If you took a look at the state of
workforce development in the past few years, there has been a change. Gone are
the days of plentiful resources for staff and customers and plentiful job
placements. It seems that those days are now a fairy tale that begins with “Once
upon a time.” Now our story has fewer castles, less princesses and knights in
shining armor, but rather more caves, moats, and fire breathing dragons. For
the job seekers and ourselves it has become a “dog eat dog kind of world” with Olympic
like competition daily. With this, I have noticed a disturbing decline that
threatens our industry and ultimately any competitive rapidly changing industry… the
decline of mentoring.
Maybe this is a cultural shift we have
had due to competition in the industry, funding, and or just the bad economy,
but we have gone from an industry where we grew our own to a cut throat “every
man for himself” mentality. In the past,
I had been fortunate enough to have had mentors. The relationships may not have
been formally defined that way, but as I look back, I had people that took time
to make me a better workforce development professional. I received knowledge
that I would not have received any other way. I had a place to put forth ideas
and receive feedback. In some industries and corporations, the idea of
mentoring is a given. It is a solid and concrete part of daily business, but in
workforce development we toss the word around every now and then, but it is not
something that is taken seriously.
At the end of the day, the reason doesn’t
matter. It is time to unplug the machine, take a step back, and start to do the
right thing for the collective good. The lack of mentoring hurts the industry as
a whole because when an individual is developed, the organization, and the
larger system develops and benefits. Positivity, growth, and development are
contagious. The mentored individual will be more successful in meeting his goals;
he will grow as a professional, and will ultimately be able to mentor another
individual someday.
The mentoring relationship can be
beneficial to both the mentor and the mentee. For the mentor, it allows the
person to take their knowledge to another level. It is a way of leaving his
mark on the future of the industry. For the mentee, it grows the individual and
brings the person to the next level. The mentee can gain valuable insight he
may not have had because of his limited experience.
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As
an industry we need to make mentoring a priority. This means that
organizations, systems, and governments need to take a hard look at themselves and
admit they are not encouraging it or doing it. This is a cultural change.
Although the front line workforce can start to make pockets of change, true
change must come from organizations, systems, and governments.
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The
mentoring relationship needs to be encouraged. Mentors can be for all things.
There may be a person that is looking to get promoted while another is just
starting out and is looking to learn his job. Organizations need to see that
conversation and time spent one-on-one can be productive. Job shadowing should
be encouraged for people at all levels. For a person to “spend the day in the
life of” his mentor, this can be eye opening. Organizations should have days when
mentors and mentees work together.
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A
mentoring relationship should not be forced. Mentors should not be assigned
unless both parties agree to that. True mentoring happens when the relationship
is natural. When one of the parties approaches another to form the
relationship. It can be female to
female, male to male, female to male, or male to female. It doesn’t matter who
is the mentor and who is the mentee.
This week I leave you with a challenge:
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I challenge you
to find a mentor or become a mentor.
I would love to hear stories of how
mentoring has impacted your professional and/or personal life. I would love to
hear from mentors and mentees. Feel free to post below. Until next time~ Karen
Cirincione ~kcirincione@gmail.com
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