8600-340 Understanding Good Practice in Mentoring within the Workplace

Unit Overview

8600-340 Understanding Good Practice in Mentoring within the Workplace is a unit within the ILM Level 3 module that focuses on improving the ability of the leaders to effectively influence the performance of the learners through setting up effective mentoring strategies and techniques. Mentoring is one of the critical approaches that can be used to impact the organisation's performance. This approach is different to training and learning as it utilises effective strategies of leadership through being a role model and culturing skills among the learners, which is critical in achieving the desired levels of skills and knowledge in different areas of learning.

The practice is significant as the leader can culture the team members of subjects to develop the desired skills, which are effective in contributing to other roles within the team or organisation in general. The unit helps to understand and build the skills and capabilities of mentoring within the organisational setting. With the information provided within the unit, the leaders are able to effectively set up mentoring techniques and implement them to achieve the desired levels of performance within the learners. The unit is critical as it helps to differentiate between mentoring and other techniques that are available to influence the performance of the team members and employees. This unit is taught in 9 hours of guided learning and contributes 3 credit values towards the completion of the ILM Level 3 module.

Suitability of the Unit

Leaders must have the capability of influencing the performance of the learners using different methods and techniques. Mentoring is one of the most critical approaches that can be used by the leader to achieve the desired levels of skills among the learners. It helps to identify and culture effective traits and abilities within the learner that is viewed to be important in achieving the desired goals and objectives. Mentoring is a collaborative relationship between the leaders and employees or team members that improves the growth and learning of the employees hence it is critical for the leaders to establish effective principles and approaches to mentoring the employees.

The unit is applicable to the leaders within the organisations to develop the ability to effectively lead and manage employees within the teams with effective relationships to facilitate the right level of interaction to promote mentoring relationships. The unit is designed to meet the learning needs of the first lien managers and junior managers who are responsible for influencing the abilities and performance of the team members hence impacting the organisation.

The leaders are responsible for interacting with individuals directly and could therefore have more impact on mentoring the employees making this unit relevant to them. However, the unit is also applicable to other levels of leadership within the organisation, as top and middle leaders can use the skills and knowledge provided within the unit to ensure that they are able to impact the abilities and traits of the employees. Employees in different levels of seniority and with experience can pursue the unit to ensure they are able to mentor junior and less skilled employees hence creating efficiency within the organisation.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the unit, the learners should be able to:

• Describe the purpose of effective mentoring within the organisational context

• Understand the roles and responsibilities of an effective mentor

• Identify the various skills and behaviours that are expected of the required effective mentor within the organisation

• Understand strategies and approaches that can be used to overcome the barriers to mentoring within the organisation

• Identify methods that can be used to start and sustain a productive working relationship with an individual that leads to mentoring

• Identify the rationale for and process of contracting in mentoring

• Describe the representation of safe and ethical practice within the mentoring process

• Understand the approaches to managing a mentoring process using recognised mentoring models

• Describe mentoring tools and techniques that can be used to identify preferences and set goals that facilitate the mentoring process

• Describe the methods of monitoring and reviewing the progress of mentoring in accordance with the goals and objectives that have been set

• Understand the purpose of keeping mentoring records of the mentor and mentee

• Show understanding of the significance of reflective practice and supervisor within a mentoring context

Key Learning Areas

8600-340 Understanding Good Practice in Mentoring within the Workplace focuses on improving the understanding of mentoring approaches and processes. In accomplishing the lending outcomes within this unit, the key learning areas include:

Understanding Mentoring

This area of learning combines both the understanding of the mentor and the principles of mentoring. Within this area of learning, the learners are guided to understand the meaning of the concept of mentoring and its benefits to both the mentor and mentee as well as the organisations. They are guided to identify the skills and roles of the mentor in the process. This involves being able to train, coach and supervise. The learner is guided to identify the role that the mentor plays across the mentor relations as well as the limitations that are set in relation to the relationship in mentoring. Principles such as effective contracting. Legislation policies, ethical issues and the ability to build a rapport between the mentor and mentee are discussed in this area.

Mentoring Process

This area of learning introduces the learners to the actual mentoring process. The learners are taken through the mentoring models such as TGROW, Tell/Show/Do, ACHIEVE, Clutterbuck, Owen, among others and the specific situations and scenarios where the models are effective as well as the limitations of each. The learners are also guided in developing an effective mentoring process. The learners should understand the tools and resources of mentoring and diagnostics of the need for mentoring as well as the learning styles and theories that are applicable within the process, and this is taught in this area.

Record Keeping

This area of learning helps to understand the role that effective record-keeping plays in improving the process of mentoring. It helps to ensure that the process of mentoring is effectively recorded to help understand the significant areas covered and the progress hence evaluating the efficiency of the progress in achieving the desired goals and objectives.

Evaluation

On completing the unit, the learners are required to provide a written assessment that evaluates their mastery of the content. The assessment also examines the ability of the learners to apply the learned principles within the organisational setting. Other approaches to evaluation include supervised practice and simulated exercises.