Frequently Asked Questions

What is mentoring?
What does a mentor do?
Where does the term 'mentor' come from?
What are the benefits of mentoring?
Who are the key players in this program?
What is expected of me as a mentor?
What do I as a mentor get from a mentoring connection?
What is the time commitment?
Are mentoring connections confidential?
What training will I get to be a mentor?

What is mentoring?
Mentoring is a well-researched concept in business terms. Many successful businesses are turning to structured mentoring processes to assist staff to develop to their full potential. Businesses are looking at their training as a way to provide information, and to mentoring as the way to optimise the training and to see it adopted into the workplace.

Mentoring offers support, advice and guidance from a recognised expert beyond the training room. Through regular contact, mentors share their knowledge and experience, provide guidance and become a source of focus and motivation.

Return to questions

What does a mentor do?
A mentor is a person who assists with the learning and development of another. A mentor's job is to listen, provide constructive feedback, help a mentee consider various options, and refer them to available resources. Mentors may choose to share their own experiences and, if asked, give advice. They may act as a sounding board for the mentee's problems, ideas or plans. They may ask questions to prompt the mentee to explore issues or challenge their thinking. The mentor provides guidance but not direction. A mentor does not solve the mentee's problems but may be a collaborator on the problem solving process.

A mentor:

Return to questions

Where does the term 'mentor' come from?
Mentoring is not a new concept. In fact, the most famous occurrence dates back to the times of Greek mythology in the novel 'Odyssey'. According to the tale, when Odysseus (Ulysses) left for the siege of Troy he appointed a guardian to take care of his family in his absence. While he was away this guardian, called Mentor, acted as a surrogate father to his son Telemachus. It is believed by some that this is where the term 'mentor' originated. Mentor acted as a guide, advisor, teacher and role model amongst other things to the young Telemachus, as well as demonstrating qualities of loyalty, trust, patience and respect.

Return to questions

What are the benefits of mentoring?
Benefits for the mentored staff:

• Certificate IV in Aged Care
• receive encouragement and support in the workplace
• develop new knowledge and skills
• discuss approaches to resolving problems
• discuss technical issues and approaches in areas of uncertainty

Benefits for the Workplace Mentor:

• Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training
enhance skills in coaching and interpersonal skills
• gain satisfaction from helping a colleague develop
• obtain a sense of enhanced professional recognition

Benefits for the aged care facility:

• staff with nationally recognised qualifications
• increased staff productivity and performance
• retention of talented and motivated staff
• retention of knowledge within facility through peer to peer transfer
• learning and behaviour change
• fostering shared values and teamwork
• developing leadership and leadership qualities within staff

Return to questions

Who are the key players in this program?

• VAHEC
  Have been commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing to deliver a pilot training project. The pilot will deliver training to non nursing staff who face many barriers when trying to access nationally recognised training. VAHEC are the project managers.
• Mentor Training (Aust.)
  Is to provide mentoring support, guidance, advice and tools to participating workplace mentors. Mentor Taraining will develop strategies to increase training sustainability within participating Aged Care centres and the measurement of progress associated with these mentoring activities.
• Pathways Health and Education
  Is responsible for the provision of training in Certificate IV in Aged Care, and Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training to participating Aged Care centre non-nursing staff. Pathways is to deliver, monitor and support the students, providing them with sufficient information to achieve competence at the end of the training process.

Return to questions

What is expected of me as a mentor?
The best person to ask this question is the person receiving your mentoring support. Research suggests typical responses include the following:

Return to questions

What do I as a mentor get from a mentoring connection?
There are several direct benefits from participating in this project as a mentor, and there are also some less tangible but still nonetheless important benefits. They include:

• a nationally recognised qualification – Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training
• a professional development opportunity to enhance your skills in coaching, training and interpersonal skills
• a sense of satisfaction from helping a colleague develop
• a sense of enhanced professional recognition
• personal satisfaction

Return to questions

What is the time commitment?
The amount of time varies depending on the needs, expectations, and desires of the mentee and the mentor. We highly recommend that both parties discuss their expectations at the beginning, and one of the most important factors is time. Discuss how often and for how long you will meet? The greatest time commitment will generally be at the beginning of the connection, as the focus is on getting to know each other and on building the relationship.

Return to questions

Are mentoring connections confidential?
In order to foster open and honest communication, the mentee must be able to trust the mentor not to disclose their discussions with others, except with the External Mentor.

Return to questions

What training will I get to be a mentor?
Along with the Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training, you will receive two additional nationally recognised training modules – in leadership and mentoring. We hope that you will find the information in these additional modules helpful to be an effective mentor. Also, there are thousands of other mentoring sites on the Internet.

Besides that, MTA will convene a mentoring network meeting. This will give all nominated workplace mentors a chance to meet and discuss the mentoring program. During this meeting, additional education and training will be provided, and will be based on your identified needs.

Return to questions