Mentor/mentee relationships in the workplace are incredibly helpful for younger employees who are looking for guidance and want to grow within their careers. Not only that, but those that are mentoring them will also see immense value from their actions because they’ll be able to feel the appreciation and will become more confident in their own skills. Most successful people recall an intentional or unintentional mentor who helped them shape their careers and provided the right level of insight into what they were doing to help them grow.
Here are some tips for implementing a mentor/mentee relationship in the workplace with someone who is looking for guidance.
1. Develop trust.
Without trust in your mentor and from the mentee, there’s no foundation. How can you move forward with helping to shape someone’s career if they don’t feel like they can go to you with hard questions and for guidance? You want to become the person they choose to seek out for help because they come to see you as someone they can always go to.
2. Invest time.
Both the mentor and the mentee will have to invest time and energy into fostering the relationship they’re building. When you’re devoted to helping someone grow their career, you can’t take a passive role in that. And from the mentee perspective, it requires attending events and networking, doing research, defining goals, doing outreach, and more.
3. Fill gaps.
Don’t find a mentor who is exactly like you. Though the conversations might be stimulating and fun, you’re not going to help yourself grow by working with someone who mirrors your existing skill set. Instead, you’ll want to find someone who can fill any gaps you have within your own skill set and will, therefore, allow you to grow in your career.
4. Find diversity within your mentorship.
You don’t want to just work with someone who comes from your same background, though it is important to people of color and women especially to connect with other people of color and women who have excelled in that career path and at that specific company. Look at people of other genders and races to help you grow as well because they might have additional insight that they can offer that you might not have thought of.
5. Define expectations.
You’ll want to be clear with your mentor about what you’re looking to get out of your mentor/mentee relationship so that you can actually get to that final goal. And for the mentor, you’ll need to ensure that you’re realistic with your mentee. If you aren’t able to commit as much time as your mentee is looking for or needs, then you’ll need to communicate that early on so that you don’t fall short of expectations.
6. Get creative.
Channel your creativity and innovation when mentoring someone. You’ll need to think up some unique ideas and approaches to how you’re going to help your mentee accomplish their goals, so think outside the box and encourage a similar approach from your mentee.
