Why is Mentoring Under-utilized?



Mentoring
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Michael D. Moore
Entrepreneur, United States

Why is Mentoring Under-utilized?

Mentoring can be one of the most effective training and empowering tools available. I am concerned as to why the mentoring process is so underutilized.
Most mentoring in companies takes place on an informal basis. More experienced people take others under their wing.
Companies would do well to formalize mentoring and make it a strategic strength.
 

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2
Radhakrishnan
Financial Consultant, India
 

Managing versus Mentoring

There is a big difference between managing (more crudely bossing) and mentoring. Most senior members are not ready to give that extra effort in taking interest in a subordinate's career.
One more thing is many companies make the mistake of having the manager and mentor as the same person which does not workout fine.
There must also be some accountability for the same.

 
4
kierdorff, Netherlands
 

Mentoring is not a Computer Application

Mentoring has been a part of one's personal development since ages. In the last decades this has cha... Sign up

 
6
Corbette Doyle
Professor, United States
 

Why is Mentoring Underutilized?

Many companies have launched formal mentoring programs, some of which are aided by software solution... Sign up

 
2
Richard Townsend, United States
 

Mentoring Sucks in Practice

In todays business environment, at least in the United States, where workload per person has increas... Sign up

 
5
Schoesetters
Student (Other), Belgium
 

Mentoring takes Courage (and Cuirage)

Once upon a time... Mentoring was the way to learn specific skills. You could turn to someone experi... Sign up

 
5
Dr Vasundhara Padmanabhan
Manager, India
 

Don't Need Help

My faculty has reported several times that the new recruits do not want to be mentored... They feel ... Sign up

 
6
John C. Howard
Strategy Consultant, United States
 

Mentors Need to Make Themselves Available

It is a two-sided system: - Mentors need to make themselves available so that proteges know who the... Sign up

 
2
SATISH PANDE
Business Consultant, India
 

RE: Don't Need Help..

The new recruits are 'new'. They hesitate to enter the well established club of seniors. There are p... Sign up

 
4
Phillip Nel
Director, South Africa
 

Why Under-utilisation of Mentoring

The level of formalisation for the mentoring program is a function of the maturity of the leadership... Sign up

 
6
steven zuback
Coach, United States
 

Reasons for Mentoring Underutilization

My experience has shown me that most mentoring programs are underutilized because:- - There is no c... Sign up

 
2
KATHRYN STEINER, MBA
Entrepreneur, United States
 

Mentoring Should be Formalized and Made into a Strategic Strength

I agree with Michael's comments regarding the fact that most mentoring today is informal, and that c... Sign up

 
5
Robert J. Yeldell
Coach, United States
 

Mentoring Needs 2 Volunteers

Effective mentoring can only take place when the mentee seeks to be mentored and the mentor wants to... Sign up

 
1
Stringer
Student (University), Australia
 

Why is Mentoring Underutilised

John Kotter proposed (HBR 1990?) that business over manages and under leads. He we went on to explai... Sign up

 
1
David knight
Student (University), Australia
 

Mentoring is a Two Way Street

Most companies or organisations fail to see the true benefits that mentoring offers. When new employ... Sign up

 
1
Leodegardo M. Pruna
Professor, Philippines
 

Why Mentoring is Underutilized

Mentoring is generally underutilized because of the time and effort which go with it. Leaders would ... Sign up

 
6
joko triyono
Director, Indonesia
 

Mentoring Not Part of KPIs

Many great successes had somebody directly / indirectly mentoring. Unfortunetely, mentoring is not ... Sign up

 
8
Tinus van der Merwe, Saudi Arabia
 

Managing <> Mentoring

The manager as mentor does not work, since: - the mentoring relationship is more trusting and intim... Sign up

 
1
esther agali
Student (MBA), Uganda
 

Mentoring - Who Accredits?

Thank you colleagues... These are great insights! Sometimes it is an issue of who gives an individua... Sign up

 
4
Sridharan Krishnaswami
Teacher, United States
 

Mutual Willingness

Mentoring must be based on mutual readiness and willingness to give and receive. I am not sure if me... Sign up

 
7
Kimberly justice, United States
 

Why is Mentoring Under-utilized?

