Facilitated mentoring: An institutional approach to an ancient art

Abstract

In this revised edition, Margo Murray updates her original book on mentoring. This edition begins with a section that introduces mentoring and its history and evolution, which is followed by a discussion of how organizational needs can be met by a structured mentoring process, including filling the gap that exists between the education and job responsibilities of new employees and ensuring the presence of leaders to replace retiring baby boomers. The advantages of a structured mentoring process (increased productivity and cost effectiveness, improved recruitment efforts, retained intellectual capital, and maintained motivation) and the disadvantages (lack of commitment, difficulty in coordinating mentoring with other activities, and the cost of administration) are addressed from an organizational perspective.The first part of the book concludes with two chapters addressing the benefits and drawbacks of involvement in a mentoring relationship, from the perspectives of the mentor and the protégé. For the protégé, the benefits include accelerated development, a shorter learning curve for technical skills, and increased job satisfaction. For the mentor, the benefits include enhanced self-esteem, expanded awareness of organizational environment, and the sense of leaving a legacy. The drawbacks for the protégé can include being caught in an influence struggle between the immediate superior and the mentor; unrealistic expectations of promotion and rewards, sometimes leading to frustration; and being overwhelmed by work responsibilities coupled with those of the mentoring relationship. For mentors, drawbacks can include dissatisfaction caused by a lack of mentoring skills and a perceived lack of reward, benefit, or payoff.The main part of the book focuses on the author's flavor of structured mentoring: the facilitated mentoring process. The process begins by assessing the goals, needs, and readiness of the organization for a structured mentoring program; the identification of mentors and protégés; and the development of the program's goals and structure. Then mentors and protégés are matched and oriented to the goals and structure of the program. The facilitated mentoring process calls for the creation of protégé development plans and negotiation of mentoring agreements between mentors and protégés, delineating their expectations and responsibilities. A program coordination team ensures the presence of an environment that facilitates implementation of the protégé development plans and the transfer of experience from mentors to protégés. Mentoring agreements and evaluation of the entire process conclude the facilitated mentoring process. Murray follows the description of facilitated mentoring with detailed examples of seven real-life programs drawn from organizations that include college students and health care workers.In the final chapters, the individual steps of the facilitated mentoring process are elaborated and the challenges to such programs are described. The