“All men by nature desire knowledge.” – Aristotle
“Tell me and I forget; show me and I remember; involve me and I
understand.”
- Anonymous
Welcome to the HRPA Barrie Mentoring
Program
 Rewards of Mentoring include
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Leadership self-awareness and practice
Fresh perspective and rejuvenation
Personal satisfaction
Increased networking opportunities
Credits towards recertification
 Rewards of a Mentee include
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Personalized and customized career support
Enhanced perspective
Confidence building
Skill enhancement
Establishing larger network
Charity regarding career directions, personal strengths and areas for
improvement
History of Mentoring
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcumus and, in his
old age, a friend of Odysseus. When Odysseus left for the Trojan
War he placed Mentor in charge of his son, Telemachus, and of his
palace. When Athena visited Telemachus she took the disguise of
Mentor to hide herself from the suitors of Telemachus' mother
Penelope.
10 years after Odysseus left for the Trojan war, the goddess
disguised as Mentor, encourages Telemachus to stand up against
the suitors and go abroad to find out what happened to his father.
Eventually father and son were reunited to fight against those
scheming to take over Odysseus' throne and Telemachus'
birthright.
When Odysseus returns to Ithaca, Athena (in the form of Mentor)
takes the form of a swallow and the suitors' arrows have no effect
on him.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentorm
HRPA Grand Valley Chapter
Mentoring Today
Today a Mentor is described as an experienced
person who goes out of his/her way to help a Mentee
set important career goals and develop the skills to
reach those goals.
 An informal Mentor provides coaching, listening,
advice, sounding board reactions, or other help in an
unstructured, casual manner
 A formal Mentor agreed to an ongoing planned
partnership that is focused on helping the Mentee reach
specific goals over a designated period.
Purpose
The purpose of the mentoring program is to facilitate
the mutual personal and professional growth and
development of HR professionals and students while
promoting our profession, supporting our community
and adding value to the organization that we serve.
Mentor & Mentee Roles
Mentee Need
Build professional expertise
Mentor Role
Teacher
Mentee Role
Student
Example: Mentee would like to gain more knowledge on a specific topic.
Mentor to help mentee gain more insight by assigning a topic for
research, sharing his/her own unique experience and knowledge so the
mentee may benefit from the mentor’s background etc.
Apply a new skill, knowledge or
attitude in their workplace
Coach
Coachee
Example: Mentor supports Mentee and acts as a “sounding board” when
applying a new skill/knowledge/attitude in their workplace by giving
constructive feedback and encouragement.
Solve current issues in their
workplace
Advisor
Advisee
Example: Mentees are confronted with situations at their workplace they
cannot solve on their own. Mentor will offer suggestions and provoke the
Mentee to think independently to come to their own decisions.
The Mentor also acts as “Challenger” by providing objective and honest
feedback for all of the above.
Mentoring Committee
The Mentoring Committee manages the Chapter’s
Mentorship Program. The Committee is responsible for
program design, implementation and evaluation of this
program. In addition, they are responsible for
supporting Mentors and Mentees with training,
coaching and ongoing communication
Mentoring Process
Timing
Activity
Outcome
First Contact
Mentor will contact Mentee
Date for first meeting
First in person meeting
Mentee and Mentor will meet and
begin to discuss expectations of
the mentoring relationship
Mentor will leave a
Learning/Expectations
agreement with Mentee. Mentee
will need to fill out agreement
within the week following the first
meeting and send back to
mentor
Ongoing
Mentee is responsible for contacting
mentor for follow-up
communication and sharing
Phone, e-mail or in-person meeting
will take place
Evaluation
Mentor and Mentee will fill in an
evaluation and share it with
Mentoring Committee
Feedback will take place and a
written report will exist
After the program
Informal relationship
Unmonitored relationship
Mentee Responsibilities
 Take initiative and ownership of the mentoring program:
Fill in the Learning/Expectations agreement, contact mentor for
meeting times, follow-through on advice and ideas given to you
by the mentor, keep notes and be proactive.
