a shafted mentor

Lorraine is angry that the time-honored practice of mentoring is being abused by toxic employers as a method of getting rid of older staff after sucking their brains.

“Mentoring was never intended to be abused in this way,” says Lorraine, “but I got shafted and once all of the older staff members have been given the push, who is left to do the mentoring?"

"Surely not the bright young things?"

"How long does management expect them to stay? And when the bright young things have moved on, they take the old mentor's brains with them without passing anything on to the latest recruits."

"Smart companies recognize the value of senior workers as mentors and do not make demands or cause senior workers to fear for their jobs," says Lorraine.

"A mentor's role is a lifetime role and smart companies recognize that experience cannot be replicated in a younger person."

"For one thing," says Lorraine, "young recruits actually appreciate being mentored by a senior worker. They feel uncomfortable being shown the ropes by someone not much older than themselves."

"And, frankly, when the mentor is young, there is not so much enthusiasm for the job because having sucked the brains out of a senior worker and caused the older woman to be sacked, the younger mentor is smart enough to know that it does not pay to share too much with a new recruit."

Read more about Lorraine:

mentoring leads to replacement

old vs young managers