Effective Mentoring Relationships

The lack of time allocated to the mentoring process is an issue of concern. This often may occur because too much of the time has been spent on other tasks such as paperwork, rather than reflecting or discussing about the progress, areas of concern or issues that have arisen (Lofthouse & Thomas, 2014). Another issue that often arises is the various roles that the mentor may hold. According to Lofthouse and Thomas, (2014), the various roles that a mentor has and the expectations of each role that they are expected to perform in, may affect the amount of mentoring time available to the mentee. This will often leave the mentee feeling frustrated as they will need to wait, or may not get the opportunity to discuss issues that may be experiencing (Lofthouse & Thomas,

Mentoring for the mentor is about challenging himself to perform to greater capabilities while nurturing a mentee and stretching them to realise their full potential. Mentors counsel, tutor and guide their mentees in developing themselves.

From the organisations standpoint mentoring is a cost effective way of training and developing new staff, and it helps retain existing staff by giving them more responsibility. It is argued that with the underlying causes behind facilitated mentoring lying in cost effectiveness, does this underlying tenet prevent a real chemistry existing between the mentor and the mentee.

To be a good mentor you have to have great qualities like being helpful and being really good at giving good constructive criticism. Whomever you're mentoring should receive information that is both positive and negative. You want to makes sure you give pros and cons so that your mentee can learn from them. (Patterson) Some social activities that you can do in mentoring programs include talking about life experiences, having lunch together, and visiting the mentor's home for a bonding experience. (Wexler) Although most mentoring programs usually have short durations and are claimed to be a “waste of money,” they are beneficial to girls because they prevent peer pressure, diseases, and pregnancies; encourage girls to be more mannerable, respectful, and ladylike; and results in kids being more likely to graduate high school and attend college.

It takes a lot of commitment to be a mentor, an appropriate meeting time needs to be discussed between mentor and mentee so that it doesn't conflict with family, school, and/or social life. Mentors are usually provided for: troubled teens, young children with busy parents that work, children or teens with special needs such as Autism or ADHD, or anyone under or over the age of 18 who needs to have one on one time with someone they trust and can talk to confidentially.

Effective mentoring can have significant affects on at-risk children. Positive mentor-mentee relationships influence high outcomes, socially and academically. This paper will look at the development, difficulties, and outcomes of mentoring in order for it to meaningfully influence the lives of at-risk children.

Mentoring is a significant and powerful tool to help students like me in crucial need and help them succeed in life and school.

Over time, organizations have adapted and refined the way that mentoring is used in their companies. For example, mentors now help the person to solve problems, navigate through the culture at a company and even advance their career. This, in turn, will create a person that is ready to lead and manage.

My organization focuses heavily on mentoring relationships. Anytime a new individual is hired, we try to ensure that they will receive the training necessary to take their bosses job. We focus heavily on them knowing their job and the job two levels beyond their current position. This has proven effective in getting individuals to understand the "Why" behind some of the mundane things they do.

This is an empirical work. The study the authors conducted analyzed the design of the formal mentoring programs and the perceived effectiveness from both mentor and protégé perspectives. The results helped close the gap between science and practice regarding the design of formal mentoring programs (Allen, et al., 2006).

Earlier research distinguished two types of mentoring relationships; instrumental and psychsocial (Flaxman, Ascher. & Harrington, 1988). The findings from these studies are mixed, but would be difficult to interpret in any case given. Differences between ethnic/racial groups are also found within the United States. Developmental differences have significant implications for mentors to work with children and youth of different

In addition, a regular assessment to identify barriers that can limit staff success also is beneficial (Keller, 2006). Mentor Best Practices Positive outcomes occur when the mentor-mentee relationship lasts for 1 year or longer and when the mentor understands what approaches, practices, and attitudes work (Grossman & Rhodes, 2002; Rhodes, 2008). Best practices can serve to increase the rate of success in formal mentoring programs and can reduce negative impacts, such as early relationship termination. Regardless of the reason for termination, it can be perceived by the mentee as intentional rejection (Downey & Feldman, 1996; Downey, Lebolt, Rincorn, & Freitas, 1998; DuBois et al., 2002; Grossman & Rhodes, 2002) and can lead to negative self-perception and lowered academic performance. The literature identifies six best practices for individual mentors: (a) training, (b) commitment to the relationship, (c) respect for the mentee’s background, (d) respect for the individual, (e) mutual activities, and (f) use of support (see Figure 1). Each of these is discussed below. Although those in “helping professions” (e.g., teachers, counselors) who have received formal training have greater predictive success as mentors, training and support provided to lay persons can produce similar results (DuBois et al., 2002). Mentors should avail themselves of

Furthermore, Munson (2010) also explored the nature of non-family, natural mentoring relationships between mentors and youths who were in the process of exiting foster care. These authors found that most youths meet mentors through formal systems such as adults who work in child welfare, education, or mental health. In both of these studies, it was the qualitative nature of the relationship that was examined, such as positive characteristics of mentors, features of the relationship perceived to be helpful, and the kind of support the mentors offered

Study focused on a conceptual model of the mentoring process, drawing from theory and research on child and adolescent development and close relationships. Youth mentoring is popular and widespread phenomenon that promotes and develops positive experiences with young people. Researchers argue this mentoring process discussed should be guided by solid conceptual models that incorporate relevant theoretical perspectives from the literature on child and adolescent development. Results concluded a conceptual framework that portrays a close mentoring relationships as the catalyst for three interviewed process: enhancement of social and emotional development, improvements in cognitive function thought conversation, joint activity, and guided instruction.

The issue with the majority of mentoring studies starts at the very beginning, Clutterbuck suggests that the biggest problem for research into mentoring is still to define what it is. (D.Clutterbuck.1996) Phillip suggests that mentoring can have varied meanings and that the terminology exposes a varied amount of assumptions. The example he gives is that mentoring young people has been related to schemes aiming at tutoring, coaching, counselling, role modelling, advising and teaching. Likewise a variety of terms could apply to the young person being mentored such as mentee, apprentice and pupil. The actual process may also have various descriptions given to it such as, helping, advising and guiding. However the knowledge and understanding of