Career Development and Management for Women: Mentoring

1. Career Development and Management for Women:Mentoring A cooperative RIAM-SNV Rwanda-RAUW project funded by Canadian Cooperation Dr Shirley Randell AM

2. Objectives of the Workshop • To further participants’ understanding of mentoring • To canvas the benefits of mentoring to both mentors and mentees • To share experiences of mentoring • To practice key mentoring skills • To gain commitment to participating in the ‘Rwandan Career Management and Development for Women’ Program SNV Rwanda

3. What is mentoring? (I) • The original Mentor was the wise and trusted friend of Odysseus the Greek god. Mentor was trusted with the care, education and development of Telemachus, Odysseus’ only son and heir. • Mentoring is a process in which a more experienced person helps a less experienced person develop his or her goals and skills. • It is about helping another person learn, rather than teaching them. SNV Rwanda

4. What is mentoring? (II) • Mentoring is a two-way professional relationship: both parties benefit • It is based on mutual trust and respect • It occurs at all levels of the professional ladder • It focuses on behaviournot on personality SNV Rwanda

5. What is mentoring? (III) • Mentoring is a form of career development • It contributes to professional development and mobility • It maximises skills of experienced people • It makes institutions more dynamic • It confronts different issues in stages of career and life • It eases transitions from one stage to another SNV Rwanda

6. Mentoring leads to … • Promotion is not necessarily the primary intent of a mentoring programme • BUT mentoring can also be directly linked to career success (Hudson Report, Breaking the Cultural Mould) because of its emphasis on making a person feel valued and confident, and offering them a unique measure of personal support. • Individuals with mentors receive more promotions, advance at a faster rate and report more career satisfaction SNV Rwanda

7. Your goals for mentoring • Why have you been asked and why are you interested in becoming a mentor? • What can you offer? (personally as well as professionally) • What do you hope to gain? SNV Rwanda

8. Benefits of mentoring (I)For you – the mentor? • Enhances your skills in leadership, counselling, listening and modelling • Learn new perspectives and approaches • Extends professional networks • Demonstrates expertise and share knowledge • Achieves professional recognition • Makes a positive contribution to others Source: The Growth Connection SNV Rwanda

9. Benefits of mentoring (II)For you – the mentor? • Provides opportunities to reflect upon and articulate your role • Enhances knowledge of other areas of service • Provides opportunities to test new ideas • Renews enthusiasm for your role as experienced professionals • Produces satisfaction from contributing to the mentee’s development SNV Rwanda

10. Benefits of mentoring (I)For the mentee? • Develops knowledge, skills, potential and confidence • Encourages self-directed learning • Promotes career mobility and more opportunities, and eases transitions • Complements ongoing formal study and/or training and development activities • Provides a supportive environment in which successes and failures can be evaluated: Source: The Growth Connection and various SNV Rwanda

11. Benefits of mentoring (II)For the mentee? • Develops new networks – develops visibility inside/outside an organisation • Challenges to use talents and share expertise • Provides assistance with ideas, goal setting and career development • “My mentor has helped my to leverage off my achievements and learn strategies to be successful”Yek-Ling Chong Citigroup SNV Rwanda

12. Key mentoring skills – what makes a good mentor? (I) • Listening actively: maintain eye contact and give your mentee your full attention • Building trust • Giving guidance in determining goals; help your mentee identify life direction(s) – never push • Encouraging: mentors are supportive. No matter how painful the mentees’ experience, mentors continue to encourage them to learn and improve their situation SNV Rwanda

13. Key mentoring skills – what makes a good mentor? (II) • Practicality; give insight about keeping on task and setting goals and priorities • Educate for success; by fostering success in others • Relationship management / constructive criticism; focus behaviour –never on character or personality. Mentors care about mentees’ personal and professional development • Learning quickly • Leadership: mentors give specific advice, from personal experience, and encourage while giving mentee responsibility for self-learning Courtesy of The Connecticut Mentoring Partnership and the Business and Legal Reports, Inc. —Best Practices in HR, Issue 653, September 30, 1999. SNV Rwanda

