Mature employees possess valuable skills, knowledge and experience. Moreover, studies such as the Future of Retirement Survey (2006) by the Oxford Institute of Ageing and the Baby Boomers Survey (2009) by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports have shown that many do wish to have the opportunity to teach and guide younger or less experienced staff. The aim of this course is to harness the strengths of mature employees by equipping them with the key interpersonal competencies so that they could impart their knowledge and skills to new and junior staff and serve as role-models to them.
Target Participants
Experienced and mature employees 45 years and above
Course Objectives
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
Better understand themselves, their beliefs and values, work and communication styles and the effects these have on the mentoring relationship
Better understand and appreciate the personalities, strengths, learning styles and socio-cultural background etc. of their mentees
Understand the purpose, process and principles of mentoring
Be equipped with key mentoring skills and be able to apply them
Be able to be deployed as mentor and serve as positive influence and effective role-models for new/junior staff
Course Outlines
Part A: Understanding bio-psycho-social aspects of ageing
Issues & concerns in late life
Age-associated changes: physiological and psychological
Health and health maintenance
Part B: Mentoring & Self-Awareness
Self-awareness & values clarification
Overcoming internal barriers
Understanding yourself through MBTI
Type and mentoring styles
Part C: Understanding Your Mentees
Understanding your mentee’s strengths (including experience, skills, interests, work values, styles, etc.), limitations and developmental needs
Influencing factors: cultural differences or multi-cultural issues/needs
Type and learning styles
Harmonising your mentoring style with your mentee’s learning style
Part D: Developing Key interpersonal Competencies: Counselling, Mentoring & Coaching
Definitions: difference between coaching, counselling and mentoring
Roles, boundaries and duties of a coach, counsellor & mentor
Principles of coaching, counselling & mentoring
Common traps & problems of coaching, counselling & mentoring
Coaching / counselling / mentoring skills
Mentoring & counselling process
Managing conflicts
Part E: Knowledge & Skills Application
Case presentations
Written assessment
Course Duration
Five days or shorter depending on organisation’s requirement.
*Criteria for award of Certificate (five day programme):
Demonstrate competencies in applying the knowledge acquired, as well as attending and micro-skills. Case presentations of mentoring sessions conducted with mature workers should show evidence of a good grasp of the material taught.
