Five key benefits of being a great mentor

Piotr Pawlowski, Head of Supply Chain & Logistics, Middle East & Asia Pacific, Siemens

HR Magazine spoke to Piotr Pawlowski, Head of Supply Chain & Logistics, Middle East & Asia Pacific, Siemens, to get his take on why organisations that actively promote mentoring tend to perform so well. Why leaders who have mentors and mentees are more successful than others, and what makes a great company stand out from the rest?

What is mentoring?
Pawlowski, who has been both mentor and mentee, explained, “Mentoring is a relationship that enhances the personal and professional development of the mentee thanks to the support of the mentor. This help can involve teaching, advising, and supervising. The mentor uses their knowledge and experience to help the mentee find the right path and pursue it. Mentoring also offers many growth benefits for mentors outside of simply feeling good about helping others.”

A classic mentor-mentee relationship goes through various stages depending on the nature of the relationship and its form. This usually comprises matching (self or facilitated), preparation, contracting, enabling growth, and closure. There are also a few different types of mentoring to be considered, such as one-on-one, peer, group or reverse mentoring, depending on the needs. For me, one of the most important elements to enable successful mentoring are a confidentiality agreement, mutual trust, open feedback, being yourself, and respect. Moreover, the mentee is the one who is in charge to keep the focus on their goals and implement what is agreed upon.

Pawlowski noted, “My most recent experience as a mentor comes from a programme hosted by AIESEC Poland between November 2020 and June 2021, where I had the pleasure of mentoring a younger colleague, also a former AIESEC-er. We had our sessions only online; in fact, we’ve never met in real life, and the person I worked with was from another company. Despite this, the entire mentoring process was very effective and open. I did not know the work environment of my mentee, and hence I was less biased and could make assessments more pragmatically.”

“For me, being a mentor is certainly one of the most gratifying professional roles that one can have. It is not only about the sense of pride and satisfaction that comes from having a positive influence on the mentee’s life, but it also helps the mentor grow as a leader, improve communication skills, and gain new perspectives.”

Why is mentoring beneficial for leaders?
Mentoring and coaching are highly effective at helping talent grow and keeping employees engaged and developing personally. According to a study by the Corporate Leadership Council, employees who are most committed at work perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave the organisation. In addition, Sun Microsystems compared the career progress of 1,000 of its employees over five years and found that those who received mentoring were promoted five times more frequently than people who did not have such a relationship. Their study also indicated that mentors and mentees were 20% more likely to get a pay raise than others.

Mentoring is not just about the numbers though, and Pawlowski highlighted some of the other less tangible benefits that mentoring also brings, “For me, being a mentor is certainly one of the most gratifying professional roles that one can have. It is not only about the sense of pride and satisfaction that comes from having a positive influence on the mentee’s life, but it also helps the mentor grow as a leader, improve communication skills, and gain new perspectives.” Pawlowski then highlighted the five key benefits that he had been able to realise through mentoring.

Key benefits of mentoring

1. Leadership: in a world where employees demand more autonomy and accountability, mentoring can help to practice a more affiliative leadership style which, on many occasions, turns to be most effective for mature and experienced teams and employees. Additionally, leaders who are mentors are perceived by their employees as trustworthy, authentic, and caring. Their pallet of leadership skills broadens as they work with people from various environments and cultures. Pawlowski uses these skills regularly when leading teams and notes that employees really appreciate it as it gives them greater accountability for their decisions.
2. Communications skills: nowadays these skills are more important than ever—managing meetings, improving presentation skills and communicating more effectively. Mentoring helps enhance the way people exchange information. This skill is amplified in group mentoring, where one mentor oversees multiple mentees. Additionally, it is not only about speaking but also listening—another essential competency in mentoring. Active listening results in more effective communication between the leader and the team members. Pawlowski has experienced this himself and noted that in a healthy mentoring relationship, a mentor speaks less, trying only to draft some directions which the mentee can explore or not. He often had a strong desire to tell his mentee precisely what to do but refrained from doing so, biting his tongue on such occasions as the responsibility for target achievement in mentoring lies firmly with the mentee.
3. New perspective and reverse mentoring, including self-reflection: this is a perfect platform to be more inclusive, understanding, and patient in relation to others. HR will often mentor someone from another generation, with a different degree of seniority, perhaps gender or background, who has a different attitude and experience. This provides an excellent opportunity to learn from them too. The mentee might have a much better understanding of the current business, social and technological trends, which can result in reverse mentoring.
4. Learning about yourself: Pawlowski believes that dedicating time to provide feedback to each other during or after a mentoring programme is a valuable experience. Building an atmosphere of trust and support allows HR and mentors to increase their self-awareness and learn about their own strengths and weaknesses. Nobody is perfect, and asking for feedback as a mentor is strongly recommended. Similarly, managers sometimes struggle with delivering feedback honestly and effectively—mentoring gives the opportunity to practice this important skill. Pawlowski recounted his last feedback session with a mentee which was surprisingly candid and a perfect opportunity to learn something new about himself.
5. Networking: you can expand your network and community by meeting new people—especially other mentors and mentees. Since many mentees are very ambitious people, who knows, they might one day be your future business partners, customers or even colleagues. Meeting other mentors and making valuable connections can also foster the career development of a mentor.

For those in HR hesitating as to whether to dedicate time to being a mentor, Pawlowski pulled no punches in his advice and fully recommended it. He summarised, “Mentoring fosters your personal and career development, and there is nothing more validating of a mentor or leader than a mentee taking actions and succeeding on their journey. Mentors also experience an increase in self-confidence, as their mentee’s success reaffirms their abilities, resulting in stronger confidence.” He reminded HR to find a mentor for themselves too and echoed the advice of Stan Toler, who wrote, “Every leader should be a mentor. But more importantly, every leader should have a mentor.”