Page 48 - the SyI Quarterly V3 digital (1)

Education and Learning

Mentoring Relationships:

Support from the Security

Community During Challenging

Times

The current pandemic means more people are now working remotely and adapting business to the virtual environment. This is
throwing up all manner of new challenges that we need to work through and doing this with a mentor can now be invaluable. In a
time of crisis mentoring just requires a little bit more creativity and adaptation.

In ordinary circumstances, many mentors focus on the career development side of mentoring. Although this remains important,
other functions such as demonstrating emotional and social support are especially valuable in these uncertain times. This may
involve a mentor listening to understand mentee’s struggles and concerns, acknowledging and validating the challenges they are
facing and the distress they are feeling.

As a role model a mentor can share their own experiences during the shutdown of normal work, discussing how the break in
physical routines, the restricted access to others, and the bombardment of information can feel overwhelming and isolating.
Simply giving mentees permission to take a break from the news and their work routines to engage in self-care can be very
beneficial. A bit of humour can also help to break the tension.

The career development functions of mentoring can still continue regardless of social distancing. Mentors can still create a safe
space for career conversations. Mentees may be worried that they’ll be laid off, that their work will no longer be noticed by their
managers, or that progress toward advancement and promotion will be derailed.

Facing an uncertain future, mentees are more likely to use their connection with a mentor to lower anxiety and to work with the
mentor to develop a vision of how they can not only weather the storm but continue to thrive in their careers.

Online meetings may be a new alternative in which to model and teach new skills and behaviours — and the learning may flow in
both directions. Mentors might discover that their mentees have much to teach them about virtual work and new technologies.

Whether you typically meet in-person on a regular basis or haven’t spoken in a while, now is a good time to reach out to your
mentor/mentee. There is good evidence that mentoring via video conferencing yields the equivalent outcomes to in-person
mentoring. Alternatively, methods such as email, chats, and text messaging allow flexibility in keeping the lines of communication
open but are more limited and can be prone to misunderstandings.

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