The mentoring act: NIIT's Pradyumna Chaudhui (left) was voted the company's number one mentor by a team of 50 people

First of all, get over the sweaty palms. That's supposed to be for the fresh recruit, the poor soul who really hasn't a clue. But if you still feel something gnawing away at your gut, it could easily be a rising sense of panic at the thought of being designated somebody's 'mentor'...

If it's any consolation, the hr department sees enough experience, wisdom and whatever else in you to be able to give a junior colleague career guidance. Plus, it might even pay to give it a shot.

It's Only Human...

Mentorship systems are good for employee productivity, morale, satisfaction and business overall. So say hr experts, and there's no arguing with that. It's a responsibility too serious to shirk, according to Soumitra Gupta, Vice President, Citigroup, a talent-nurturing bank.

Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) is another talent-nurturer that has had a mentorship system in place all along, though it was restructured in 2001-02 by GrowTalent, a consultancy. This has focused the programme on results, according to Sanjiv Kakkar, VP (Hair/Oral Care), HLL, and mentor to his team members. "It's not easy being a mentor," he admits, "as it's a learnt skill."

The Tata Group is not far behind either. "It's about the Tata set of values that we inculcate in new recruits," elaborates Varun Jha, CIO, Tata Steel. The 'Jamshedpur life'.

But there's also evidence that many busy executives are uncomfortable with the role. "Sometimes," says Nicholas George, Senior VP, Knowledge Solutions Business (KSB), a unit of NIIT, "there is untold pressure on the mentor when he not only has to be a listener and facilitator, but has to deal with domestic, drug and spousal problems." Some are up to it, some are not. Pradyumna Chaudhuri, a specialist in Instructional Design at KSB, is clearly amongst the former. He was voted the company's 'number one' mentor by 50 people. His secret? "It is about empathy-people inevitably carry their personal life to work and we have to understand that."

Chaudhuri's advice: if people need to feel less like powerless cogs in some big impersonal machine, it's you the mentor who can do something about it. So be human. Communicate. Even display vulnerability (talking about your own failures), if it helps smash the image of boss-like invincibility that often stupefies perfectly intelligible people. And yes, be committed to the process. "Maintain eye contact," he says, adding, "A mentee just wants to be heard. All you have to do is highlight best practices and philosophies."

...But It's Results That Count

That mentoring must be results-oriented is something companies like HLL never tire of emphasizing. "It's not all altruistic," says HLL's Kakkar, "it's about growth and performance, but it's also about the human being behind the brand manager." For him, listening and creating trust is 95 per cent of the mentoring battle won. Good mentoring, he adds, is also about recognising appropriate moments to deliver serious bits of advice. "How you tell them is just as important as what you tell them to make them accept it," says Kakkar.

After all, everyone needs a friendly but frank opinion on their own career progress. "We are more like coaches or local guardians," says Jha, "and have to deal with job insecurity rather than personal problems." Performance anxiety and demotivation, apart from peer and supervisor pressure, are the oft-cited problems that call for mentor intervention. But that doesn't mean the mentor must stay on high alert for such things when there is other business yelling for attention. "There are no straitjackets in the process," says Jha, "the mentee has to take initiative, or the mentor could seem pushy."

The mentor, though, must still be in control of the process, and must keep the mentee engaged. "The mentoring has to be proactive, voluntary and not bounded, otherwise the form becomes more important than the content," cautions Citigroup's Gupta. The formality-informality balance could depend on what maximises the comfort of the relationship. "If the mentee is hesitant, then I do not push because all I want to be is a neutral sounding board," adds Gupta.

Neutrality is all the more important when the mentee has a grouse against the company, or a boss. "There is a need to be firm and not collude with the mentee against the supervisor," advises Gupta, underlining the perils of divided loyalties. What's more, the trust must never break down. "Never abuse confidentiality of the mentee by using it for gossip value," he adds, "it could be very painful."

What's In It For You

All in all, playing mentor need not be a distraction if you are clear-headed about the objectives. In fact, good mentoring can hasten the process of work delegation. And if that's not tempting enough, it is always good to engage and empathise with younger employees who often have fresh insights and perspectives-unemcumbered by the 'groupthink' of the company. Jha, for himself, has gained vastly from his "sensitisation to today's generation". Chaudhuri of KSB agrees. "The biggest beneficiaries of the mentoring programme," he says, "are mentors themselves."

SPOTLIGHT
Stephen Constantine

The killer instinct: Coach Constantine watches for it

Fancy being a sports instructor? It's getting more and more specialised. Ask the Indian Olympic football team's coach, Stephen Constantine, 41, who is one of just 60 FIFA-certified instructors worldwide.

He played the game all his life, but sees no reason non-players can't be coach. "A coach needs to know what to teach, when to teach, how to teach and why to teach," he says. Understanding footballer psychology and developing an eye for talent are the big skills that score, though he is an expert in fitness and weight training too. The money is good. "Though it varies, on average a coach in the subcontinent would make a minimum of $3,000 a month," he reveals. Eventually, though, your success depends on raising your team's win ratio.

-Aditya Wali

COUNSELLING
Help, Tarun!

I am a 30-year-old engineer working as assistant commissioner in the Central government's Ministry of Labour. Prior to this, I worked with a reputed it company as a software engineer. In my present job, however, of late I have started feeling stuck-it is uninteresting and does not offer significant growth opportunities or good compensation. I am now contemplating a change; I could either do an MBA from a top B-school or pursue a course from the Actuarial Society of India. If I choose the former though, I have to quit my present job. Which of the two options are better suited for me?

