By Anthony Scarpino, Senior Director Talent Acquisition
I’ve just returned from a trip to Orlando where I ended one very close year-long relationship with a fellow Sodexo employee and began another within a two day span. Truth be told, my new relationship started on Wednesday and my old one ended the day after. It will be a challenge to juggle the needs of this new relationship considering my ongoing one with a colleague from Sodexo Canada!
Are some of you thinking that you accidentally landed on this month’s Dear Abby column (Gen Y’s – feel free to replace “Dear Abby” with “Dr. Drew”) rather than the Sodexo Careers Blog? Of course, I am referring to several very meaningful mentoring relationships that I have the privilege of being part of in my role at Sodexo. This week, during national mentoring month, mentoring pairs from across the country met in Orlando to “close the books” on our 2011 program and meet our 2012 partners for the first time.
I’m enjoying being a mentor in the IMPACT program now but also remember being the mentee early in my career with Sodexo. I was nervous about sharing my goals with my mentor, a Vice President in the Hospitals client segment. I realize now that being the mentor is equally scary! I’ve learned, however, to accept that I will not and should not have all the answers for my mentees and that my role is more to empower them to find solutions and help themselves. I can’t say that’s less pressure but I am doing my best to bring value to our relationship in the following ways:
- Listen – The most important responsibility of a mentor may be to actively listen and truly understand the needs of our mentees.
- Share – A mentor does not teach or lecture. We share our experiences and perspective for our mentee to consider.
- Empower – Thankfully, a mentor is not expected to have all the answers or fix every problem. In fact, the opposite is true. We encourage and empower our mentees to problem solve by asking questions. Try asking “why” 5 times to identify the root of an issue.
- Be Accessible – When people talk about their mentors, they say things like “(s)he was always there for me when I needed him/her”. Whether it is scheduling a routine call, answering questions (and asking!) by email or live meetings, we make every effort to “be there” for our mentees.
- Connect – One of the most valuable gifts you can give your mentee is an introduction to others in your personal and professional network. Growing their professional network will help them solve future problems and advance swiftly in their career.
Mentoring can take many forms and mentoring relationships can be programmatic or they may simply evolve over time. Experience does not preclude you from being a mentee and in fact having a mentor may be even more valuable as you reach the higher levels of your organization. I am lucky to have mentors in my life and career that have been there for me and I’m excited to fill that role for others.
Have you been a mentor or mentee? Leave a comment and tell us about it.
Have you heard?: Sodexo was recently recognized as a recipient of the 2012 Catalyst Award. Sodexo’s initiative, “Making Every Day Count: Driving Business Success Through the Employee Experience”, is a systemic strategy to provide the tools, resources, and support necessary to ensure success of all employees and includes a host of professional development programs and robust mentoring.
0 comments:
Post a Comment