Do you know who the first mentor was? He was a Mentor with a capital M, one of the heroes of Homer's epic The Odyssey. Prior to his departure for the Trojan War, Odysseus asked Mentor to educate and protect his son Telemachus.
Mentor's name then became synonymous with a wise and trusted counsellor who helps less experienced people learn and overcome obstacles.
In HR, mentors are perceived as experts in a particular area who share their knowledge and experience with others. They set an example of how to achieve greater professionalism or career growth.
Most mentors are experienced managers or specialists. However, anyone willing to share their experience and help less experienced people can be a mentor. There is even a strong trend of reverse mentoring where younger and less experienced employees mentor their older, more experienced and more senior colleagues.
Mentoring can be quite informal and occur in daily cooperation, but it can also be a formal training programme within companies. If you want such a programme to succeed, it should be based on the following five pillars.