14. Responsibilities and expectations (I) • As a mentor, you are expected to … • Be available for regular face-to-face meetings • Allocate time and energy • Be a resource / provide feedback • Help the mentee develop a learning plan • Follow-through on commitments or renegotiate appropriately SNV Rwanda

15. Responsibilities and expectations (II) • You are not expected to … • Do the work of the mentee • Develop a friendship with the mentee • Be an expert in every conceivable management area SNV Rwanda

16. The mentoring agreement (I) • The mentoring agreement serves as the backbone of the mentoring relationship • To have one agreed from the outset is a very helpful foundation on which to build your relationship • Use this during your first discussion with your mentee/protégé to help guide your discussion SNV Rwanda

17. The mentoring agreement (II) The following points may be helpful: • How will you help your protégé achieve his/her goals? • How will your ensure he/she remains accountable for his/her development? • What is your ideal schedule for meeting (day, time, place, frequency…)? • How will you both measure progress? SNV Rwanda

18. The mentoring agreement (III) Questions to ask to generate discussion: • How can we define the limits and boundaries of our relationship? • How can we come to closure and terminate our relationship? • What should we do if we decide that we are not compatible SNV Rwanda

19. Stages in a mentoring relationship • 1. Building a relationship • 2. Setting goals • 3. Working towards goals / deepening the engagement • 4. Planning for the future SNV Rwanda

20. Different learning styles • People learn and develop very differently, with their own learning styles. • Reflectors learn by looking at a situation from different angles • Activists learn best from hands-on experiences • Pragmatists find practical uses for ideas and theories • Theorists prefer combining large amounts of information into models, concepts and theories SNV Rwanda

21. Mentoring and Women (I) • Results in the public sector show • Development of links and rejection of isolation • Specific responses to women’s needs and expectations • Work / life balance • Career strategies and means to overcome institutional barriers • A source of inspiration • Notable successes on the part of the mentor SNV Rwanda

22. Mentoring and Women (II) • Women have different needs to many men: • Women need more support in terms of institutional legitimacy, professional development, and more encouragement • Women place a greater stake on learning • Women’s personal development follows a different model to that of men and they have a different psychological profile in which qualities of empathy, inclusion, integration and consensus are emphasised. SNV Rwanda

23. Setting ‘smart’ goals • Specific • Measurable • Attainable • Realistic • Time-bound SNV Rwanda

24. Conflict can arise • Conflict can arise in any relationship and usually arises from misunderstanding or differing opinions • Understand the difference between conflict and personal attack: if conflict is the result of a professional challenge it can have positive results • When conflict becomes personal it ceases to be about the original issue of professional development SNV Rwanda

25. Handling Conflict (II) In order to successfully manage a conflict situation you need to: • Remain considerate: develop a supportive rather than aggressive or defensive environment and never speak down to your mentee • Focus your discussion: understand clearly what you want to happen SNV Rwanda

26. Handling Conflict (III) • Withhold judgements: listen openly to other opinions: difference does not mean attack • Speak precisely: stay solution focused and ensure your conversation remains on present issues • Remain balanced: check the meaning of messages you are giving and receiving • Seek to identify a common goal through compromise SNV Rwanda

27. Giving constructive feedback • Defined by a clear purpose • Specific and descriptive • Relevant • Actionable • Timely • Balanced SNV Rwanda

28. Mentoring is … • A relationship that involves sharing in one another’s development • A contribution to creating a robust professional community, a culture of change that generates and sustains reform, and promotes national development in Rwanda SNV Rwanda

29. Ongoing support for Mentors • Access to written and online resources • Access to mentoring coordinators • Opportunities to meet with other participants to learn and share • Opportunities to develop new skills • Opportunities for feedback and to review mentoring relationship • Opportunities to celebrate and for recognition SNV Rwanda

30. SNV Rwanda