 Practice Confidentiality: do not share information on or about
your mentor without their consent; keep your relationship
professional and do not discuss personal information unless
agreed otherwise with your mentor. See Professional Conduct
slides.
 Be dependable: Fulfill the minimum of 2-4 hours monthly
contact with your mentor; please give your mentor 24 hours
notice for cancelled meetings and reschedule a new time.
Mentor Responsibilities
 Listening: Act as a sounding board for the mentee. Ask good
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questions and practice active listening skills (80/20 rule).
Establish trust: Practice confidentiality regarding sharing
Mentee information and discussing topics comfortable to both
parties.
Provide positive reinforcement: Assist the mentee in setting
developmental goals. Offer advice and information and coaching
for facilitate Mentee choices (see slide on different
Mentee/Mentor roles); give constructive feedback (not as a
parent).
Be dependable: Be sure to keep your commitments and inform
Mentee of changes.
Assertive communication: Help Mentee understand their part
in the relationship. Make them accountable and take ownership
for commitments.
Professionalism: Please read the Professional Conduct slides.
HRPA Professional Conduct
Conduct toward others:
A member acts with integrity and honesty toward other members
of the profession, employees, employer and the public.
Confidentiality:
A member respects confidentiality of business and personal
information and does not disclose such information without
permission or legal order and is careful not to inadvertently allow
others to obtain confidential information held in trust.
Conflict of Interest:
A member avoids, or discloses any conflict of interest which might
influence personal actions or judgments, and refrains from using a
position of trust and confidentiality to receive special benefits or
gain for self, employees, employers, colleagues or the Association.
HRPA Professional Conduct Continued
Rules of professional Conduct:
Members shall comply with such standards as prescribed by the By-laws
and the Code of Ethics.
A member of the association shall exert every effort to raise the
professional standards of the profession, to promote a climate that
encourages the free exercise of professional judgment to foster cooperative relationships among colleagues, and to assist in promoting
practice of the Human Resources profession.
Disclaimer: HRPA Barrie’s role is to facilitate the matching of mentors
with mentees and cannot assume further responsibility for conduct
between the pairs once the matching has been completed. HRPA Barrie
assumes both parties will conduct themselves in an ethical and
responsible manner. Any behaviour deemed to be inappropriate should
be reported to the Mentoring Committee as soon as possible.
FAQ
1) What are the time commitments or meeting
formats that satisfy the requirements of this
program?
A: This is solely at the discretion of the mentee and
mentor. Previous participants have used either
one or all of the following formats: e-mail,
telephone, and face-to face meetings. The
Mentoring Committee suggests at least six (6)
meetings within the program year in order to
build a solid rapport with a minimum of 2 hours
contact time each month.
FAQ continued
2) How does the “matching” work?
A: Special “Mentee and Mentor Coordinators” have
been set up within the committee to review
applications and select Mentor/Mentee pairs that
fit well together.
Fit is based on personality, experience,
professional strengths, career development needs,
schedules, location, etc.
Mentors and Mentees are then introduced, and
meet face-to-face to decide if they would like to
proceed with a 9 months formal mentoring
relationship.
FAQ continued
3) How will the Program support me as a
Mentee/Mentor?
A: The Mentor and Mentee Coordinators will be the
contact and resource for the matched pair as their
relationship develops.
The Mentor and Mentee Coordinators will contact
the mentor and mentee after one month, three
months and six months to explore how the
relationship is progressing and to help remove
any roadblocks to success.
FAQ continued
4) My protégé/mentor and I had a wonderful
experience and we would like to continue on
with our mentoring relationship. What do we
need to do?
A: If you participate in the HRPA Mentorship
Program in consecutive years, you will be
matched with a different partner since it is an
annual program. However you can certainly
continue your current year’s mentoring
relationship on an informal basis.