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Performance Management System

Notes together at intervals supports this communication process as well as providing support for the
mentors themselves.

8.4.4 Informal Mentoring

Many people have experience of an informal mentor; someone who took them under their wing
at a crucial stage in their career. In a wide variety of organizations there are traces of this process,
being, as it is, a very normal and well-respected human activity. This mentor may have been
chosen in some sense by the mentee, or may have themselves chosen the mentee. One approach
to promoting mentoring in the organization is to encourage this process by, for instance:
1. Describing it as a valuable process;
2. Encouraging new recruits to select a mentor;
3. Including developmental activities such as mentoring and appraisal criteria for senior
managers.

8.5 International or Cross-cultural Implications

Cross-cultural research indicates that managers in different national cultures work from different
sets of assumptions and priorities. The individualist assumptions in cultures such as those of
the UK or the United States, for example, contrast with the collective assumptions in Japanese
or Latin American culture. Assumptions will affect the pattern of mentoring and coaching in
these countries, with varying emphasis not eh individual’s career and personal development
or the good of the organization or group. The assumptions about how status is attained (based
on one’s own achievements, or on the group a person was born into their personal connections)
vary between countries and cultures, and this will affect the choice of mentors, and how they
are valued by mentees. Expected behaviors by mentors in different countries or cultures with a
history of mentoring may also vary.
There are also implications for mentoring in multinational organizations, particularly where
there are managers of different nationalities working in the same company. In the light of known
cultural differences, attitudes and under standing of what mentoring is to be in the organization

need careful clarification, with shared meaning being developed.

Mentoring System: The NTPC Experience

“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”
Mentoring: Genesis and Concept

The concept of mentoring, although centuries old, has been used as a development tool
only since the 1970s. In ancient times, experienced individuals passed on wisdom to their
proteges by acting as teacher and guide. In Homer’s epic poem – The Odyssey, the original
Mentor was entrusted the task of teaching and guiding Telemachus, son of Odysseus, King

of Ithaka, when he went to fight the Trojan war.
In the Indian context, imparting shiksha to the Shishya (discipline) by the guru (teacher) is a
well-established practice rooted in centuries-old tradition. The transfer of knowledge, skills
and experience to the Shishya (discipline) is also very well-documented in the great epic
Mahabharat where the story of Arjun, the powerful warrior, mastering the art of archery
from his Guru Dronacharya gives enough testimony to learning through the guru-shishya
parampara.
Contd....

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