EMPLOYER MENTORING FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
EMPLOYER RESOURCE PACK
Cooperative Education and Careers Division
University of Limerick
Mentoring Resource Pack
ContentsPage
1.Introduction3
2. What is mentoring?4
3.Types of mentoring schemes5
4.Benefits of mentoring6
5.What do mentors do? – a model7
6.Conduct of meetings9
7.Mentoring skills11
8.Problems and possible solutions13
9.Further help and information16
Appendix
1.Introduction
Introduction to the Resource Pack
This resource pack has been designed to help you in your preparation to become a mentor and to support you during the mentoring process.
It explains what mentoring is and gives some examples of different types of schemes. Different schemes target different mentees and this scheme has been designed for students with disabilities at:
The University of Manchester
University of Salford
Manchester Metropolitan University
Chester College of Higher Education
UMIST
The resource pack outlines the skills required to be a successful mentor and considers how those skills can be applied. It also makes suggestions about how you might conduct the meetings with your mentee. Examples of the types of problems you may encounter and suggested solutions are also included.
The resource pack is designed to be an aid to successful mentoring but is not intended to limit or restrict mentors in their approach to the challenge. I hope that you will find the resource pack useful and that it will help enhance the quality of your relationship with your mentee; a relationship, I am sure, you will find enjoyable and beneficial.
Introduction to Mentoring
The term “mentor” first appeared in The Odessey by Homer. In the legend Odysseus went to fight the Trojan wars and entrusted the upbringing of his son, Telemachus, to Mentor. After more than ten years Telemachus went in search of his father and was accompanied by the Goddess of Way, Athena who took Mentor’s form. Eventually father and son were reunited and returned home to throw out the pretenders to their realm. It is from that time that ‘mentor’ came to be used as the term to describe an experienced and trusted advisor, friend and counsellor.
Many people have benefited from mentors including those who have achieved greatness in the fields of arts, politics and sport. In recent years mentoring schemes have been developed in the United States, many of which were designed to counter the disadvantage encountered by various minority groups. It was the success of these schemes that led to their introduction into Britain. The Interact programme has been developed to address some of the issues affecting students with disabilities studying in the North West.
2.What is mentoring?
In the introduction, I said that a mentor has become known as an experienced and trusted advisor, friend and counsellor. However, it is necessary to look at mentoring in more detail to avoid confusion with the other roles that mentors undertake in their working lives. It is also important to look at how mentees see the position, for example how do they differentiate between mentoring and training and, if they are employed, between mentoring and management.
To understand the differences between the roles it is worth examining priorities.
Priorities
ManagerTrainerMentor
Tasks/resultsOrganisation aimsLearner/Mentee
Improvement inImprovement inHis/her development,
individual and team individual and teamcareer development
performance to performance toand management
achieve resultsachieve results
It is clear from this outline of priorities that the role of the mentor is significantly different from that of the manager and trainer. In this case the mentee and his/her development are the main priorities.
Core aims of mentoring
There are three core aims that distinguish mentoring from other developmental processes:
Culture and Politics
Mentoring is informal and topics discussed are “off the record”. This enables the mentor to discuss any unwritten aspects of an organisation that may be preventing an individual from progressing i.e. to help mentees understand the dominant culture and how to deal with it.
Personal and Career Development
Mentoring aims to assist the individual not only in current job performance, but also to develop for future roles. This might be seeing how the mentee matches up to key management competencies, identifying weak points and devising ways to strengthen them. A major part of this process involves considering what future career path might be best for the mentee, including looking at jobs he/she might not have considered but that might provide a significant development opportunity.
Networking
By introducing the mentee to other managers the mentor can assist with the chosen career path. This is especially important where mentoring is seen as a two-way process enabling senior managers to become aware of new talent. In the context of Interact it is about helping students become more aware of the career options open to them and the networks which might help to achieve their goals.
3.Types of mentoring schemes
There are many types of mentoring schemes in place, some of which are internal due to a particular organisation and some of which are external. Internal mentoring schemes tend to fall into three main types; graduate, professional development and disadvantaged groups.
Graduate Schemes
Some companies include mentoring as part of their structured graduate development programme. New recruits are matched with managers to ease the transition period from university to work and give them an overview of the business. In a large, diversified organisation this overview is often important to ensure that a graduate’s employment potential is available to the whole organisation rather than just one part of it.