1) Mentoring is seen as helping a younger person gain skills instead of focusing how someone can bet... Sign up

 
3
D P BABU
Strategy Consultant, India
 

Mentoring Must Develop from Social and Emotional Bondage

Visualizing the organization as a social system, in an enriched inter personal relations scenario, m... Sign up

 
4
Jayaram
Project Manager, India
 

Mentor ≠ Manager

I agree with Mr. Radhakrishnanan. A mentor and the boss must require different profiles. The effecti... Sign up

 
5
Bill Young
Consultant, Switzerland
 

Why is Mentoring Under-utilized

Mentoring SYSTEMS are under-utilised because they exist. A mentee must be allowed to choose a mento... Sign up

 
1
Jackie Yeoh
Manager, Malaysia
 

Not Seeing the Need for Mentoring

Mentoring is under-utilised because head of departments don't see the needs to mentor. Should a hea... Sign up

 
5
andy loebl
Project Manager, United States
 

Looking 'Polished'

I have been both the recipient and the offeror of mentoring. I agree that relationship is important.... Sign up

 
2
KATHRYN STEINER, MBA
Entrepreneur, United States
 

Mentoring Makes Mentee Appear Vulnerable

I agree with Andy that seeking a mentor can make an employee appear vulnerable, when seeking a mento... Sign up

 
3
Reginald Mathe Mazibuko
Director, South Africa
 

Mentoring Works Only at High, Executive Levels

I think a point has been made that where the organisation has identified an individual as a high pro... Sign up

 
6
Lindiwe Shongwe
HR Consultant, South Africa
 

Why is Mentoring Under-utilized

In my organisation mentors are appointed its not voluntary in most cases and this has resulted in me... Sign up

 
0
Samuell Yew
Project Manager, Malaysia
 

Lacking Trust and Respect

Mentoring requires mutual trust and respect between mentor and mentee. In organizations where mutual... Sign up

 
3
Madan Gopal Agarwal
Business Consultant, India
 

Mentoring is a Major, Medium-Term Investment

To me, mentoring is a developmental process in which a more experienced person helps a less experien... Sign up

 
3
Naved Adeel
Strategy Consultant, India
 

Focusing on What Went Wrong

The reason that mentoring process is underutilized is because most people (mentor and mentee both) w... Sign up

 
3
NYAMEKA MAKITSHI
Manager, South Africa
 

Resistance to Mentoring

Mentoring is a key to many doors for some professions but there has been some form of resistance whe... Sign up

 
3
Sabine Pitcher
Manager, United Kingdom
 

Mentoring is Largely Misunderstood

Mentoring needs to be part of a development structure - with mentors and mentees carefully selected ... Sign up

 
2
Udit Chaudhuri
Business Consultant, India
 

No Clear Course Set

A mentor helps the mentee to find questions as against a coach answering them. The mentor can help y... Sign up

 
2
James Faulkner
Project Manager, United States
 

Telling Instead of Asking

Mentors often seek to educate or pass on a skill. The best mentors (imho) are the ones who get mento... Sign up

 
1
Aquatix Pharma, Nigeria
 

Mentoring Must be Voluntary

The mentors must not be forced on the mentees. The mentees should be free to choose his/her mentor i... Sign up

 
-3
Robert Scott
Management Consultant
 

Mentoring Needs Structured Environment

Whether it is called mentoring, training or development, we are talking about the transfer of knowle... Sign up

 
4
Andrei Madly
Manager, Romania
 

Mentoring is Mentality Shaping

I understand mentoring as mentality shaping, and that goes deeper than just transfer of knowledge an... Sign up

 
7
Tinus van der Merwe, Saudi Arabia
 

Support for Mentoring is Missing

My experience shows that it is absolutely vital that mentoring should be voluntary, for it to be suc... Sign up

