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The purpose of this paper is to give an introduction to the definition and learning process of mentoring, a structured overview of the value of mentoring for mentees, mentors, organisations and society, as well as present the key element for designing and implementing successful mentoring programmes that gives full value to all stakeholders.

The article is based on more than ten years' experience in working with mentoring programmes, designing and delivering mentoring programmes in an organisational context, on studying research done by other scholars and consultants as well as on the knowledge developed through the Mentor+ Survey – a survey tool for evaluating mentoring programmes.

It is found that the potential for learning for mentors, organisations and even society is still not fully understood by organisations implementing mentoring programmes – and thus the value of mentoring programmes is still not fully appreciated and achieved, even for mentees.

This article is of value to HR professionals and managers who wish to use mentoring programmes to enhance the learning capacity of people and organisations, instead of as just a tool for knowledge transfer.

The purpose of this paper is to present the challenges posed by designing and implementing mentoring programs when program coordinators, managers and participants may hold different assumptions about what mentoring is and what career development is. It aims to create an awareness of the inherent conflicts between the old and the new definitions of careers when implementing mentoring programs.

The paper is a presentation of the different definitions of careers as well as the different approaches to mentoring and a discussion of the implications of these in corporate mentoring programs.

This paper presents viewpoints on where to focus the attention in designing and implementing mentoring programs to achieve maximum results for the organization as well as for the participants.

Human resource professionals, managers and potential mentors and mentees might find value in reading this paper to become aware of obstacles for learning and growth.