. At the same time, recognise that the greatest compliment to the mentor

is to make use of their experience and wisdom – so don’t be afraid to ask for a

reasonable amount of their time.

Prepare thoroughly for mentoring sessions – think through how to make use of

the learning opportunity.

Be prepared to challenge the mentor constructively – don’t take everything the

mentor says for granted. Much of the value of the relationship for the mentor

lies in the intellectual dialogue.

Offer the mentor honest feedback about the nature and quality of the help the

mentee receives. (This is especially important if the relationship is not

working and needs to be changed.).

Be prepared to take over most of the management of the relationship.

Formal v informal mentoring relationships

Formal mentoring relationship setup by employer and informal mentoring

relationship is an initiative by mentee, in order to peruse career, which could be same

as mentor have. The advantages of an informal relationship are that it is likely to be

stronger and have a deeper element of friendship. Some studies also suggest that the

quality of the mentoring is likely to be higher.

The disadvantages include, it is much more difficult to find a

suitable mentor, and if you come from a disadvantaged group (mentors tend to choose

people like themselves first) There is typically less clarity of purpose – relationships

often drift into simple friendships, because neither party is clear what they want to

achieve from meeting.

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Benefits of mentoring

Effective mentoring benefits everyone involved – the mentee and mentor, the

organisation and the mentee’s line manager, in the employment context. Much the

same is true in a community context; where there are major benefits for society from

helping people overcome disadvantage and disaffection.

For the mentee, mentoring provides a safe haven to explore personal, work and

career issues. The mentor provides a sounding board for difficult decisions, an

independent view to put things into perspective, someone to encourage you when

things aren’t going well and sometimes a role model for some of the personal goals

you want to achieve.

For the mentor, mentoring is a great opportunity to develop the skill of developing

others, away from the confines of his or her own team. It is also one of the few

opportunities for the mentor to take reflective time out during the working day.

Working with the mentee’s issues often leads the mentor to valuable insights about

relationships with their own team. When asked for what they have gained from the

relationship, mentors most commonly talk of intellectual challenge, of learning, and

of the simple satisfaction at seeing someone else progress.

For the organisation, mentoring contributes significantly to the attraction and

retention of talent. People, who have mentors, are less likely to leave the organisation,

or at least likely to stay much longer. Various studies indicate, for example, that

salespeople with mentors sell on average 20% more in their first year with an

organisation. Having a mentoring program also contributes to the organisation’s

reputation as a caring, people-centred employer.

There are benefits for the mentee’s line manager, too. Mentee’s are able to take issues

regarding their manager and/or their colleagues to the mentor and discuss how they

can improve relationships in the team. The mentor also helps the mentee deal with

negative feedback in a constructive manner – it’s often easier to talk through such

issues with someone, who isn’t involved.

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Core skills of being a mentee

Mentee will get the most out of the mentoring relationship if:

Know what you want to achieve through the relationship. (what personal

transitions do you want to make?

Demonstrate enthusiasm and interest.

Respect the mentor for his or her experience and who they are, but not

uncritically.

Listen carefully; take notes, as appropriate.

Demonstrate integrity and openness; be honest with yourself as well as with

your mentor.

Use frequent questions to get the mentor to explain in more detail, when

appropriate.

Be prepared to explore some issues that take you beyond your comfort zones.

Make sure the mentor understands what sort of help you need

Accept criticism gracefully; take it seriously

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Top Ten Competencies of Mentor

Problem faced by mentee.

1. Discussions with mentor are very shallow.

2. Mentor won’t stop talking or lots of speeches.

3. Meetings keep postponed.

4. Relationship with mentor is not working.

5. Expectations of mentor are too high.

Possible Solutions

1. Mentee should provide relevant information to mentor before discussion that

this is requiring to discuss during meeting.

2. Effective Mentors rarely talk during meetings or discussion, make sure

speeches relevant to your needs or probably be better of finding another

mentor.

3. Mentee must show the effectiveness and need of meetings to mentor that how

important meetings are for mentee and mentor relation. Follow-up with

mentor before meeting.

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4. Personalities clashed between mentor and mentee can be reduced by

recognising the value of very different perspective, try to work together to

resolve it.

5. Remind him or her that it is your goals the two of you should be working with.

But be open to the possibility that the mentor may be right in encouraging you

to aspire to greater things.

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Mentoring at SCB

Within SCB Mentoring is being practised in various countries/businesses. The scope

of coverage varies to fit individual country and/or business needs. Mentoring at SCB

offered by HR & OL department. A key objective for SCB is to drive business

performance and build a sustainable performance culture through the talent human

resource.

The main theme of mentoring at SCB; Raising the Bar on how we attract,

develop and manage talent. The mentoring at SCB will help to develop talented

people - through building on their strengths and making our good people even more

effective in their roles. Benefits of mentoring at SCB are;

Developed Most talented people

Senior Managers within the organization recognize.

Start to develop talent better, higher levels of staff satisfaction.

Attract, develop and retain the best people

Mentee’s at SCB

Management Trainees after 24 months in the Bank.

H3/H4’s going through significant career moves. (H3/H4 are high

potential Staff)

Voluntary participation.

Individuals have to be willing to take ownership of their development

Mentor’s at SCB

Well regarded managers who can serve as role models and Possess the ability and

commitment in developing people. Mangers can participate on a voluntary basis.

SCB believes; Mentoring is the fastest growing development approach in the past

decade, it is the tool defined as “offline help by one person to another in making

significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking”

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Existing Practise in SCB Group as of 2006.

SCB Pakistan is situated in MESA, where mentoring program now offered by

Organization & Learning department specifically to the management Trainee’s who

are highly rated after two years training program including job rotations, on the job

training, class room trainings.

Mentoring & Talent Development Approach at SCB

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References

Books Carter, Stephen, An Essential Guide to Mentoring, Institute of Management, Northants, 1994.

Clutterbuck, David, Learning Alliances, Institute of Personnel & Development, 1998, 1995.

Hay, Julie, Transformational Mentoring, McGraw Hill, 1995.

Parsloe, Eric, Coaching, mentoring and assessing, Kogan Page, 1992.

Webs

http://mlq.sagepub.com/cgi/framedreprint/24/2/175

http://books.google.com.pk

http://images.google.com.pk

http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=_KkEi-

IPgOUC&pg=PA87&vq=Mentoring&dq=Learning+Alliances&source=gbs_search_s&sig=

mKdkNSx65830Jst2qyLAfe-2dD0

Organization

Standard Charted Bank, Pakistan Limited.

Organization & Learning Department SCB.

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