A new employee can learn from the experience of someone on the job years longer.
But a veteran employee can also gain fresh insights for a recently hired staff member.
Those are the dual receipts behind a mentorship program launched several months ago within the Sunrise Health Region.
The program launched last November said program manager Phyllis Olynyk. She said mentorship programs had existed in “other parts of the province” and it was realized such an endeavour could have benefits in the local region too.
Mentorship can help in areas such as succession planning, building connectivity among staff, and helping new staff adapt to the systems already in place, offered Olynyk.
The employee applies to the program. An appropriate “match” is selected or assigned. The mentor and mentee are invited to attend a Mentorship workshop to gain the knowledge and training necessary to begin their mentoring relationship.
During the workshop, both the mentee and mentor will receive information about the program, learn about their roles, and develop a learning plan on what they wish to accomplish through mentorship.
The Regional Mentorship Coordinator is available to provide additional support and links to resources to assist participants in their relationship.
Olynynk said the mentorship program is very much a two-way experience in Sunrise, with veteran staff contacting her to offer their help by taking on a mentee, and of course new staff contacting her to get the sage help of a mentor.
So far there have been some 30 matches made within the region, some just starting the process, and others such as mentor Darlene Onslow and mentee Erin MacNeil having completely a pre-planned program.
“It’s set out as a four-month program,” said Olynyk, who added they find those involved often forge a bond which extends the relationship longer term.
Onslow, Manager of Hemodialysis, Intensive Care and Respiratory with Sunrise, said the idea of the program appealed to her.
“I could see the benefit of a relationship that could be established between the two,” she said, adding she felt that it would be good to “share some experience,” with a new manager.
MacNeil, Clinical Nutrition Manager with Sunrise, said as a new employee in the region, drawing on someone else’s experience made sense.
“When I first heard of the program I was interested,” she said.
So why the initial interest?
“It was the whole idea of being matched with someone in Sunrise with more experience and knowledge to draw from,” said MacNeil, who has been in her position less than a year, having moved from the Maritimes.
Olynyk said that is part of the flexibility of the program, and her role, to find out what the mentee needs most, and then matching them “with someone who’s got that knowledge.”
While one might expect the mentee to gain from the relationship, it is actually a mutual exchange.
“I gained a lot from our relationship,” said Onslow. “… It was definitely a two-way street.”
To do that Onslow said she made sure to simply listen and from that gain some fresh insights which come from a younger person moving into a new position. She added she quickly realized how things have changed from when she started with the local health system in the 1970s.
“There’s no comparison to what it was in the ’70s,” she said, adding in that respect she had to “listen more” to what MacNeil’s needs were.
The time frame also meant Onslow had to keep in mind what she may have done when she started might not work today.
“I tried not to just say “I did it this way” because it’s just completely different now,” she said.
MacNeil said it was often less a case of needing detailed instruction on what to do, and more a guiding hand, such “who to go to for certain things.” Onslow became something of a guide through the maze of a new organization for MacNeil.
In that respect Onslow said she is now “more in tune with the needs” of someone just taking on the role of manager years after her one experience taking the step.
MacNeil said one of the benefits of the program is having someone simply to talk to about the challenges of being new to Sunrise and the position, adding she could “bounce ideas” off Onslow who could consider the situation from the perspective of years in the local system. She said she found just in conversation she was picking up “tidbits of information” which were of benefit as someone new to the health system locally.
Both women said through the mentorship period a level of trust grew between them, and that was important in terms of discussing issues.
The trust and friendship are the core reasons both see their relationship lasting even as the formal aspect of the program is complete.
“I feel we’ll have a working relationship going forward,” said Onslow. “It was good for me … It has enhanced the working relationship.”
MacNeil said that the pair are going to stay in touch which was unexpected from the start.
“I had thought of it as a very short-term deal,” she said, adding that a friendship grew out of the program is a huge bonus.
