Expectations and Obligations of the Mentor and Mentee towards Career Growth and Development

Abstract

Career progression is a serious business in any organisation. This is
chiefly achieved via mentoring programmes which benefit the mentor,
mentee and the organisation. Mentoring bridges the gap that might exist
between the professional on the field who is being referred to as a mentor
and the newly employed worker known as mentee, who is aspiring to
become an expert. However, both the mentor and mentee have varied
expectations and obligations towards successful mentoring. While the
expectations and obligations of a mentor are: inclination to share
knowledge, expertise and skills; act as a positive and progressive role
model by exhibiting an optimistic and progressive assertiveness and
approaches; attach personal attention and curiosity to mentoring
relationship, demonstrations of professional zeal on the field; values
current knowledge and development in the field; offer of supervision and
productive feedback to the mentee; command respect from contemporaries
and other workforces within the organization, the mentee are obliged
and expected to make arrangements and preparations for discussions,
possession of attitudinal flexibility, understand the mentor’s schedule,
making necessary enquiries from the mentor, self-understanding, allow
the mentor to lead, request for feedback, expression of appreciation to
the mentor and allow the mentoring interaction to be purely professional.
The study concluded that if the highlighted obligations and expectations
of the both mentor and mentee are met, mentoring programme will be
fruitful and eventually lead to career growth and development