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Mentors lend a hand on the factory floor

Financial Mail on Sunday May  2002
By Rachel Bridge

Mentoring was once a way of helping junior managers climbs the promotion ladder in a large company. But now the system has filtered through to the factory floor.

Mentoring - where a senior employee advises a more junior one face-to-face – can succeed in different working environments says Andrew West, a chartered occupational psychologist

'Working in a company can be lonely,' he says. 'Today, there is greater responsibility on people, making them feel isolated.

‘It is often difficult for them to speak to others because everybody is too busy. So having a re1ationship with someone more senior helps allay some of the fears and reassures them that they are going in the right direction. Mentoring is really just a formalisation of what successful people have always done by having a small network of friends and colleagues they can talk things through with.'

Oxfordshire snack food maker The Fabulous Bakin' Boys setup a factory floor mentoring system for its 100 workers two years ago after deciding it needed a more formal way of helping new employees settle in. General manager Tom Russell says: 'The driving force behind it was to make everyone feel welcome when they join. The first few days in a job is often a nightmare. New employees are told lots of things and they don’t necessarily want to ask someone who can show them the ropes, but who is a colleague rather than a supervisor.’

The system is aimed largely at helping new recruits, but the relationship continues as long as necessary. Mentors make themselves available whenever their charge needs advice, and if this involves meeting them outside working hours, the company pays mentors for their time. Russell adds:” We have a really good working atmosphere here and I’m sure that the mentoring has helped create that’

Media and promotions consultancy 360 Communications in central London introduced a ‘buddy’ system for its ten staff  three years ago as a way of  improving communications. Buddies meet informally once a month to discuss work and personal issues.

Director Katie Rowen says: ‘It works well for us as a small company. Everything is increasingly done by email so there are fewer opportunities to speak to colleagues face to face. Staff retention is a big problem in the industry and we wanted to create an environment where people not only felt valued but also felt secure.

'It is a way of clearing up problems without making mountains out of molehills. Frederique Barral has had a mentor since she joined London public relations company Davies Associates two years ago. She meets her mentor, Lisa Shaddick, a group account director, for an informal chat about work once a week. Frederique, 24, says 'Having a mentor has helped me understand how the company works and make it a more friendly work environment.

‘Talking to Lisa has also given me a wider perspective on my  job and helped me plan my career. She is approachable and I feel comfortable talking to her'  West adds: 'I think we will see more companies introduce mentoring schemes as people begin to appreciate the benefits to both employer and employee.'