Chapter 17: Final Issues

In this relatively brief account of mentoring and how to implement a mentoring programme, we have inevitably raised a number of issues that warrant further discussion. Below we take up some of these in more detail.

All Good Mentoring Relationships Come To An End

Although one person may have several mentors, each mentoring relationship must reach the stage where it is neither needed nor wanted any longer. For this reason it is essential that every such relationship is seen from the start as a temporary alignment. Elements of it may persist, in the form of mutual aid and friendship, for many years after, but there must be clear starting- and finishing-points.

Probably the best signpost of the finishing-point is when the mentee has achieved the medium-term objectives established early on in the relationship. A spokesperson for Jewel Companies comments:

We feel that after a couple of years the role loses its importance and may become a more negative element than a positive one. That is, after a few years in the business it is more important that an individual be achieving on his own rather than with special help from a senior-management-level mentor.

However it is done, the two parties must be able to back out of the arrangement without recrimination when one or both feel it is no longer beneficial.