You are an engineer and a civil servant. Now you want to do a course in actuarial science or an MBA. It looks to me that you have lost focus. First you need to decide where your interest and aptitude lie and whether you want security or growth in your profession. As far as additional qualifications are concerned, an MBA is a good bet. However, if you cannot take two years off, you would do well to leverage your strengths rather than venture into unknown territory with an actuarial course. You could get back to it and do some it-related courses. Since you can do this after office hours, it wouldn't come in the way of your present job.

I am a 25-year-old computer engineer pursuing an MBA (second year) from a top-rung B-school. Recently, a reputed IT company offered me a job that offers excellent compensation and an interesting profile. But the problem is that the company wants me to join it as soon as possible. If I do that, I'll have to leave my management course mid-way. Yet, letting go of this opportunity would be unwise because I might not get such an offer later given the dismal employment scenario. What should I do-complete my MBA or take up the job?

Nothing is more important than education, as far as careers go. You are already in the second year, if you do not complete it, you would waste the year that you have already spent at the B-school. I would recommend that you complete your MBA and explain to the company about your wanting to do so. See if they are open to considering you for a similar job a few months later. If not, don't worry-there will be other such opportunities coming your way once you finish your MBA.

I am a 28-year-old HR manager with a medium-sized private firm. The company has not been performing well for the past couple of years and even has an unfavourable image in the market. I feel that the absence of employee training and performance appraisal measures in the company are the reasons for this. While I have suggested improvement measures time and again to the senior management, it has always responded with a clear refusal to spend money on hr when revenues aren't coming in. I am also unable to recruit fresh talent because of the company's bad image. How do I convince my boss that hr is strategic to the success of a company?

If your boss sees results, he is likely to be convinced. What you could do is circulate articles and case studies on how hr initiatives used by companies similar to yours have contributed to their success. But first you need to decide whether the reasons you have cited for the company's underperformance are real and not a figment of your imagination. If what you think is correct, you could introduce a simple performance appraisal system that is neither time-consuming or cumbersome. And finally, you need to counsel your employees and motivate them to do better.

I am a 20-year-old science graduate from a reputed college in Delhi. After graduating, I took the common admission test hoping to secure a place in a reputed B-school. However, having failed to do so, I am now wondering whether to sit home and make another attempt or work for two years and then go in for an MBA. Which is a better option? If I do an MBA from a second-rung school, will I have good job prospects after I graduate?

You would be taking a chance if you sit at home for a year because you might not necessarily get admission to a top B-school next year. I would recommend you take up a job and prepare for cat simultaneously. Also, by limiting your choice to the top B-schools, you could be again headed for disappointment next year. B-rung business schools also offer good employment prospects to their graduates and if you are good, there would be no stopping you. With age on your side, opportunities will not be limited once you graduate.

Answers to your career concerns are contributed by Tarun Sheth (Senior Consultant) and Shilpa Sheth (Managing Partner, US practice) of HR firm, Shilputsi Consultants. Write to Help,Tarun! c/o Business Today, Videocon Tower, Fifth Floor, E-1, Jhandewalan Extn., New Delhi-110055.

Multidisciplinary Edge
Ready for a convergent tech education?

The 'NBIC' factor: Convergence is the future

Cracking the IIT-JEE is just a start. Figuring out the hot technologies a decade ahead is the tough part, given the pace of change. 'Convergence', you hear, is the future. But what does it mean? Definitions and ideas will keep changing, but if there's one approach you can bank on, it's a multi-disciplinary education. Agrees Dr. G.V. Rama Raju, Research Director, Media Labs Asia: "The future is in more multi-disciplinary fields, to understand technology and application."

Indian education tends to be highly specialised. But if you can master 'NBIC', you could command the attention of tomorrow's global employers. NBIC? Nanotechnology, biotechnology, it and cognitive sciences. The four are set to converge, as new application frontiers-for example, in advanced healthcare-are sought.

But are relevant courses available? Partly, yes. The IITs and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, offer some at higher levels. And as B.N. Jain, Microsoft Chair Professor, Department of Computer Science, IIT-Delhi, suggests, "The transition is smoother from an undergraduate to a multi-disciplinary approach at the post-graduate level." Very well. Still, running broad-based undergrad programmes may not be a bad idea.

-Aditya Wali

What They Know
How much do companies know about employees?

Corporate intelligence: Not the oxymoron you thought

Back when tech tools had not invaded privacy and 'paranoia' was just a big word, companies were assumed to know-officially, on record-only as much as they needed to know of an employee. Company intelligence has got progressively formalised, not to mention tech-enabled, since. So what does today's typical big company know?

A standard employee database contains just the biodata details: primary personal data, education, skill sets, health and past employment information. But there's plenty more that gets mined and stored. The parents' so-called 'background' (profession being a key parameter), assumes importance for some companies, as the hr head of a finance company reveals. "It's important for us to know the background of parents to understand the employee's personality," she says, candid about its value. Financial companies often run discreet checks on an employee's tryst with the law (or run-ins with regulators, embezzlement charges and so on). Information on overseas trips could also find its way into databases. MNCs typically demand credit history and criminal record checks. "Most of the pressure on checks comes from overseas clients," whispers an executive at a global it solutions provider for financial services, "especially after 9/11."

-Aditya Wali