During this episode, we focus on the nuts and bolts on managing the mentoring process – preparing for your first meeting, managing expectations, building rapport and getting the most from your time together.

In this edition of the Upskill Podcast, Chris Watson from Endor Learn & Develop argues that on the face of it, it makes sense to target high performance employees as potential mentees. However it is also important to recognise that performance levels aren’t fixed – individuals can move into and out of the high performance category throughout the course of their careers. 

Probably the hardest aspect of the role to excel at is to practicing not knowing. Throughout school and our working lives we are praised and encouraged (even promoted) for knowing things, for getting things right, for being expedient and resolving things. Even builds our sense of esteem and who we are. Great mentors deliberately resist the temptation to parade their knowledge and instead deliberately practice this behaviour.

Lots of behaviours come into play – yes need to develop good listening skills, a sound grasp of the use of different forms of question - open, closed, probing, the ability to suspend judgement - to avoid driving the learner in just one direction, the ability to provide constructive feedback, to help the mentee to define objectives and plan ways of achieving them, the ability to access other learning opportunities on behalf of the mentee - using other people's skills and experiences.

Acknowledging the appetite for mentoring is one thing, but operationally finding the time to do it can be a challenge. In this episode, we hear how one manager who was dedicated to developing the capability of all his staff, conducted 1 x 45 min mentoring meeting with every one his 500 employees across 40 locations every single year, which sounds impossible, but in terms of hours spent, averaged out at less than 7.5 hours per week.

1. In this edition of the Upskill Podcast, Chris Watson from Endor Learn & Develop discusses best practise in the mentoring relationship, defining precisely what mentoring is about and how it differs from coaching, teaching and counselling.

In this edition of the Upskill Podcast, Chris Watson from Endor Learn & Develop provides insights and ideas in terms of how mentoring works and the value it provides as a development tool. Recent evidence suggests that companies which that invest in mentoring and personal development programmes have 35% more engaged employees and as a result 21% greater profitability which is why so many organisations are now investing in this area.

In this edition of the Upskill Podcast, Chris Watson from Endor Learn & Develop presents an introductory session on mentoring in the workplace: covering definitions of mentoring, the main benefits for the mentee, the organisation, and the mentor.

In this edition of the Upskill Podcast, Chris Watson from Endor Learn & Develop questions whether traditional models of career development are at all relevant in today's fast-paced, dynamic and unpredictable world of work. It is suggested that the idea of moving upwards by climbing defined rungs on a ladder is far less appropriate. These days we may need to think far more broadly, to identify opportunities that are on the left or on the right – or perhaps elsewhere.

In this edition of the Upskill Podcast, Chris Watson from Endor Learn & Develop suggests that in terms of your future career choices, why not seek out companies who are overtly committed to extending the performance of their people - it doesn’t need to be the largest PLC in the world - just a strengths-based organisation who are sincerely interested in developing your skills, your abilities and your professional growth.