Sandhya was a bright 26-year-old who had recently married Ramesh. She was a solutions architect in an IT organisation based in Mumbai. Ramesh was an entrepreneur based in Kolad. While the couple was suited in many ways, Sandhya lived in Mumbai and commuted to Kolad on week-ends to be with her family. Sandhya’s predicament is the same as those faced by many working women today. She was loathe to give up her career and move to Kolad, where opportunities commensurate with her skills did not exist. She felt the need for a mentor, someone who would help her believe in herself and boost her confidence.

Sandhya reached out to Vimla, a project leader in a well-known IT firm, whom she had met during a seminar. Vimla, who was in her forties, had been in the workforce for over twenty five years and managed her career despite her family being away for over four years. Sandhya felt that Vimla would understand her predicament and be able to advise her on the road ahead.

She can

A good mentor can play an important role at any stage in a woman’s career, especially during the first few years on a job. Women face challenges in the workplace at various levels — the first challenge is to find a job and get hired, the second is to pursue a career and stay in the workforce through various life stages and, finally, succeed in going up the career ladder.

Women tend to gravitate toward mentors who are women. A mentor can help the mentee find the right direction and help them develop solutions to career issues. They rely on similar experiences to gain an understanding of their mentees’ issues. No doubt being of the same gender, many women mentors have experienced the travails that a mentee would be going through and, hence, are more sensitive to their needs.

Mentoring provides the mentee with an opportunity to think about career options and progress.

In today’s corporate world, with a multitude of career options and a competitive work environment, individuals often need support and guidance. Mentorship is a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. However, true mentoring is more than just answering occasional questions or providing ad hoc help. It is about an ongoing relationship of learning, dialogue and development.

Women do need to rethink the role they expect mentors to play. They are comfortable seeking guidance from mentors, asking them for performance feedback and asking for help navigating workplace situations. But when a woman asks a mentor to open doors for her, make introductions and connect her to career opportunities she is actually looking for a sponsor. Take the case of Parul for example.

Sponsor or mentor

Parul was an equity analyst in a small organisation and was keen on developing her career graph and taking on more responsibilities to become a portfolio manager. Besides qualifying herself for the role, it also required a lot of self-learning. Parul felt that she should find a mentor with whom she could discuss her career aspirations and connected with Anu, a senior equity analyst, who, while providing guidancet, also gave her new ideas which she could explore. While Anu helped Parul set her targets, what Parul then needed was someone from within the organiszation who would actively advocate for her and help her make the transition. She then reached out to Yasmin; head of the investment team, who, she felt, could help her in getting ahead. She needed more than the counsel of a supporter; she needed someone to advocate for her promotion.

It is important to distinguish between sponsors and mentors. Sponsors are advocates in positions of authority who use their influence intentionally to help others advance, while mentors provide advice, feedback, and coaching. Both are important to advancement as employees navigate the workplace and earn opportunities for growth. Often women take the comfortable route and work on developing a relationship with a mentor that is not action-oriented. Sponsors are more action-oriented people who use their personal influence and position to help the mentee. In order to succeed in the workforce, women must find sponsors who will help them take action and in some cases make tough choices in order to succeed.

With approximately 25 per cent of our working population being women, it is important to understand their thoughts and aspirations and their ability to balance their equally important commitments of being a partner, a mother and a care giver, while managing a career in a largely male-dominated world. While it is important for women to be mentors and sponsors for women, mentoring and sponsorship is not restricted to the same gender. In fact, it is well-known that some of the best mentor-mentee relationships have been of opposite genders. What is crucial is not the gender but that they succeed.

(The author is the Director, Human Resources at ASK Group and President, WoMentoring Committee, NHRDN, Mumbai.)

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