Introduction

Mentoring is one of the most widely used approaches for engaging youth who are at-risk or disadvantaged and are in need of positive adult support.  Mentoring is now a key element within national and local strategies for working with young people, especially those who are regarded as socially excluded. Yet, few systematic evaluations of youth mentoring have taken place to enable comparisons to be made between projects and with other forms of youth intervention.

It is important to analyze critically the concept and to highlight the distinctive elements of youth mentoring. In this short review, it is set out to do this by looking at how mentoring links into current preoccupations about young people, and by exploring how mentoring has been defined. 

Mentoring programs are based on the practice of developing a positive and supportive relationship in order to help youth develop skills, interests, and attributes that will make them successful. However, to what extent does your mentoring program actively promote youth development approaches and offer the opportunities and supports that facilitate healthy development?

Although most mentoring programs have outcomes that are based on preventing certain behaviors or increasing a specific skill, they also strive to achieve one or more of the following developmental outcomes. The increasing competency in such areas as social development, academic achievement, and life skills, developing of a positive bond with the mentor and, through that relationship, positive relationships with others—teachers, friends, and family— and increased connections to school and community represent the main outcomes of mentoring process.

Aim and objectives. The aim of the chapter is to improve the sense of positive self-worth and belief in the future by offering consistent positive encouragement and reinforcement through mentoring, as well as determined objectives are the following:

• To identify different approaches to the meaning of mentoring;
• To determine the role of mentor and mentee;
• To share several discussion ideas for the mentoring process;
• To familiarize with ideas for work mentoring activities.

In addition, depending on the individual relationships formed, mentoring programs may strengthen character as mentors introduce youth to positive societal and cultural values, hold youth to high expectations of behavior, and model those behaviors (character).

Mentoring has a big influence on engaging youth in activities that may increase their sense of empathy and caring through others, such as community service projects taken on by matches (caring and compassion). 

1. What does mentoring mean?

A mentor is a trusted counsellor or teacher. Mentoring is the process of walking along side someone to learn from them. The term mentor describes a wide variety of relationship and behaviours. The mentor helps with technical skill, career development, and psychosocial functions. The mentor is usually senior to the mentee with respect to experience, rank, or influence within the organization. Mentoring as a term and practice is hardly new. Students of the classics may remember Telemachus, Odysseus' son in Homer's Odessy, who had a guardian and adviser named "mentor." Mentoring in organizations often takes place on an informal basis. More recently organizations have developed more formal mentoring relationships. While a number of organizations experimented with mentoring programs over the years, most notably in the 70's and 80's, they were primarily reserved for marginal and average performers as a tool for performance improvement. Due to the tumultuous events of the past decade, there has been an explosion of mentoring efforts in organizations of all sizes and industries. A survey conducted by Human Resource Executive last year found that the number of companies developing mentoring programs doubled between 1995 and 1996, a percentage growth of 17% to 36%. This renewed interest can be attributed to many factors, such as: 

• concern about employee morale and loyalty resulting from major restructuring and downsizing activities; 
• increased sensitivity to the issues of women and minorities;
• the need for succession planning; 
• major change efforts which propel many organizations today and create the need for more and more skilled leaders .

All of these, of course, are fuelled by a highly competitive labour market, a major factor contributing to the growth of mentoring programs. Regardless of the motivation, a growing number of organizations are finding mentoring and the sharing of intellectual capital to be making a profound impact on the individual and the organization.

2. Mentor and mentee discussion ideas

The mentoring relationship has many definitions and roles. A mentor can be described as a trusted counselor or guide, a teacher, coach or tutor, or simply as someone who takes a personal interest in your career and offers advice and guidance. Mentoring is predominately a one to one activity which begins with rapport, the French word meaning kinship. It requires active listening skills, openness, trust, commitment and emotional maturity. Once the foundation is in place, the relationship is nurtured by a mutual understanding of the goals and desired outcomes of the relationship. It is further guided by measurements, accountability, and results in learning and growth. In effective mentoring relationships both the mentor and protégé avoid dependency and learn to recognize when it is time to let go.

While mentoring programs were first created to manage a number of performance-related problems, that is not a role for mentoring today. Performance issues are better managed through coaching. True mentor programs develop people by sharing knowledge that provides opportunities for networking, teambuilding, leadership development, and career mobility. Mentoring enhances communications skills, develops interpersonal skills and builds self-confidence.