 
3
Samuel Chinyoka
Professor, Botswana
 

No Benefits for Mentor

Mentoring fails in most organizations because there are no direct benefits down the line accruing to... Sign up

 
4
Kathleen R. Parrish
United States
 

Technical Mentoring Can Backfire

After several years of avid pursuit of knowledge transfer via technical mentoring, members of sr. ma... Sign up

 
0
Jolanta Sz
Professor, Poland
 

Mentoring Requires Experience

It's obvious that not everybody can be a good mentor. Among other things, a mentor should have exper... Sign up

 
8
Mrs. Josephine Idele
Partner, Nigeria
 

Why is Mentoring Under Utilised

Since mentoring is about sharing knowledge, expertise and experience, many people can share their ex... Sign up

 
3
Rex Buckingham
Consultant, Australia
 

Mentoring - to Be or not to Be

Mentoring is such an under utilised and misunderstood concept. Not everyone is either made out to ... Sign up

 
2
KATHRYN STEINER, MBA
Entrepreneur, United States
 

Mentoring Requires Trust and Timing

I agree Rex with all the elements of mentoring you mentioned. I have witnessed first hand a person b... Sign up

 
2
Andrew Blaine
Business Consultant, South Africa
 

Mentoring Sucks in Practice - Shame on You

@Richard Townsend: If your contention is that mentoring sucks in practice, then it does not reflect ... Sign up

 
0
NYAMEKA MAKITSHI
Manager, South Africa
 

Mentoring is Sometimes Misunderstood

The concept of mentoring is misunderstood in the workplace. Due to this, it becomes unpleasant. I ... Sign up

 
0
Tinus van der Merwe, Saudi Arabia
 

Mentoring your Own People

I don't get it that managers try to mentor their own direct reports, most of the time it just does n... Sign up

 
0
Andrew Blaine
Business Consultant, South Africa
 

Mentoring your Own People

@Tinus van der Merwe: Sorry, I do not understand your comment. Please expand for me.... Sign up

 
0
Tinus van der Merwe, Saudi Arabia
 

Managers Mentoring Their Direct Reports

@Andrew Blaine: Mentoring involves deep personal issues being shared with the mentor. This requires ... Sign up

 
0
Andrew Blaine
Business Consultant, South Africa
 

Mentoring ≠ Coaching

@Tinus van der Merwe: Thank you for your clarification. It appears that we differ in defining mentor... Sign up

 
1
Jaap de Jonge
Editor, Netherlands
 

The Difference Between Mentoring and Coaching

Please refer here for a full discussion on mentoring versus coaching. The conclusion there seems to... Sign up

 
2
Doug Lawrence
Entrepreneur, Canada
 

Why is Mentoring Under-utilized... Lack of Training

@Lindiwe Shongwe: I can appreciate your concerns and valid comments. Forcing people to participate i... Sign up

 
1
Andrew Blaine
Business Consultant, South Africa
 

Under Utilisation of Mentoring

@Jaap de Jonge: In your commentary you detail the reason that mentoring is underutilized viz. it is... Sign up

 
2
Andrew Blaine
Business Consultant, South Africa
 

Mentoring - an Essential Ability in Any Good Manager

@Radhakrishnan: I do not feel that managing and mentoring are separate functions. In my opinion, me... Sign up

   

More on Mentoring:
Summary
Discussion Topics
👀Why is Mentoring Under-utilized?
Finding a Good Mentor
🔥Should Mentoring be Mandatory?
More Managers with Mentoring Skills Needed
Effective Mentor Competencies
How to Become an Expert (Quickly)
Mentor Traits and Requirements
Mentoring is Giving a Person a Passion of Following his own Way
Can One Combine Networking for a Job with Mentoring?
Formalized versus Instinctive Mentoring
Do Organizations Know what it Takes to MENTOR New Personnel?
Phases in Mentoring Relationships
Mentoring of Students
What is Mentoring? Mentoring is ...
The Effect of Values of Society Upon Mentoring
Mentoring in Various Cultures
Using Mentoring for Breaking the Glass Ceiling?
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