Mentoring in the '90s and Beyond

two hands image Sheryl Nefstead, Scott Nefstead
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Mentoring is a planned pairing of a more experienced person with a lesser skilled individual for the purpose of achieving mutually agreed on outcomes. It is a partnership in which both individuals share in a growth process and the personal development of one another.

History of Mentoring

Mentoring began in ancient Greek methodology. Around 1200 B.C. Odysseus was leaving for the siege of Troy when he appointed his friend, Mentor, to be a surrogate father to his son, Telemachus. Historical records show that skills, culture, and values in preparation for manhood were learned in this paired relationship.

Craft guilds founded in the Middle Ages show examples of mentoring. Young men were apprenticed to master craftsmen working in specific professions such as merchandising, law, or gold smithing. These apprenticeships were forerunners to the employer/employee relationship models found in the industrial society.

Over the years, informal mentoring relationships have advanced careers and guided skill building through a profession or organization. As societies become more complex and impersonal, the need for person-to-person mentoring becomes even more important. People must develop skills to succeed in today's complex and rapidly changing job market. As a result, mentoring assumes an emphasis beyond the standard employer/employee relationship.

Components for a Mentor/Mentee Program

  • An overall design plan involving key participants in the program
  • A trained program coordinator
  • Job descriptions of mentors and mentees
  • A recruitment plan for the program
  • A policy for participant screening and selection into the program
  • An orientation and training plan
  • A plan for celebration activities and honoring of individuals
  • Specific, measurable, and achievable objectives and timelines linked to an evaluation plan for the entire program

Recruitment Plan

It is essential to develop a targeted recruitment plan in order to fill specific requirements for mentor/mentee job descriptions. A mentoring program works best when individuals are recruited and assigned to positions they are most qualified to be working in.

Components of the Recruitment Plan

  • Establish specific needs for the purpose of the mentor program
  • Define specific time period of involvement
  • Outline specific mentor/mentee procedures including application, screening, interviewing, placement, training, and evaluation
  • Demonstrate ways individuals will make a contribution to the overall program including achieved personal outcomes and benefits
  • Target specific audiences to recruit participants for specific job description roles
  • Get personal commitment from recruited individuals

Methods of Recruitment

  • Direct mail
    • pamphlets
    • newsletters
  • Public service announcements
  • Posters
  • Grocery bag flyers
  • Corporate window displays
  • Speeches to community organizations

Potential Target Marketing Audiences

  • Family unit mentoring — one family (people who live together in the same household)
  • Culturally diverse groups
  • Retired individuals
  • Seasonal volunteers
  • Corporate members
  • Group volunteers who have similar interests such as service organizations, church affiliations, or youth groups

Personal Characteristics of Successful Mentors

  • Trustworthiness
  • Commitment
  • Shared decision-making
  • Empathy for others
  • Open communication style
  • Enjoyment of people

Personal Characteristics of Successful Mentees

  • Responsiveness to
    new ideas
  • Desire for personal growth
    and development
  • Time availability
  • Flexibility
  • Positive attitude
  • Receptivity to feedback and coaching

Components for Mentor/Mentee Job Descriptions

A job description outlines the duties, expectations, and responsibilities of the mentor, mentee, and the umbrella organization.

In a written format include:

  • job title
  • time requirement — beginning and ending dates and suggested number of contact hours
  • physical location
  • overall purpose for the program
  • specific responsibilities including goal setting, commitment, and personal contract development
  • needed personal qualifications including open communication, willingness to be with people, and desire to help people grow and develop
  • support provided to participants including educational training and materials
  • name of the program coordinator

Needed Skills for the Mentor Program Coordinator

The program coordinator serves as a matchmaker in recruiting and successfully placing mentors and mentees in working partnerships to achieve mutually agreed on goals and outcomes.

  • Desired skills for the coordinator:
    • organization
    • training and teaching
    • evaluation
    • managerial
    • facilitator
    • community liaison
    • openness to involvement of participants in program joint decision-making
    • open style of communication
    • flexibility
    • inclusion of humor in daily programming efforts

Components for Recognition

Participants need to receive acknowledgement for their volunteer efforts in ways that are directed toward their own needs. These could be in either a public or extrinsic setting or through private or intrinsic ways that are directly tied to personal motivational needs. No matter which methods are utilized, recognition needs to be seen as a continual process and not as isolated and fragmented pieces.

Examples of public recognition

  • Photographs depicting mentors/mentees working together
  • Feature news article involving the participants
  • Educational training centered around
    interests and needs of the individual
  • Banquet and hospitality events
  • Reserved parking spaces at the site
  • Letters of appreciation to participant's employer or family
  • Plaques, trophies, and pins
  • Provision of positive and safe surroundings for mentoring activities

Examples of private recognition

  • Pride in personal accomplishment
  • Self-satisfaction that goals were achieved
  • Increase in responsibility levels which match the personal skills of participants

Training and Orientation Components

For participants to effectively conduct a mentoring program plan, training is essential. Personal training plans should be designed to best fit the overall goals and needs for each involved individual and for the total program. Training materials need to be culturally sensitive to various audiences, include "hands-on" activities, allow appropriate time for reflection, and be designed with the intended audience in mind.

Consider the following when designing a plan:

  • Centering core curriculum around cultural and ethnic characteristics for a better understanding of cultural diversity among community members
  • Designing mentor/mentee learning contracts that include a definition of outcomes and purposes for each partner, activities and timelines needed to accomplish these, boundary relationship definition, and termination procedures for the relationship
  • Confidentiality guidelines
  • Journaling and recordkeeping procedures
  • Personal motivational characteristics
  • Methods of formal and nonformal communication
  • Personnel sensitivity in order to establish a comfort level for individuals with disabilities
  • Culture and policies of the umbrella organization
  • Preferred individual learning style and value understanding
  • Conflict resolution
  • Understanding of change and its effect on relationships
  • Principles for coaching individuals

Additional Resources

Beyond the Myths and Magic of Mentoring, Margo Murray and Marna Owen. Jossey-Bass Inc., 1991

Mentoring, A Practical Guide, Gordon F. Shea. Crisp Publications, Inc., 1992

The Return of the Mentor, Strategies for Workplace Learning, Brian J. Caldwell. The Falmer Press, 1993

Generation Celebration, Barbara Davis. Pennsylvania State University, College of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service VIC2A3M291

Sheryl Nefstead
Associate Professor
Center for 4-H Youth Development		Scott Nefstead
Research Assistant
Center for 4-H Youth Development
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