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This interview was first published in the November 2024 issue of Middle East Consultant.
As a powerful tool for personal and corporate development, Mentoring has truly come of age. Yet just as its popularity is on the increase, a number of complex issues are coming to the fore, particularly in terms of aspects such as confidentiality, and Mentoring’s all-important relationship with HR. Emrah Uluverdi, Principal at TBH and a highly experienced Mentor, sat down with Middle East Consultant to explore these issues.
Firstly, Emrah, do you believe that the Mentee should be able to choose their Mentor, or can this be the decision of the organisation?
I think it’s helpful to look at it like this. Imagine you are a new employee, just starting a job, and you arrive at the office on Day One. You don’t know anyone, or anything about the company culture. So, it goes without saying that you’re not in a position to know who would be right for you as a Mentor. You have no context to make the right pick. In this situation, it makes good sense for the organisation to start the initial pairing by making the well considered choice for you.
But, of course, that doesn’t mean that it will always remain this way; as the new person settles in, they will be better placed to understand who is really right for them, and to change Mentors if they want to. I should also emphasise here that when someone changes Mentor, it doesn’t mean that the first one wasn’t intrinsically any good, but rather, that a new one might simply be a better, more accurate fit. It might just make more sense. Of course, that decision will be made in the light of getting good feedback from both sides; it’s an organic process, and all about managing the Mentee’s evolution in the best possible way.
Should Mentoring be connected to the HR function – with the dialogue fed back into corporate records – or be largely free and independent?
This is a very good question, and there are very important aspects here to consider. The reality is, though, that the HR function should always play a part in the Mentoring process. However, we should first and foremost respect the Mentee’s privacy; the relationship with the Mentor should always be private. After all, if you feel that everything you say will be reported to HR, you will always have this thought weighing on your mind. The Mentee should feel free to speak openly, knowing that the right safeguards for privacy are in place.
At the same time, the actual Mentoring process – its ongoing role and its organisation – can be effectively driven by HR. We can’t ignore the HR component and the skillsets it brings. At TBH, HR plays a key role in providing Mentors with initial training to prepare them for their role, as well as ongoing training for continuous improvement.
At the end of the day, HR has the experience of handling the range of personnel agendas, can help shape career pathways and contribute to the relationship between Mentor and Mentee. So, we really can’t ever build walls between the Mentoring process and HR. Yet at the same time, it’s always good for Mentee and Mentor to have their own mentoring relationship without HR pressure, and any sense of things being ‘supervised’.
How do you see the role of confidentiality within the Mentor/Mentee relationship?
I think this is also partly connected to the previous question. To ensure a strong relationship between Mentee and Mentor, confidentiality is important, and that confidentiality should be mutually understood as the relationship grows. If the Mentor ever breaks that confidentiality, it’s not something that will happen in isolation – a breach of that kind can tarnish Mentoring across the entire business. Certainly, as a Mentor myself, I want my Mentees to feel comfortable and relaxed. If confidentiality is in doubt, a Mentee may hold back on the things that really matter to them. From my own perspective, I’m trained to maintain confidentiality, and I really see that as foundation stone of my Mentee relationships.
Should Mentoring take place within office hours, and in the office environment, or can it happen at any time and in any place that the parties involved prefer?
Mentoring shouldn’t be limited to the office setting and office hours. Of course, the office is the best place to be if you’re only talking about work; but Mentoring involves a much broader agenda. In those situations where you are talking more widely, having lunch together, stepping outside the office for an hour or so, can be beneficial in developing that crucial bond. This is where you can talk about hobbies, the weekend, and get some real insights – so in that sense, it can be much better and more fruitful to maintain the relationship outside of the office.
Let me give you a related example. Here at TBH, we play padel together regularly, and this is quite helpful in building valuable bonds between people, departments and teams. Put simply, being able to get out of the office provides feelings of flexibility that you don’t necessarily get inside the office environment; away from the workplace, you really can take a step back and have a broader perspective.
Should the Mentor hold a particular set of credentials/qualifications and have a certain level of experience in order to qualify for Mentorship?
First and foremost, from my perspective, experience plays a key role. This doesn’t mean I underestimate the role of qualifications – far from it – but I’ve been in this sector for more than 15 years, across many parts of the business, and it’s critical that the Mentor has a depth of experience. This allows the Mentor to effectively transfer their know-how to the Mentee and guide them in shaping their path. By sharing this knowledge, grounded in actual day-to-day experience, the Mentor can provide meaningful guidance that truly supports the Mentee’s growth.
At the end of the day, I would say that practicality and effectiveness are what being a Mentor is all about. You’ve been through the same process as the Mentee, and intuitively understand what they are going through.
There is another aspect to experience, too. Experience isn’t necessarily connected with age; this shouldn’t be a determining factor at all. There are in fact many examples where the Mentor is actually younger than the Mentee, because their intense experience and bandwidth have enabled them to mature well beyond their years of experience.
Can Mentoring be relevant even for more senior personnel, or is best applied to an organisation’s newcomers?
Actually, there’s no limit here at all. It’s for everyone, regardless of age or position in the company. Of course, there are ‘hotspots’ here, and as we’ve said, it will often be the case that Mentoring is very necessary and meaningful for new arrivals into the business; it will really help them find their feet. Yet equally, another key ‘hotspot’ may be for those who have reached a certain level within the business and whose progress has stalled somewhat. Mentoring can play a very powerful role with that reorientation; as you progress within a business, it can empower you to kick things up a couple of notches.
Tell us something about your own experience of Mentoring?
2018 was a turning point for me. This was when I started working for TBH, and prior to that, I had always worked for contractors. On joining TBH, I was immediately assigned with a Mentor, and that proved to be so important, because the consultancy culture was very different from anything I’d experienced before.
I can say from the bottom of my heart, I really appreciated the Mentoring I received during that initial period. Then, in 2019, I was assigned as a Mentor myself, and now I have five Mentees. When I talk about this transition to consultancy, remember, that as a consultant, you are expected to represent best practice – you always have to strive to do more and have the skills and knowledge to fulfil the client’s expectations. Working within the field can be demanding and challenging given the high standards and quality of work required.
There’s no doubt that all these parameters can bring stress, but here at TBH, we believe that Mentoring really helps overcome these issues. We have a culture where we are closely connected, genuinely care about each other, and value personal relationships. Supporting one another is a priority – with one of our core values being ‘Better Together’. As consultants in the construction sector, the challenges faced can often be difficult for those outside of the industry to understand – and only colleagues can truly relate. The strong sense of collaboration at TBH, combined with a supportive Mentoring culture, ensures that no one faces the challenges alone.
How does the Mentoring process work currently at TBH? Is it done in an informal way, as part of the company’s culture, or is there a rigorous and structured programme?
First things first. We believe that effective Mentoring is all about ongoing communication, and everything about our approach to Mentoring reflects this. We feel that there always has to be an open, flexible dialogue.
So, as I’ve said, when you arrive here, you are assigned a Mentor, and then, every six months, we get together and review the Mentoring structure at a senior management level and ask for feedback from the Mentees. On top of that, training is continuously provided to Mentors by HR.
However, I don’t want you to think that it’s all super-structured and rigid: it all depends on the Mentors and Mentees. Flexibility is crucial here at TBH. While we have a strong feedback mechanism – which is invaluable in helping personal and career development – we never let any preconceptions get in the way of effectively rolling out the right programme. We really give a lot of thought to the overall effectiveness of what we’re doing. We make a point of always keeping the conversation going and reassessing it as we go; to us, that’s far more important than having a set structure – and I believe the results really speak for themselves!