Mentoring

Mentoring is a professional relationship in which a more experienced person (the mentor) assists another (the protégé) in developing skills and knowledge that will enhance the less-experienced person’s professional and personal growth. Jo Mercado, our MDR Program Mentor provides direction to participants with rotation assignments career planning and development and post-program placement. Mentoring does not replace any existing relationships—it adds to them.

Benefits of Mentoring:

• Enhances strategic business initiatives
• Reduces turnover by encouraging retention
• Provides a method of exploring career paths within the organization
• Links employees with valuable knowledge and information with those employees in need of such information
• Supports the creating of a multiculural work force by creating relationships among diverse employees and allowing equal access to mentoring
• Creates a culture which continually promotes individual employee growth and development

Benefits for Program Participants (Protégés):

• Gains from the Mentor’s experience, networks with an influential employee
• Receives critical feedback in key areas, such as communications, interpersonal relationships, technical abilities, change management and leadership skills
• Develops a sharper focus on what steps are needed to grow professionally within the organization
• Learns specific skills and knowledge that are relevant to his/her personal career goals
• Gains knowledge about the organization’s culture and unspoken rules that can be critical for success

The model for mentoring follows the dynamics of “The Personal Development Cycle.” Through this “active learning” cycle, people change their behavior by: reflecting on the impact and effectiveness of the actions they take, identifying their lessons of experience, planning new actions, and repeating the personal development cycle again. The mentor plays a critical role in supporting another individual through this cycle, beginning with the planning phase, when the protégé establishes personal development goals.