This is a guest post written by Sr. HR Professional, Kathie Elliott. 

Have you thought about participating in mentorship to learn new skills and expand your career network? In mentorship, both mentors and mentees benefit by developing rich and unique networks, and by being able to see tasks, skills and issues from different points of view. 

There are many mentoring structures to choose from, depending on the goals of the mentors and mentees. Below are a few examples.

1. Traditional – a senior employee teaches a junior employee the skills necessary to succeed in their company. 
2. Reverse – a less senior or different classification employee mentors “up.”  This is an emerging trend in mentoring, particularly for teaching other employees new technologies, how to use social media, and emerging trends in their field.
3. Mutual – parties with differences in experience and/or position level are both free to ask questions and learn new skills from each other.
4. Peer-to-Peer – employees of comparable experience and position assist one another, each bringing their individual strengths and knowledge to the relationship.
5. Board of Directors – acknowledges that people have different strengths and experiences and learning from multiple individuals may be more helpful than relying on a single source. The mentee selects several “board members” based on the mentors’ strengths.
6. Informal – an organically developed mentoring relationship.  Any of the above structures may be informal or formal.

Is there an aspect of your career where you would benefit from working with a mentor; or from sharing your knowledge as a mentor? Consider which mentoring structure would best meet your goals and watch for our November article about considerations for selecting a mentor or mentee. 

Find Mentorship Resources on elevateU

Visit elevateU to find free resources on mentorship, including videos, books, courses and more. Access elevateU here or log into EBS and look for the “elevateU” tile under the “My Career & Training” tab. The easiest way to find resources on mentorship is to type “mentor” in the search bar at the top of the page. Learn more about elevateU on the HR website.