Professional Development Schemes
Mentors are used to support employees going through management or technical development programmes. This might involve support during a period of intensive study (e.g. an MBA) or assistance towards reaching professional status (e.g. Chartered Engineer).
Mentors will normally have been through the process themselves and be able to provide technical knowledge as well as personal support and guidance. In addition, the mentor will be able to help mentees link what they have learnt back to their current job.
Disadvantaged Groups
There are schemes which aim to assist groups who suffer from disadvantage in the workplace, such as women, ethnic minorities or people with disabilities. Mentors can help staff develop the skills and confidence required to progress within the organisation. Such schemes would come in the category of positive action which is recommended by the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equal Opportunities Commission.
4.Benefits of Mentoring
There is general agreement among all those involved with mentoring that there are benefits which accrue to mentors, mentee and organisations.
Mentees
Mentees are the most obvious beneficiaries. The most common benefit is the chance to focus on their own personal or professional development with an impartial person outside of their day-to-day relationships. The very fact that mentors are usually outside the university, department or business area means that the mentees are more likely to view the advice and feedback they receive as objective.
In particular student mentees benefit from the range and depth of experience brought by the mentor, especially if they have limited work experience to call on. The result can be a widening of their horizons combined with an understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. This leads to an enhanced range of realistic career choices.
Mentors
Mentors benefit from the opportunity to practice their management and development skills and to have contact with a wide range of able students. Mentoring on the Interact programme offers mentors the opportunity to gain a real understanding of the issues which concern students with disabilities and use this knowledge to inform recruitment practices within their own organisation. It gives those people who are not natural mentors the opportunity to improve their own communication skills and their ability to develop colleagues. For those in a company scheme it also gives them the opportunity to meet graduates who are likely to reach the top of the organisation. This may prove to be an advantage in the future.
5.What do mentors do? A model
This model is not intended to be comprehensive but could serve as a guide to what is expected of mentors. It has been broken down into three phases:
Stimulate
Evaluate
Facilitate
Evaluate
A significant part of the mentor’s role is to help identify the strengths and weaknesses of the mentee in order to agree short-term training and longer-term development needs.
Essential activities
Assess current performance
Agree training and development needs
Give feedback to mentee
Possible Dos
Use job descriptions
Refer to professional qualifications
Consider aspects of knowledge, shill and attitudes
Offer helpful/constructive criticism
Possible Don’ts
Think only about the short term
Be negative/destructive
Ignore other people’s input/views
Try to cover everything
Stimulate
A major part of the role is encouraging and motivating the mentee to develop themselves. However there may be times when the mentee looks to the mentor for more explicit guidance, which is when coaching skills are required.
Essential Activities
Coach
Counsel
Motivate
Possible Dos
Listen actively
Ask questions
Make time
Challenge assumptions
Encourage
Provide enthusiasm
Possible Don’ts
Do it for them
Make assumptions
Underestimate abilities
Show off
Facilitate
The mentor may be in a position to help the mentee with access to learning opportunities, influential people or resources.
Essential Activities
Agree learning opportunities
Open doors
Monitor progress
Possible Dos
Agree objectives and parameters
Identify resources required
Plan 2 way feedback sessions
Reward/celebrate success
Possible Don’ts
Take their credit
Ignore political/sensitive issues
Try to do it all at once
Be vague
6.Conduct of meetings
Successful mentoring is a two way process and so it is most important for both the mentor and the mentee to be comfortable with the location, content, style and length of the meetings.
Location
In most cases it would be beneficial for the mentee to visit you, preferably at your place of work. Visiting you emphasises to them that you are giving up your time to help them and that they should make the effort to travel. Visiting you at your place of work brings another advantage in that the students are able to gain experience in the workplace. It may be that your mentee has never experienced working, except in a Saturday job, and may be unsure of what to expect. Please take the opportunity to show the mentee round, introduce them to your colleagues and explain what to do in the context of the organisation.
Frequency and length
There is no prescription as to the frequency and length of meetings. However it is felt that at least four meetings will be required to enable a useful relationship to be established and a positive outcome achieved. It is suggested that each meeting has a clear end time that is only extended by mutual agreement. Normally a mentor meeting would take between 60 and 90 minutes. It is up to you and your mentee when and where you should meet.
