[Mentoring] What is the mindset and role? Growing together with the mentee

Hello!
I'm Inoue, the Persian cat at Beyond Shikoku office.

The new fiscal year has begun, and I now have junior colleagues who are new graduates. (It's presumptuous of me to call them my seniors...)
But have you ever heard of "business mentoring"?
Many companies may already be implementing business mentoring.
I was recently appointed as a mentor, and that's how I first learned about business mentoring.
As a mentor, you'll be responsible for mentees from other departments, so building relationships and trust that transcend departmental boundaries is crucial.

A mentor's role is to act as a partner and support for junior employees who have less knowledge and experience as working professionals.
Conversely,a mentee is a junior employee who receives support and has less work experience.
Mentoring is a relationship where the mentor meets with the mentee one-on-one, listens to their concerns, and supports them in overcoming their negative shell
, or by watching over and supporting their problem-solving and growth.

Mentor attitude and role

Here are some things I strive for as a mentor:

• Be interested in the mentee's work (job content)
• Take an interest in your mentee's hobbies and interests
• I will always be on my mentee's side
• Be interested in the development of your mentee and be willing to devote time to mentoring
• Respect your mentee and be respected by them
• Encourage and support your mentee, and put in the effort

I believe the role of a mentor is as follows:

• Clarify the mentee's goals and monitor and support the process
• Support to enrich your work and private life
• When worries or problems arise, we accept them and offer advice
• We build a relationship of trust that makes people want to talk to their mentor when they have worries or problems
• Understand and manage the motivation and stress of your mentee
• Reflect, review the current situation, and next steps, and share

My wall as a mentor

First of all, having never received "business mentoring" myself, I
had absolutely no idea what to do as a mentor, and I didn't know where to start.
Also, I didn't know how to approach a mentor who was in a different department, in a different location, and of a different gender...
I'm neither good at talking nor listening...
So, I started by searching the words "mentor," "mentee," and "mentoring" on Google.
I got advice from other mentors on how often they held meetings and how they conducted conversations.
After thinking about what my mentoring style should be
"above all, I want to be on the mentee's side,"so I decided to stick to that core principle.

What we did to prepare for the interview

For the first meeting, I asked various questions to get to know the mentee,
such as their date of birth, hobbies, and hypothetical situations.
Since we are in different locations, each meeting is conducted online, so I deliberately avoided speaking directly to the mentee.
I placed the monitor to my right, took minutes, and made eye contact occasionally.
This was to avoid making the mentee, who is in a different location and with whom I haven't communicated much, feel nervous.
I thought that by making them feel relaxed, they would be more likely to speak in a relaxed and natural way. I
"closed questions" that could be answered with "yes" or "no,"
mixed
I made sure not to ask questions that led to an answer or pointed out their weaknesses.
In addition, I started checking the mentee's daily work reports, something I hadn't done before being assigned as a mentor.
When I caught a glimpse of the mentee's strengths or when they had a successful experience, I made sure to celebrate with them and praise them.
Praising them became something that came naturally to me, rather than something I consciously tried to do.
I think this might be because I've started to see my mentees more strongly as individuals.

The benefits of mentoring

I believe that employee growth is company growth.
More than anything, as a mentor, I've come to look forward to the time I spend talking with my mentees.
This is because, as I talk with my mentees, I genuinely want to know more about them and help them. I
whom I haven't had much opportunity to communicate
become interested in the work of mentees assigned to other departments with
Furthermore, my mentees have given me the responsibility and awareness of being a "senior" employee, something I had always struggled to do as a junior employee.
These meetings are something we do while both of us are busy with work.
Therefore, I've started to think about and devise ways to make each hour of the meeting meaningful for both of us.
For example, for the next meeting,
I now create an agenda in advance, such as reviewing the previous meeting, confirming the current situation, and discussing the next steps.
As a result, I naturally started taking notes of what we talked about, like meeting minutes.
In the review of the previous meeting, I check whether the problems and issues that were a concern last time have been resolved, and what process was used to resolve them.
In confirming the current situation, I listen to what they are currently worried about and what challenges they are facing.
While listening, I also gauge the mentee's stress level.
In the next step, we review the mentee's short-term goals.
While we also ask them to share their long-term goals, we conduct meetings at least once a month,
encouraging them to set and implement goals that can be achieved within that month.
The goal is to build up small successes
, fostering confidence and increasing self-esteem and self-efficacy.
We believe that high self-esteem and self-efficacy are crucial for maintaining motivation as a working adult.
High self-esteem and self-efficacy have the following effects:

• Better stress control and emotional control
• You can think about things from a positive and optimistic perspective
• I can accept the differences of my coworkers
• I can listen to what others say and express my thoughts clearly
• You can make use of your successful experiences and feel a sense of personal growth

Finally

I feel that I am growing with each interview I have with my mentees. I
am also grateful to the company for giving me the opportunity to grow through "business mentoring.
" I am still immature and it would be presumptuous of me to call myself a "senior," but
I will do my best to create opportunities for us to grow together as "Beyond colleagues."

Growing every day, moving forward every day.
I must update myself every single day!!!
Thank you for reading to the end.