Human Relations and Development

Posted: October 17th, 2013

Human Relations and Development

Name:

Course:

Institution:

Lecturer:

Date:

Human Relations and Development

            The main purpose of a mentor at the workplace is to ensure the professional growth and development of the protégé (Eby et al., 2008). A mentor should be a confidant, in addition to being an advisor in different matters. With this in mind, I would prefer to choose my mentor. This will give me the freedom I need to evaluate the qualities of the mentor. I need someone who I can trust with different personal and professional issues. Choosing my mentor will enable me to look for someone who I can trust with my weaknesses. I will choose someone who will ensure that I learn how to strengthen the weak areas in my professional life. Choosing my mentor will be more beneficial to me since it will enable me to look for someone with the preferred qualities of a mentor. I will have the time to observe different people and decide the person who will be most suited for the position. The mentor and the protégé have to have a close relationship. They have to understand each other, and figure the best way for them to work together. For a person to qualify as a mentor, he or she has to posses certain qualities.

A mentor should be encouraging yet at the same time he or she should be strong and flexible enough to correct me when I go wrong. He should not only criticize me, but he should correct me where I go wrong, and show me the alternative way of doing things. A mentor should not be selfish with his talent and experience. He should be willing to share knowledge, information and skills, and this will help me to grow in my profession. A mentor should be enthusiastic about his work. He should be someone who is willing to mentor me despite the circumstances or situation. A mentor should be someone who is knowledgeable in his field of work. He or she should be someone I admire, and one who I want to emulate. He or she should be a person of integrity. He should be honest and conduct his work in a professional manner (Clutterbuck & Lane, 2004).

References:

Clutterbuck, D., & Lane, G. (2004). The situational mentor: an international review of competences and capabilities in mentoring. United Kingdom: Gower Publishing, Ltd

Eby, T. L., Allen, D. T., Evans, C. S., Ng, T., & Dubois, D. (2008). Does mentoring matter? A multidisciplinary meta-analysis comparing mentored and non-mentored individuals. Journal of Vocational Behavior 72, (2) 254–267