The Role Of The Line Manager V That Of The Mentor

To avoid clashes between mentor and line manager, or worse, deliberate manipulation of them by the mentee, it is important that line manager and mentor are clear about where the boundaries of their responsibility towards the mentee lie. Table 4 attempts to distinguish between the responsibilities and indicate where the responsibility is shared. Some organisations may wish to move the responsibilities around to suit their specific circumstances - no problem, as long as line managers and mentors are clear where they stand.

Table 4: Development roles of line manager and mentor
Line manager	Shared	Mentor
Performance appraisal	Encouragement, motivation to learn	Help learner develop insights into causes of poor performance
Agreed developmental goals within learner's current job	Shape goals beyond current job	Help learner manage the integration of job, career and personal goals
Help learner build relationships within the team	Help learner build relationships outside the team	Help learner build relationships with line manager
Find opportunities to stretch learner's performance	Find opportunities to stretch learner's thinking	Challenge learner's thinking and assumptions
Give constructive feedback through observation	Help learner develop skills of intrinsic observation	Help learner accept and manage feedback constructively
Role model for task fulfillment and growth	Role model of general behaviour	Role model for personal achievement and growth