The distinguishing factors for mentoring are: 

• fondness at a personal level 
• benefits to both mentor and mentee 
• relationships and friendships that bridge many years .

As organizational life becomes more and more complex, it is important for facilitators to develop a menu of breakthrough strategies that can help build skill, solve problems, increase effective performance, and build winning teams. The areas of training, facilitation, coaching, and mentoring share unique qualities and yet are very different. As facilitators learn to move effortlessly between each method, knowing the differences between the four is crucial.

3. Ideas for work mentoring activities

A well-implemented organizational mentorship program is a fantastic company-culture investment. Mentors bring their experience, emotional support and Âadvanced skills to the relationship, while a mentee is committed, engaged, and willing to learn and develop. Formal mentorship programs allow organizations to make the most of their current high-potential employees in order to develop future talent

One of the key benefits of establishing an in-house mentorship program is that mentors can offer specific advice and help mentees address organization-specific challenges as they develop their careers, fostering internal talent mobility. It's important to cultivate the right environment that encourages a natural relationship to form, so that both mentor and mentee can concentrate on development during their meetings. Without a robust development environment in place, it's easy to fall back into a default culture of "busy-ness."

20 Great ideas for work mentoring activities:

• Identify goals (identifying professional mentoring goals for this relationship. Determining the outcome);
• Create a mentoring Action Plan (reviewing possible career mentoring activities with the mentee, choosing a few of them to do. Then creating a mentoring Action Plan to capture the selections);
• Address mentee challenges (spending time for discussions of how the mentee dealt with a challenging situation. What was the outcome? If needed, brainstorm alternate ways to overcome that challenge);
• Role play (role play how to address a challenging situation to practice skills – e.g. an upcoming interaction that the mentee is unsure about or would like guidance for);
• Job shadow (inviting the mentee to sit on a meeting of mentor’s that will give them an opportunity to learn or network. Debriefing afterwards);
• Provide networking opportunities (introducing the mentee to one of mentor contacts who could prove to be a valuable professional network contact for them);
• Provide oral feedback (observing the mentee in a meeting or presentation and giving feedback on her performance);
• Provide written feedback (reviewing and providing feedback on a presentation, reporting or documenting the mentee has prepared);
• Read up (reading a new business/professional book or article and discuss your thoughts about it – if reading a book, the mentor might want to read and discuss one chapter at a time);
• Share career history (inviting the mentee to share the “story of his career”, explaining how to get to where he is today);
• Review your CVS (exchanging, reviewing and discussing each other’s resumes. How are key achievements represented? Are there differences in how the mentors and mentee each “sell themselves”);
• Suggest other reading (suggesting books, articles and blogs or other resources  for the mentee to read);
• Team up & network together (attending a local industry  or professional networking or educational event together. Debriefing afterwards.
• Create a vision statement (asking the mentee to create a vision statement that captures where he wants to be in five years and what he wants to be known for, then reviewing and discussing together);
• Be a coach: focus on strengths (discussing the mentee’s strengths, ways he can further develop these skills, and potential problems that can result from over-reliance on them);
• Regularly review goals (regularly reviewing and discussing progress on the mentee’s career development goals);
• Discuss interpersonal skills (talking about the types of people the mentee finds most difficult to work with, and strategies for more effective interactions with them. Talking about the types of people the mentee most enjoys working with and reviewing why).
• Be a coach: target weaknesses (discussing the mentee’s weaknesses, ways she can strengthen her skills in these areas, and the potential advantages they can offer);
• Consider volunteer work (identify a volunteer or community based group activity where the mentee can practice desired skills, then debriefing on the experience);
• Close the loop (preparing for the end of the formal mentoring relationship. Taking stock of lessons learned, directions taken, and what still needs to be accomplished).

Now, whether your organization has been thinking about implementing a mentorship program or your existing program needs a bit of a polish, remember that the beginning of any mentor-mentee relationship is the most important part of the work.

Bibliography:

1. 20 Great Ideas for Work Mentoring and Coaching https://www.saba.com/uk/blog/20-great-ideas-for-work-mentoring-and-coaching-infographic
2. Faciltiation, Coaching, Mentoring, and Training: Understanding the Differences. http://www.amauta-international.com/iaf99/Thread3/Wild.html
3. Manual Training of trainers. Using non-formal learning and interactive methods in Youth work. Non-formal learning for employability. p.73