Style
Given that the mentees on the Interact programme are all adults it is appropriate to adopt an informal approach in the meetings. This approach is most likely to allow the mentees to relax and feel able to confide in their mentor in their limited time together. The types of questions you ask will have a significant impact on the style of each meeting- examples of question types and their usefulness are given in the section entitled “Mentoring skills”.
Content
Even thought the meetings may be undertaken in an informal style it is important that the content is agreed and adhered to.
A useful starting point at the first meeting is to agree some form of contract. This would make clear what is expected of each of you in the time available. As a starting point you may wish to consider what you are prepared to do and then agree with your mentee what he/she will do.
An example of a contract to be worked through with your mentee is given below. Please adapt as you wish:
The mentor will:
Meet when we agree
Listen to you
Support you when right
Ask awkward questions
Give you feedback
Provide the information promised
Help identify goals
The mentor will not:
Do your work for you
Talk all through the meeting
Support you when wrong
Answer all your questions
Intervene between you and your tutor
Always tell you what you want to hear
Chase after you
Identify your goals for you
7.Mentoring skills
Counselling is sometimes broken down into 7 major skills:
Listening
Questioning
Summarising
Keeping an open mind
Interpreting and explaining
Giving and receiving feedback
Silence
While all are important I would like to highlight Listening, Questioning and Giving and Receiving Feedback.
Listening
An often-quoted saying is “There are those who are listening and those who are waiting to speak”. The ability to listen is a vital skill for a mentor. When the student is speaking, make it clear that you are listening by maintaining regular eye contact, leaning forward, nodding in the appropriate places, smiling and making “all the right noises” (mmmm, uh,uh, I see etc.). This is active listening when the speaker knows that they have your attention. This is very important because you may discover that you are one of the very few people that has really listened to what the student has to say. Mentees often make this point when reviewing a mentoring session. When a student believes that you are listening you are likely to find that they disclose all sorts of details about themselves and their ambitions. It is at this stage that the real mentoring process can begin.
Questioning
It is through careful questioning that you are able to give the mentee the opportunity to explain themselves. Responses relate to the type of questions asked and it is important for you to frame your question to enable a suitable and relevant answer.
Remember open questions which start with:
Why?How?Tell me about…
Usually elicit more detailed answers which in turn lead into new areas of discussion.
Giving and receiving feedback
Giving and receiving feedback are considered to be core managerial skills. Within the context of mentoring they take on particular significance since the mentor’s views are often seen as carrying additional impact. This stems from the status and expertise of the mentor or their position as an impartial observer. Consequently it is vital for mentors to be able to offer feedback in such a way that the mentee not only receives it but also welcomes it.
Feedback to mentees needs to be both honest and positive. In terms of honesty, the mentor should never say anything they know to be untrue. What you can do is to start with the strengths, which can be emphasised, before turning to the weaknesses. In addressing the weaknesses it is important to investigate how each can be dealt with by the mentee and what role the mentor can play. This is an example of positive feedback to address weaknesses.
Similarly receiving feedback is a skill which needs to be developed. From the mentor’s point of view it is important in two aspects. First receiving feedback positively from the mentee will improve the relationship and secondly as a result mentors will be better able to guide mentees into the receipt of feedback.
8.Problems and possible solutions
For a mentoring relationship to be successful it requires the establishment of a meaningful rapport between mentor and mentee. Its value cannot be overstated because you will be working very closely together and may discuss sensitive issues and experiences. It is hoped that the suggestions in this resource pack will help to develop that rapport. However, there may be times when problems arise. In most cases they will probably be dealt with very quickly and the process continue fruitfully.
- Further Help and Information
If at any stage you require further help and information, please contact:
Gavin Connell
Head of Careers
Career Service
Cooperative Education & Careers Division
University of Limerick
Email:
Ph: 061 212114
Meetings Prompt Sheet for Mentors
Starting Points:
What do you want to get out of your meetings generally?
Possible topics or issues for discussion.
What you need to know about your mentee.
What you want to tell them about yourself.
Logistics of planning meetings (location, timing, frequency, term dates etc.)
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